Why Does Selling Without an Internal Champion Force a Much Bigger Marketing Budget to Reach Buyers and Gatekeepers?

A sale into an organization depends on a champion inside the business, even when the champion will not write the check. The champion has to be clearly identified, and the seller has to build a relationship with the champion. Champions are the ones who get the seller in with the gatekeepers and the buyers. Without champions, the seller pretty much has to have a much bigger marketing budget, because reaching the buyers and the gatekeepers takes a massive amount of marketing and sales.

The path is to find the champion, know who the champion is, and treat the champion well. Champions then take the seller into the businesses where the champions work and stay with the seller for a long time, even when a deal in a particular environment does not close. The host says the familiar advice to get in front of the decision maker is good advice, and also says it seems a little lacking in nuance. Getting in front of the decision maker is not always realistic. Many times the purse string holder is the official decision maker and does not really care. The champion is the one who cares and has to make the case to the purse string holder.

Look for champions. Champions are how a seller gets into a business once direct access to the person who writes the check is out of reach.