How to identify internal champions to win more deals in B2B

Selling in the B2B world can sometimes feel like an uphill battle.

Your prospect's company structure can be hard to understand from the outside, and there are often many people you need to convince.

Wouldn't it be great to have someone on the inside, rooting for you?

Good news – you often can! That person is your internal champion.

What are internal champions?

An internal champion is someone inside your target company who believes in your product or service so much that they actively promote it to their colleagues. Maybe they clearly see how your solution will help their team succeed, or perhaps they're just a big fan from using it before. Either way, your champion understands how things really work inside the company, has influence, and wants your solution to succeed – almost like having one of your own team members embedded within their organization.

With a champion on your side, the company's decision-making process becomes much clearer. If internal politics threaten to block the deal, your champion can help guide you. They can connect your sales team with key decision-makers or give you direct insight into what end-users truly need, better than anyone else could.

The benefits of an internal champion are easiest to understand with a simple example. Say that you wish to sell a cloud-based project management software to a construction company. Your champion might be a project manager who loved using your tool at a previous job. They understand the company's current workflow problems and can clearly see (and explain!) how your software solves them.

This champion could tell their colleagues and bosses how great your software is, adding credibility to your pitch. They could help you figure out the purchasing process and steer clear of office politics. And, importantly, they could introduce you to the key decision-makers you need to reach to close the deal.

Why are internal champions important in B2B sales?

You might wonder if internal champions are really that big a deal. If they can't sign the check themselves, why bother finding them? While their help might be indirect, it's incredibly valuable.

Streamlined sales cycles

We all know every company has the "official" way of doing things... and the way things actually get done. Having an insider can help you cut through red tape or avoid wasting time on people who don't influence the decision. Instead, your champion can guide you through the internal communication channels and help you align your pitch with the company's internal goals.

Access to hidden stakeholders

Sometimes, the most important people for your deal aren't the ones with the fanciest titles. It might not be about meeting a C-level executive, but about getting buy-in from someone respected by the team, regardless of their spot on the org chart. Your champion can point you to these hidden influencers whose opinions carry unexpected weight.

Better understand what the clients need

Having someone in your corner inside the company is fantastic for learning their real pain points and how they'd actually use your product. Higher-ups might talk in buzzwords, but your champion can give you the specific, concrete details you need to tailor your solution perfectly.

Faster, better adoption

Getting a whole company to use a new tool takes good training and support. No matter how great your support team is, having an expert inside the company – someone who knows both your solution and how their colleagues work – is invaluable. They can act as the local go-to person, helping train other employees and driving adoption for various use cases.

Preventing deals from falling off

Big deals rarely go perfectly smoothly; delays and unexpected issues pop up. It's frustrating when a deal loses steam simply because the company's priorities suddenly shifted. While a champion can't prevent shifts, they can often give you a heads-up, help you keep the conversation going (perhaps by linking your solution to new company initiatives), advise on the best time to re-engage, and maintain internal pressure to keep your solution top-of-mind.

Improved access to decision makers

Let's face it, busy decision-makers sometimes see sales reps as an interruption. It's not personal – their time is limited. That first impression is critical. An introduction from someone they already know and trust can be the difference between getting five minutes of polite attention and having them genuinely engage with your pitch.

Handling internal risks and objections

It doesn't take much to derail a deal. Sometimes, even if most people are cautiously positive, one strong "no" can carry a lot of weight, even from someone unexpected (like a key admin who must approve all new software). Your champion can be crucial here. They can address objections early, offer strong counterarguments, and alert you to potential roadblocks before they become major problems.

How to identify internal champions: 6 key steps

Knowing all the benefits, finding an internal champion sounds essential, right? But it's not always easy, and they usually don't just appear when you need them. You need a plan to actively find them.

Step 1: Find your ideal user

No one will champion your product harder than someone who loves using it. Start by creating a detailed ideal customer profile (ICP) and develop buyer personas for the key people involved. Once you know who they are, you can figure out what motivates them and what problems your product solves for them.

