Testing your Champion: how to avoid surprises at the close
Having reviewed countless deals and forecasts over the years, we’ve often seen salespeople mistakenly believe they’ve identified a Champion. But when it comes to crunch time, that so-called Champion turns out to be a coach—or worse, a Champion for the competition.
To avoid late-stage surprises and slippage, it’s essential to test your Champion throughout the sales cycle. This helps validate their influence, intent, and commitment to your success—and keeps your deal moving swiftly towards a confident close.
Jump to our top ways to validate your Champion:
- Discovery meetings - do they identify pain?
- Demos - who's invited and who sets the agenda?
- Access to the Economic buyer - the ultimate test
- The closing process - final validation
How to test Champions during the sales cycle
Before diving into how to test your Champion, it’s worth revisiting what defines one. Champions have power and influence, a track record of driving change, something to gain from your success, and access to the Economic buyer (EB). If you’re unsure, refer to our earlier blog on identifying Champions.
Once you feel reasonably confident—or sense some risk—it’s time to run a few in-field tests. Here are our top ways to validate whether your Champion truly has the credentials:
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Discovery meetings – do they identify pain?
One of the earliest opportunities to test a Champion comes during discovery.
Champions, by definition, are experienced in building business cases for change. They should be able to:
- Understand what drives business priorities,
- Align your solution with strategic initiatives,
- Articulate ROI (return on investment), and
- Navigate the decision-making process.
If they can link your offering clearly to revenue growth, cost reduction, risk mitigation, or shareholder commitments, you may be onto a true Champion.
Probe with “so what?” questions. If they respond with conviction and specificity—particularly around commercial impact—they likely meet the mark.
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Demos – who’s invited and who sets the agenda?
The demo stage is a key credibility checkpoint—and another opportunity to test your Champion.
Ask your Champion who should be in the room. Do they know the stakeholders? Are they willing to invite them? Will they help shape the agenda?
A genuine Champion:
- Helps navigate internal dynamics (power and influence)
- Secures attendance from key decision-makers (track record for change)
- Prepares you with back-channel insights, and (Something to gain)
- Takes ownership of the business case. (Access to the EB)
If you’re the only one organising the demo, you may be working alone—or with the wrong person.
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Access to the Economic buyer – the ultimate test
After credibility is established and you've progressed the business case, the next critical test is access to the Economic buyer.
A true Champion knows the EB, understands their criteria, and is willing to fight for a meeting. They also:
- Help get the meeting booked—and prioritised,
- Align all parties beforehand, and
- Support follow-up actions post-meeting.
This is where Champions prove their worth. The EB’s time is precious. A real Champion knows this meeting is non-negotiable for moving the deal forward.
Use this step to rehearse key messages, role-play objections, and even pre-seed some talking points through the Champion if possible.
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The closing process – final validation
Even if you've tested throughout the sales cycle, it’s still possible to misjudge your Champion. That’s why closing is your final opportunity to confirm their role.
Champions know how to get deals done. They understand internal workflows and liaise with procurement, legal, and IT security.
Ask:
- Will they co-create a close plan?
- Do they know who owns which part of the process?
- Are they transparent about procurement’s expectations and negotiation levers?
These small signals offer a big insight into whether your Champion can support a predictable and successful close.
Summary: Champion or pretender?
Many of the tips above may seem like standard sales practice—and they should be. But what separates top performers is how deliberately they test and analyse Champion behaviour throughout the sales cycle.
Just because someone is helpful or enthusiastic doesn’t mean they’re a Champion. Coaches are great—but they don’t close deals. Champions do.
Remember, our job in sales is to generate revenue with control. That means identifying and addressing risk early. Build a few smart tests into your cycle—and see who steps up.
This blog is part of our "Champion Series" of 6 blogs and live member webinars.
Become a member today to join our exclusive member webinars and gain access to a host of valuable MEDDPICC resources.
