Most people agree that in complex accounts developing internal champions is a strategic imperative because a lot of the selling is going on when you’re not there. Everyone also knows that selecting and developing internal champions takes a lot of time and effort.
When talking with salespeople about internal champions, it’s clear from their comments that in many cases once they’ve developed an internal champion inside a major account, they sort of mentally check the box and move on to other things.
Is one enough? Like most questions of this sort the answer is yes, sometimes one is enough. On the other hand, sometimes the answer is no, you need more than one, and when you make a misjudgment the consequences can be significant. So the question is worth asking. Let’s take a look at why more than one might be worth the time and effort.
Complex accounts have complex buying processes. There are a lot of players involved, the buying process is long, consensus is often lacking and there are a lot of tricky situations to be handled. Hence at different points in the buying cycle you may need different internal champions to tell your story. The difference may be a combination of factors, such as expertise, access, internal credibility or personal relationships.
The second reason why more than one internal champion might be the right answer relates to that ever-haunting issue of unpredictability. Raise your hand if you have ever been in a major sale and one day you woke up to find that your internal champion was gone – left – took a job with another company.
Even though we just argued that the all-your-eggs-in-one-basket strategy can on occasion be flawed, it is also true that simply collecting internal champions is not the answer either. Internal champions must be both willing and able to provide you help in securing the business. There are not many folks available for that mission. If you have 12 potentials, you probably really have only 2 internal champions and 10 who are simply institutional friends.