I need to make it easy for my champion to introduce us.

I need to make it easy for my champion to introduce us.

Champions want to help, and they're busy. A clear picture of who you serve best, who you want to meet next and what to say makes the introduction easy to make.

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

1. Does your champion know exactly what kind of partner you want to become for their organization?
2. Have you shared the types of groups and clients you serve best?
3. Have you given your champion a list of the internal groups you want to meet next?
4. Do you ask for introductions by name, based on that list?
5. Does your champion have a short value story and proof points to share with each introduction?

Two or more no's, and your champion may want to help without knowing how.

One of my client champions was spending over $10M annually across 12 vendors and was the largest single entry point at this customer. At the end of our first discovery meeting, I told her exactly what I wanted to become: "My vision is to be your #1 vendor, to provide a service so valuable that you no longer need to depend on 12 different vendors for support, and as a result of our partnership, I want to see your business thriving, better than it was before."

I wasn't looking for a response. I just wanted her to know the purpose for why I was pursuing this, and it was not to become vendor #13.

Every time she called with a challenge, we delivered, until she dealt exclusively with our team. In time, she became our greatest champion, someone with power and influence who was willing to sell on our behalf. She trusted us and proved it by making key introductions to other areas of the business and industry.

Her partnership helped us reach $100M in annual spend at our peak and create a new segment where we became the #1 vendor across the industry.

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.

Does your champion know the next three groups you want to meet?

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.