Official thread

Bad Sales Advice? Internal Champion ≠ Salesperson

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Day 1: “Hey! I get paid to sell this, let me help you”

Day 7: “I love your product. I’m sold already”

Day 23: “Let’s get this signed”

Day 28: “Leadership might have some concerns”

Day 47: “The CEO is too busy”

Day 81: “I haven’t heard back from the CFO”

Day 6969: “They’re still interested, but we’ve not had the time to sit down and thoroughly evaluate your agreement”



Has a champion ever broken faith with you? How many times at the final stages of a deal? How many of your deals have died this way? And whose fault is it?


It’s the Achilles heel of a salesperson - blindly trusting their champion - forgetting that it’s their job to sell the product and not the champions'.


There’s a reason influencers and champions are called influencers and champions and not the decision-makers. When they say “they’ve got it”, chances are, they obviously haven’t!



@sahil talks about the same thing in this video - how a good salesperson should always be suspicious while dealing with internal champions.


Never be at your champion’s mercy and don’t expect them to drive your deal across the finish line.


Bad sales advice?



-@Gasty

👑 Sales Strategy
🎤 Sahil
29
Sunbunny31
Politicker
12
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
I'm suspicious all the way through the process, all the way until the deal is signed.

But solid points here about not believing the champion. I agree that they shouldn't be trying to run your process - they should be setting you up to sell successfully.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
5
🦊
Hell yeah I'm suspicious. Buyers are liars 😉
IndianaShep
Politicker
4
Director of Sales and Marketing
I receive commission on invoices paid, so I am suspicious until that check hits.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Oh, solid point. I'm in the same boat.
SaaSsy
Politicker
2
AE
As you should be - I think most reps hone this sense over time and how to sort out the real red flags. It's rare a champion can sell as well as us but when you find the right champion (my favorite is influencers that used to be in sales), it can be magic.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
1
Bravado's Resident Asshole
I'm with you on this one for sure.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
1
Rolling 20's all day
You can never fully trust them until the contract is signed. Always get consensus if you can to know that what they are telling you is true.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
5
Sales Rep
Whenever I hear a champion say something similar, especially when they will be presenting the solution to the VP of CXO, I am always asking to join the call also.

I feel like saying "Typically I join these calls, in case any technical question comes up, which we haven't discussed."
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
5
sales
HEY - SAHIL TOOK MY THEORY. I'M FAMOUS. LETS FUCKING GO
TennisandSales
Politicker
4
Head Of Sales
@sahil! are we on the same wavelength!?

I made a post the other week about ALWAYS being suspicious and trying to figure out what COULD go wrong.

This is another SOLID example.

i love his line:
"if the director of Marketing could sell, they would be the director of sales"
🤌🤌🤌
Diablo
Politicker
3
Sr. AE
Great advice. Decision maker is a decision maker no matter how sweet the champions are!
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
1
sales
An internal champion is a champion for everything. So they are actually annoying as fuck to decision makers. Avoid the champion, never let someone sell for you.
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
💯
Pachacuti
Politicker
2
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
This is why its SO important to provide your champion, or at least your main POC, a roadmap to finalize the deal. Detailing out step-by-step each stage to finalization. Where there is no plan, there is no sale. A Champion can only do so much.
Mr.Pickles
Arsonist
1
Sr. Customer Success Manager
"leaving it up to chance" - Loved it !
TennisandSales
Politicker
0
Head Of Sales
haha for sure! goes right in line with "hope" is not a strategy. solid pieces of advice!
punishedlad
Tycoon
1
🧙‍♂️
Currently have a deal held up where our champion has to present to the board. I've been trying to negotiate having *us* give the presentation, but the board is blackballing us.
Werkzeug
Politicker
1
Account Executive
"Still nothing, Werkzeug, I'm hoping they will make a decision soon, will def keep you posted!" I used to let them string me along for months and months like this.

I have this thing now where I close lose deals after two of these type responses. It frees me up to work on deals that will actually close. Not enough influence, not a champ. No champ, no deal. 🤷🏼‍♂️
IYNFYL
Politicker
1
Enterprise SaaS AE
I never get happy ears anymore because it usually doesn't work out. My two cents is until the paper is signed I don't celebrate
KingSaaS
Good Citizen
1
VP of Sales
Good points here- this happens all the time, that’s why it’s super important to dig into org and go as far up the chain during the sales cycle as possible. Your champion is great and useful, but selling to your EB is the goal.
GrinchGotAPoint
Good Citizen
0
Service and Sales Associate
That makes a lot of sense, and I'm a very trusting person, so I need to hear this! Hahaha
5

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