Arming the Champion
Win the champion first, then pre-load them to defeat every other stakeholder's objection
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
In B2B, five to seven people are involved in a deal. Only the champion can make it happen, but the others can each kill it. So positioning and the pitch must first win the champion — without that you never reach anyone else — and then equip that champion with pre-built answers to the objections of IT, the boss, procurement, and end users, whom you never actually pitch value to.
Origin
April Dunford's approach to multi-stakeholder B2B deals, grounded in her experience advising sales teams and connected to Matt Dixon's Challenger Customer research on buying groups.
Core principles
- 01Only the champion can advance a deal; everyone else can only block it
- 02Your pitch must win the champion or you never talk to the rest of the buying group
- 03Non-champion stakeholders don't want value — they raise objections you handle, not pitch
- 04You've done many deals; the buyer has done none — you already know what each group will object to
- 05Being a good partner means handing the champion the answers before they hit the wall
How to run it
- 1
Aim the whole pitch at the champion
Tune positioning and pitch so the champion — the person tasked with 'go find us a CRM and figure it out' — is fully sold. They do the research, build the short list, and sit the first calls.
Watch out If the pitch doesn't work for the champion you never get near anyone else in the buying group.
- 2
Pre-load answers to each stakeholder's objection
From prior deals, anticipate what each group cares about and hand the champion the response in advance: IT wants security and integration (you're SOC 2 compliant, you integrate); the boss wants ROI (here's the calculator and how to sell your boss); end users want ease (here's the training plan).
Pro tip Address these in the pitch's objection step: 'IT's going to worry about this, this, and this — don't worry, we got you.'
Watch out You are handling objections for these groups, not pitching them value — don't confuse the two.
- 3
Coach the champion through their own purchase process
Because the buyer often doesn't even know their own purchase process, walk them through it: 'Does this need to go to purchasing? Here's what typically happens there and here's what we'll give you to get through it.'
Pro tip Keep a running set of bullet points per stakeholder — the MVP is an iterated deck plus notes on what each group will ask.
In the wild
A line-of-business buyer in sales chooses a CRM, but IT must eventually weigh in. IT doesn't care about CRM value — only whether it meets security requirements, integrates with existing tools, and is manageable. The vendor pre-arms the champion with SOC 2 compliance and integration answers so IT's objection is neutralized before it stalls the deal.
→ The champion carries pre-built answers into the buying group, enabling consensus and keeping the deal moving to close.
Common mistakes
Trying to pitch value to every stakeholder
IT, procurement, and the boss don't buy on your value; treating their concerns as a value pitch rather than an objection to handle wastes effort and muddies the champion's case.
Leaving the champion to navigate the purchase alone
The buyer has usually never bought software like yours and may not know their own process; without coaching they stall at purchasing, IT review, or the boss's ROI request.
Is it for you?
Best for
B2B sellers in multi-stakeholder deals with 5-7 people in the buying group and a clear internal champion
Not ideal for
Single-decision-maker or self-serve purchases where there is no buying committee to satisfy
From the transcript
“in B2B, typical purchase process, we have five to seven people involved in making a deal happen”
“the other people can't make a deal happen, but they can kill it a thousand ways”
“your positioning and your pitch needs to really work for the champion. Because if it doesn't, you don't even get to talk to anybody else”
“once the deal's going, we got to arm the champion for how to handle all these objections”
From the episode
A step-by-step guide to crafting a sales pitch that wins
April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome and Sales Pitch)