How to build a champion
A champion is not just a friendly contact; they are someone with influence and personal motivation who actively sells for you internally. The distinction decides deals.
Champions are developed, not found. You build one by making them successful and testing their commitment.
Short answer
Build a champion by finding someone with influence and a personal stake in solving the problem, giving them the business case and materials to advocate internally, making them look good to their leadership, and testing that they will actually fight for the deal. A real champion sells for you when you are not in the room, which is decisive in complex deals.
Step by step
Find the right person
Look for someone with internal influence and a personal stake in the outcome: their goals, their credibility, or their workload improves if you win. Motivation plus influence makes a champion.
Give them value and a case
Arm them with a quantified business case, materials, and answers they can use to advocate internally. A champion can only sell for you if you equip them.
Make them look good
Position the champion as the hero of the initiative to their leadership. A champion whose reputation rises with the deal fights harder for it.
Test the champion
Ask them to do something that requires real advocacy: arrange a meeting with the economic buyer, share the business case internally. A champion who will not act is not a real champion.
Support them continuously
Keep your champion informed, prepared, and confident throughout the deal, especially before internal meetings you are not in. Their success is your success.
Champion vs friendly contact
A friendly contact likes you and takes your calls; a champion has influence, a personal stake, and actively sells for you when you are absent. Many deals are lost because a rep mistook a friendly contact for a champion. The test is simple: will they take a real internal action on your behalf? If not, you do not yet have a champion.
How Ardovo runs this
Ardovo turns this from a slide no one opens into how the work actually happens. The stages, exit criteria, and plays live in the deal object, and Rook flags any deal that skips a step, drafts the next artifact, and keeps the data honest, so every deal develops a tested champion gets followed instead of forgotten.
Frequently asked questions
How do I build a champion in a deal?
Find someone with internal influence and a personal stake in solving the problem, arm them with a quantified business case and materials to advocate internally, make them look good to their leadership, and test that they will actually take action on your behalf. A real champion sells for you when you are not in the room.
What is the difference between a champion and a friendly contact?
A friendly contact likes you and takes your calls; a champion has influence, a personal stake in the outcome, and actively sells for you internally when you are absent. Many deals are lost because a rep mistook a friendly contact for a champion, so the distinction is decisive in complex deals.
How do I know if I have a real champion?
Test them. Ask them to do something that requires genuine advocacy, like arranging a meeting with the economic buyer or sharing your business case internally. A real champion follows through; a friendly contact hesitates or deflects. If they will not take a real internal action for you, you do not yet have a champion.