Would my champion in our key account be proud to forward our results to their boss?

Would my champion in our key account be proud to forward our results to their boss?

A champion forwards what makes them look good to their boss and poses no risk of hurting their brand. Proof that is short, clear, validated by the client and written in their language is the kind that gets passed up the chain.

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

1. Are your results packaged into a short proof point or case study your champion can share?
2. Is it written in the client's own language and terms?
3. Has the client reviewed and validated it?
4. Has your champion agreed to co-sponsor it before it's shared?
5. Do you have a testimonial from an executive at the customer?

Two or more no's, and your best results may stay in your champion's inbox.

In an earlier post, I shared how a champion got us in front of a top executive at a $5B company. Here's the part I left out: how we built the proof so the champion could carry it. The VP of Operations called with a capability requirement that came from Legal, with the top executive's blessing, and a proposal due the next day. I called him back to confirm the proof points, timeline, scope and effort before we wrote a word. We used the top executive's own description of the impact and priced our solution against a cost of nonconformance we conservatively estimated at more than $70M. Our solution was to give the top executive back his proposal, delivered by the champion, written entirely from his point of view. The champion presented it the following week, and we won the work.

The champion carried the proof because it was written in his executive's words. Your team can build its next proof point the same way, with the champion before it's shared.

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.

What result would your champion forward to their boss today?

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.