I need to give my champion a reason to refer us.

I need to give my champion a reason to refer us.

Referrals start with a reason. Clients recommend the partner who helped them win when the stakes were highest, and who has the capacity to do it again.

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

1. Can your team name the specific reason your champion would refer you?
2. Does your team know what's at stake for your champion personally when a crisis hits?
3. When the stakes are highest, does your team respond within hours?
4. Has your team shown the client it can take on more work without losing quality?
5. Has your team earned your champion's trust without discounts or incentives?

Two or more no's, and your champion may like you without a reason to recommend you.

When I first met him, he had 100s of salespeople calling him. As a Global Director, he controlled the gateway to more than $40M annually in our spend category. I needed to first find a win for him, one that really mattered.

One day I called him and said, "Good morning!" He responded, "I don't have time to speak with you right now. We're in a bit of a crisis." I asked, "What's the problem? I'd like to help you." He said, "Unless you have 30 experienced contractors lying around that I can deploy within 48 hours, you can't help me."

I said, "What's at stake here for you if this doesn't happen?" He told me they could lose one of their largest accounts, and if this didn't work, his career could stall there or worse.

Our solution was to give him our best people for the next 48 hours, combine forces with his team, and meet all his customer's expectations. I started communicating updates within the hour. By 48 hours, we were done. No money changed hands in this effort.

That week, we firmly established him as a Champion. It opened four more opportunities just like this one, including a sole-source deal worth over $4M. Eventually, we would earn 90% of their total annual spend and see it increase to over $60M annually in five years.

Building a Champion means showing them, not just telling them, that you can be counted on to help them achieve success when it matters most to them.

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 someone asked your champion why they recommend you, 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.