I need my key account champion ready to tell our story when I'm not there.

I need my key account champion ready to tell our story when I'm not there.

Your champion often carries your story into the meetings that matter most. What they bring with them, and how confident they feel saying it, shapes the decision.

Five questions to see if your team can do this job today:

1. Does your champion have proof points they can present without you in the room?
2. Are those proof points written in their leadership's own words?
3. Have you confirmed which proof points their decision makers want to see?
4. Does your champion know the business impact in numbers, such as revenue, cost or risk?
5. Would your champion feel confident presenting your solution to their boss?

Two or more no's, and your champion may walk into the meeting without what they need to win it for you.

Several years ago, a VP of Operations called me with the same question he'd just asked 4 other vendors. He needed our proposal by COB the next day. The request came from head of legal with the CEO's blessing.

I called him back that afternoon to validate which relevant proof points he would need to demonstrate a suitable solution. I wanted to know how the CEO described the issue from an impact standpoint, because I would use his exact language in our proposal. Then I quantified the business impact if the solution didn't work. A conservative estimate put their cost of nonconformance above $70M.

Our newest Champion, the VP, let me know he would present the short-listed solution the following week. I knew he would pick ours because it was speaking their language and would be easier for him to present with confidence.

The competition's playbook was to show the features and benefits of their solution, told from their point of view. Ours was to give the CEO back his proposal, delivered by the Champion, written entirely from his point of view.

He awarded us the opportunity: $5M+ annually in new project revenue and $70M saved for our client.

Our system, the Vitality Index, shows your key account teams where they stand today, the work it takes to level up, and how to do it, until they reach a vital partnership that lasts.

If your champion presented your value to their boss tomorrow, what would they say?

We built a free, 4-minute Key Account Risk Assessment. It gives you a risk score for your key accounts across team alignment, account planning, account transitions, and visibility. Link in the comments.