MEDDPICC Leadership: Coaching to Champions
Of all the MEDDPICC elements, Champion is often where the deal succeeds or fails.
Most reps have experienced the disappointment of reaching the end of a sales cycle only to discover they never really had a Champion, and therefore a deal, at all.
That is why a leader's inspection matters so much here.
The role of the leader is to determine whether a Champion exists and whether they have enough influence, motivation, and access to help get the deal done.
Jump to:
- Commonly Misidentified Champions
- Inspection Across the Sales Cycle
- At Late Stage, Ask "Describe", Not "Tell"
- There Is Always a Champion. The Question Is Whose?
- What Good Looks Like
- Your Inspection Checklist
The Four Markers of a Champion:
- Power and Influence – they can move stakeholders and shape decisions.
- Track Record of a Case for Change – they've successfully driven change before.
- Something to Gain – they have a personal reason to succeed.
- Access to the Economic Buyer – they can connect you to the budget authority.
What Happens Without a Champion?
- Progress slows or stalls.
- Critical information remains hidden.
- Access to the Economic buyer never materialises.
- Procurement dominates negotiations.
- The competitor's Champion succeeds.
When qualifying a Champion, the question is simple: will this person help get the deal done when it matters?
As with Identified pain and Metrics, the objective is to move the conversation from opinion to evidence.
"I have evidence that Fred has successfully driven change before, but I am unsure of his access to the Economic buyer. I am taking action to test it." This is the level of detail you're looking for when answering questions about Champions. The rep acknowledges that there are gaps, but is actively seeking to address them.
Questions Worth Asking
- Why do we believe this person is a true Champion, and what evidence supports that?
- How are we actively building and nurturing the relationship?
Commonly Misidentified Champions
One of the biggest qualification mistakes is confusing a coach with a Champion.
A coach is helpful, but the Champion drives action.
A coach may share information, explain how the organisation works, and want the deal to succeed. But a Champion has the influence, motivation, and willingness to sell internally when you're not in the room.
Also in this category of misidentified Champions are:
- The helpful contact who shares information but lacks influence.
- The first person the rep engaged with.
- The person who is always available.
- The technical expert who talks about features rather than business outcomes.
- The internal contact who says "leave it to me" but never creates access.
Inspection Across the Sales Cycle
Champion development isn't a one-off activity.
Leaders should inspect across three stages: Identify, Build, and Test.
Identify
- Build the org chart early.
- Understand where the pain sits.
- Identify multiple possible Champions.
Build
- Create a deliberate Champion plan.
- Expand stakeholder engagement.
- Validate both business and personal wins.
Test
- Move from promises to evidence.
- Test access, influence, and ownership.
- Create objective proof of advocacy.
Champion relationships are built deliberately, not accidentally.
Leaders should inspect how value is being created for the Champion and whether a clear plan exists to strengthen the relationship over time.
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At Late Stage, Ask "Describe", Not "Tell"
A small change in wording often reveals the risks.
"Tell me what your Champion is doing" usually produces a list of activities.
"Describe how they are helping prepare for the procurement meeting" reveals whether your Champion really owns the problem and is actively seeking to help get the deal across the line.
Are they arranging meetings? Helping shape messaging? Advocating internally?
That is what a Champion looks like at the sharp end of a deal.
There Is Always a Champion. The Question Is Whose?
No deal exists without a Champion.
The real question is who they're working for.
Other Champions in the Deal
- The Champion of doing nothing.
- The Champion of building internally.
- The Champion supporting your competitor.
If your team doesn't identify and develop a Champion, somebody else will.
What Good Looks Like
- A named individual with evidence across all four markers.
- Regular two-way engagement.
- Internal advocacy when you're not present.
- Meaningful introductions and access.
- A documented plan to reach the Economic buyer.
Common Pitfalls
- Mistaking a friendly contact for a Champion.
- Accepting the label without evidence.
- Allowing a deal to remain single-threaded.
- Assuming a Champion remains a Champion forever.
- Confusing activity with influence.
Leaders should also pay attention to the signals in the activity.
- Has the rep met the person enough times to justify the label?
- Is the relationship widening across the account?
- Is there a documented Champion plan?
- Are meaningful actions taking place between meetings?
Your Inspection Checklist
- ☐ Evidence exists against all four markers: power and influence, track record, something to gain, and access to the Economic buyer.
- ☐ A clear answer exists for why this person is a Champion, what their win is, and how they're being nurtured.
- ☐ Risks have been identified and are actively being tested.
- ☐ The relationship has sufficient depth before being labelled a Champion.
- ☐ Multiple possible Champions have been considered early in the deal.
- ☐ The Champion has been recently revalidated.
- ☐ There is a documented Champion plan and a clear route to the Economic buyer.
Questions Worth Asking
Why is this person our Champion? What's their win, and how have we tested it?
Describe how they're helping prepare for the next key meeting.
In Summary
A Champion is the difference between a deal that needs constant pushing and one that gains momentum from inside the customer organisation.
But the label is easy to hand out and expensive to get wrong.
The best leaders inspect against the four markers every time, look for evidence instead of affection, and ensure someone is genuinely fighting for the deal when they're not in the room.
That is what turns a friendly contact into a genuine advantage in the deal.
This blog is one of our MEDDPICC Leadership series. Our newsletter and a live webinar accompany these blogs.
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