Step 2: Map out the target company

You can often find basic information about a company's structure publicly. Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to identify key decision-makers and understand who reports to whom. This helps you figure out whose opinions matter for the sale and also reveals potential allies who might be great champions.

Step 3: CRM data patterns

If you've worked with champions before, your CRM holds valuable clues. Look back at past deals where you had a champion. Scan the data for common threads – were they often in a specific role? Did they share certain traits? Finding these patterns helps you proactively spot similar potential champions in new prospects before you even reach out.

Step 4: Start connecting (peer-to-peer)

Once your ICP and CRM data give you ideas about who potential champions might be, find them on platforms like LinkedIn. Reach out and start building a connection naturally. The key here is empathy – show that you understand their challenges and pain points. Make that the foundation of your conversation.

Step 5: Build a real relationship

Don't just see your contact as a stepping stone. Treat them like a partner. Offer genuine help and insights related to their work or industry. Nurture the relationship by providing value throughout the entire sales process – remember, it's a two-way street.

Step 6: Asking for help

Eventually, you'll likely need to ask your contact for help – maybe navigating internal processes or getting an introduction to a key decision-maker. When you do, frame it collaboratively. Show them how helping you ultimately helps them get the solution they need to solve their problems.

The challenge of internal selling

While internal champions offer enormous value, it's important not to get carried away and forget their limitations.

They aren't salespeople: No matter how enthusiastic your champion is, they don't have your sales expertise or deep product knowledge. They also have their own full-time job, so the time they can dedicate to helping you is limited.
They face challenges too: The same hurdles you face – company politics, satisfying different stakeholders, proving ROI – also apply to your champion when they advocate internally.
They open doors, they don't close deals: It's unrealistic to expect a champion to close the deal for you. Their role is to open doors, provide key information, create opportunities, and help keep things moving. Closing the sale is still up to you.

To get the most out of your champion relationship, offer your full support and work together collaboratively. Make sure they have the right information, tools, and arguments to make the case for your solution confidently and efficiently inside their company. Always be ready to back them up.

Tips for working effectively with internal champions

Once you've built a solid relationship with your champion, understand their limits, and are giving them good support, how do you best use this advantage? There's no single magic formula, but these tips should help:

Stay in control of the deal: Your champion is helpful, but they aren't running the show – you are. Keep driving the process forward, maintain communication with all the decision-makers, and check in regularly. Only you can actually close the deal.
Remember you're the product expert: While coaching your champion on how to talk about your product is useful, don't forget you know it best. You have more detailed information, understand various use cases deeply, know the product roadmap, and have a deeper understanding of the business value it brings.
Navigate gatekeepers strategically: Decision-makers are busy and often have "gatekeepers" to manage their time. Instead of trying to push past them, change your approach. Position yourself as a helpful product expert, not just a salesperson. Offer to join calls simply to provide quick, accurate answers to technical questions, saving everyone time and making yourself valuable.
Tailor your pitch to each stakeholder: Different people care about different things. Decision-makers, end-users, IT, finance – they all have unique needs and interests. Create a specific value proposition for each key person you talk to, showing them exactly why your product is the right choice for them and their priorities. Getting buy-in across the board is key to closing deals faster.

Tips for empowering your internal champions

A champion can only be effective if they have the right support from you. While you should always tailor your help to the specific person and situation, here are some ways to empower them:

Customizable sales resources: Don't just send generic PDFs. Give your champions flexible materials – like interactive slides or customizable documents – that they can adapt to make specific points or address particular concerns within their company.
An easy-to-access knowledge hub: Make sure your champion can find answers quickly. Provide a searchable knowledge base or even an expert chatbot where they can get instant answers to FAQs, helping keep the deal moving without waiting for you.
Targeted training sessions: Offer focused training so your champion truly understands the product details. This helps them confidently explain how it solves unique problems or even give quick, informal product demos to colleagues.
Shareable multimedia content: People engage well with visuals. Supply your champion with easy-to-share videos, short webinar clips, case study highlights, or infographics that clearly show the benefits of your solution. This makes it easier for them to get their colleagues' attention.
Consistent communication and support: Check in regularly with your champion. Offer support, answer their questions promptly, and keep them updated on product news or relevant initiatives. Make sure they feel included and valued. Always follow up after important meetings they've helped facilitate.

