Champion (Internal Advocate)
Champion
What is a champion?
- Someone with all three: motivation, influence, and action
- Champions are built and equipped, not just found
- Relying on just one person is risky
Once you have a champion, the way a salesperson spends their time changes first. Less time goes into polishing the proposal, and more goes into building the materials that person will bring up in internal meetings. The questions change too: instead of “When can we meet again?”, you ask, “Who might oppose this, and what is their sticking point?” The substance of this concept is a shift to a structure where that person does the persuading we used to do.
In practice, coaches, champions, and economic buyers often get mixed up. A coach shares information such as budget size or competitor activity, but is someone who doesn’t put their own credibility on the line. A champion stands in a position where, if we lose, they take a hit too. It is actually rare for the final approver to be the champion; the role usually falls to the person responsible for the work, one or two levels below the approval line (accountability). More important than rank is whether they have a channel to report separately to the final approver.
Verification comes not from words but from how they respond to small requests. Watch three things: whether they tell you the internal schedule and budgeting timing first, whether they distribute the materials we made under their own name, and whether they bring up competitors on their own. If a deal will drag on for more than six months, a single reorganization or personnel move can overturn it, so it’s safer to cultivate a second supporter in another department.
The most common misconception is treating someone who meets often and is easy to talk to as a champion. Friendliness is only a sign of goodwill, not proof of internal influence. What follows from this mistake is usually the same: until two weeks before close you keep hearing 'it's going well,' then one day the deal stops with a single line, 'it was put on hold from above.' Conversely, pressuring them with repeated chase calls makes them look like they favor one vendor inside their organization, and they may pull back on their own.
John KimAuthor of B2B Marketing Design and CEO of Nanum Consulting
Jaehyuk ParkHands-on instructor in B2B technical sales and AI-driven sales strategyThe concept was formalized in 1990s complex-sale methodologies; the C in MEDDIC stands for champion. It defines the role of an internal supporter in B2B deals where several people make the decision.
Let’s look at a hypothetical case. Company A is an auto parts manufacturer with 1,200 employees and KRW 380 billion (≈ US$284,303,500) in annual revenue. The deal was worth KRW 240 million (≈ US$179,600) to build a new rank-based leadership training framework, and the same project had fallen through once the year before. Two competitors were already in the picture, and four months remained until the final decision.
- In the first meeting, I picked up on something Manager Kim on the Talent Development team said: “My performance goal this year is to systematize training, but the effort fell through last year.” It meant the outcome of this deal was tied directly to their performance review.
- The next week, instead of a proposal, the rep sent a one-page executive summary and an answer sheet covering 12 likely questions. Acting on the champion's tip that 'the vice president always asks about cost versus benefit,' the rep put the basis for the cost calculation on the first page.
- The rep made a small request: “Could you add this to this week’s team-lead meeting agenda?” Two days later, a summary of the meeting minutes came back with a note: “The business units’ objection is that 8 hours of training is a burden.” That was when the rep judged the person to be a champion.
- Seeing that relying on Manager Kim alone was risky, the rep asked Kim to arrange meetings with Team Lead Lee in production and Manager Park in finance. The rep then had Manager Kim circulate first, under Kim’s own name, an alternative that split the 8-hour course into two 4-hour sessions.
- When approval slipped by three weeks, I sent ahead a one-page rationale (“Sessions can be rescheduled without carrying over the budget”) so they wouldn’t be put on the spot internally.
- In the final competitive presentation, Manager Kim said, “This is the only proposal that pinpointed why last year failed,” and the KRW 240 million (≈ US$179,600) contract was awarded, beating two competitors. The following year it led to a two-year extension.