Champion

A champion is an internal advocate at a prospect’s company who supports your solution and actively helps navigate the sales process. Champions are typically individuals who recognize the value of your offering and are willing to influence others within their organization to move forward with a purchase. In complex B2B sales environments, champions often make the difference between successful deals and stalled opportunities, making their identification and cultivation a critical component of effective cold email campaigns and sales strategies.

Champions emerge through various pathways and can hold different roles within target organizations. They might be individual contributors who see how your solution could make their jobs easier, managers facing pressure to improve team performance, or executives looking for competitive advantages. The most effective champions have three key characteristics: they understand and believe in the value of your solution, they have influence within their organization, and they are willing to actively advocate on your behalf. This influence doesn’t always correlate with formal authority – sometimes an influential individual contributor can be more effective than a senior executive without internal credibility.

Cultivating champions through cold email requires strategic relationship building and value delivery. Identify potential champions by looking for individuals who engage positively with your outreach, ask thoughtful questions, or express frustration with current solutions. Provide champions with resources they need to sell internally, including case studies, ROI calculators, presentation materials, and responses to common objections. Help them understand how to communicate your value proposition to different stakeholders within their organization. Maintain regular communication with champions throughout the sales process, providing updates, additional resources, and support for internal meetings. Remember that champions often take personal risk by advocating for external solutions, so acknowledge their support and make their advocacy as easy as possible. The strongest champion relationships often extend beyond individual deals to become ongoing partnerships that generate referrals and additional opportunities.