💡PLAYBOOK → Accelerate Deals with Past Champions

Supercharging champions with Gem-E

We know finding and working with internal champions at prospect companies can be incredibly valuable. But let's be honest: getting the most out of them takes effort. With so much happening online today, figuring out who to connect with, building relationships, and training champions can feel like a huge, time-consuming task.

That's where Gem-E comes in.

Gem-E is an AI-powered outbound agent designed to help your outbound sales efforts. Gem-E acts as a smart assistant for your existing sales reps, helping them use their time much more effectively and achieve significantly better results.

Old-school outbound tactics often aren't cutting it anymore. Simply doing more of the same thing often backfires – your outreach gets ignored or marked as spam before it even gets read. Gem-E takes a different approach. It uses unique data to spot buying signals, allowing it to send personalized, natural-sounding messages to the right people exactly when they're likely to be interested.

Let's break down how it works:

Finding the right people with buying signals

Gem-E taps into exclusive data from UserGems and uses smart algorithms to identify strong buying signals.

This means Gem-E can often tell who's likely looking for a product like yours before your competitors do. It helps you focus on prospects who are actually open to hearing from you.

Because it pinpoints people already interested in similar services or actively researching solutions, Gem-E essentially acts as a powerful search engine for finding potential internal champions.

Smart, relevant AI messaging

Modern AI is good at writing messages that sound natural. The real challenge is writing something relevant that connects with the person receiving it. For that, AI needs great data.

Gem-E analyzes your CRM data along with its buying signal information to create personalized emails, call talking points, and LinkedIn messages.

Each message is crafted to be genuinely interesting to the recipient, sounding like it came from a knowledgeable sales rep who's done their homework.

This type of outreach is ideal for starting positive conversations with potential champions. From there, your sales rep can easily step in for a more personalized discussion, focusing on the benefits and solutions most important to that specific person.

Smarter account and contact prioritization

A sales rep's time is precious, and they can't be everywhere at once. Focusing on one lead means another might get missed.

Gem-E uses its signal intelligence to highlight the companies that are your best prospects and identifies the key people within those companies who are best positioned to help move a deal forward.

This ensures your sales team spends their valuable time on the opportunities with the highest potential, leading to conversion rates up to 3 times higher than traditional methods.

Smooth CRM integration

Getting different sales tools to work together can be a major headache, often involving manually moving data between systems.

Gem-E avoids this hassle by integrating smoothly with popular platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, and SalesLoft. This keeps your workflow simple and efficient, with no need for clunky workarounds.

Boosting outbound efficiency

Gem-E is designed to help your current team make a much bigger impact – potentially increasing your outbound efficiency up to 10x.

Instead of reps spending time on leads unlikely to convert, Gem-E finds the most promising opportunities so your team can focus their efforts where it counts most.

Reliable data you can trust

There's an old saying in tech: "Garbage in, garbage out." It's still true today, especially with AI. Many AI tools rely on low-quality third-party data, which can lead to inaccurate results or hallucinations.

Gem-E prioritizes data quality. It uses reliable, proprietary UserGems data and integrates cleanly with your CRM data.

This focus on quality makes Gem-E's output more dependable and much more effective at guiding your sales team toward the right companies and contacts.

We know many products make big claims. Instead of just taking our word for it, why not see Gem-E in action for yourself? Book a personalized demo today.

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