11/27/2024-Your friends-to-champions ratio

Sales is a fun and rewarding job, and much of it is because of the friendships you’ll make. Some of those friendships will be casual, some meaningful. But it’s your champions who matter the most.

"I just had a great lunch with John."

Your manager replies, "FANTASTIC…is he now a champion?"

"Ummmm," you reply sheepishly.

Relationship-building efforts should always focus on developing buyers into Champions. You could have scores of BFFBs (BFF Buyers), but unless you have Champions embedded in your target accounts, the BFFBs won’t help as much.

A Champion is like the Queen on a chess board; she is the ultimate mover and shaker who can deliver big rewards.

What’s your strategy to develop buyer friends and KDMs into Champions?

In your meetings with prospects and clients today, straighten your spine and ask the questions the TOP 10% regularly ask: "How can you help me inside your org?"

You will only know if your buyer can be a Champion if you ask them to act on your behalf. It could be that you need information, an introduction, or to unstick a barrier in their org.

Champion development is an incremental game; it should start slowly with small asks. And, of course, one favor deserves reciprocity, so prepare to make your new Champ look reaaaaaaally good after they deliver.

It’s irrefutable that having a champion on an account can send you into the commission stratosphere. Two or three champions pushing on your rope across multiple accounts can propel you into the Hall of Fame in any given year.

Ahhh, if it were only that easy.

There is no formula for developing a champion because every one of your prospects and clients is a unique individual who wants different things and is driven by different motivations.

Having said that, four constants exist around champion development:

1. Play the incrementality game. Start by asking for small favors.
2. Payback in spades. Concert tix and meals are good rewards, but making the champion shine inside their org is ideal.
3. Determine relationship strength and limits: if you don’t ask, you never know if that buyer can grow into a champion.
4. What do you want? Have a specific plan about what you need from the champion… there are only a handful of things, and the list probably looks like this…
– help to get other company officers to put their pens in their hands and sign the contract
– information
– unlocking internal problems and obstacles
– introductions

Don’t ever stop champion development…you need all the heavy hitters on your side that you can get.

"If you need a friend, buy a dog." No truer adage has been spoken for sellers.

But dogs don’t have thumbs, so they can’t sign a contract. Your dog Rover is certainly your bestie, but he’s not a Champion.

In sales, KDM buyer friends are as valuable to you as your pooch. But Champions have thumbs…they can deliver big.

The Monkees were a fun, cultish pop band in the ’60s who loved dogs, as you’ll see in this really fun and whimsical music vid.

After losing yourself for a few minutes, get back to Champ-Dev work.