Every sales process needs a champion; that person on the other side with whom you work to form a strategic alliance. They are close enough to decision-makers to influence the progression of the sales cycle and help your sales representatives successfully negotiate a deal. Because customer champions are stakeholders at the potential buyer’s company, they have unique and unprecedented access to target prospects. They bring to the table the organization’s trust, as well as the power necessary to close deals.
Champions are experts in the buyer’s company; its structure, corporate hierarchy, needs and wants. Most importantly, they want the product or services your sales team is offering – and they know to whom the proposal should be pitched within their company.
Connecting and forging a relationship with customer champions significantly impacts the outcome of your sales team’s efforts, so their stake in the partnership must always be kept in mind. Your champion is not your messenger. He is your partner and should be supported as such.
Form a Partnership with Your Champion Using Sales Engagement
1. Build an alliance
The key to successful sales engagement and P2P (person-to-person) selling is treating your champion as an ally. Instead of presenting your champion with a proposal, and moving on to other prospective customers, work together to present the proposal, closing the deal as a united front. Guide your champion through the selling process, and enlist his help to reach and convert decision makers. Don’t assume they’ll decide to take the deal on the company’s behalf.
2. Help your champion shine
Instead of piling more work on your champion’s already overflowing desk, sell them on the superiority, efficiency, and seamlessness of working with your team to close a deal. Help your champion look good in the eyes of key decision-makers. Provide them with the tools, sales collateral, and data they need to present yours as the best in class solution.
3. Shift towards collaboration
Your champion is your partner in making successful sales. Your sales team needs to change its strategy and attitude from one of selling to one of collaborating. Share resources to help your champion make connections and develop on professional and personal levels.
Bond with your champion to help promote the deal internally and benefit all parties involved. Let your champion help you identify additional stakeholders and decision-makers – then you can work together to understand their interests and pain points.
4. They need your insights
Champions help your sales team get inside the buyer’s head. To do this, they need your valuable sales and marketing insights, the small details on the sales cycle that help champions convince decision-makers to shift from consideration to conversion. Empower your champions, by sharing important insights throughout the sales process; insights they can pass on to other stakeholders and seal the deal.
5. They need your perfect timing
In sales, as in life, timing is everything. To drive decision makers to agree to a proposal, you need to provide champions with the right insights – at the right time. Advances in technology are making it easier and more efficient than ever before to present precise insights to key stakeholders as they emerge.
DealHub is a full sales engagement solution, empowering sellers and buyers to collaborate and make the sales process more productive and effective. By centralizing all deal content in one place, DealHub offers a personalized and organized buying experience that results in shorter sales cycles and increased win rates.
Schedule a demo to see how DealHub can help you win more deals by facilitating a strong partnership with key stakeholders.