# Champion: someone who sells for you when you are not in the room A tested champion sells for you when you're not in the room. Updated 10 Oct 2026 ## What is a champion in MEDDPICC? A champion is someone who sells for you when you are not in the room, and that is a test rather than a temperament. Being liked is not being championed. A champion has a personal win in the outcome, the standing to move other people, and a history of having actually done it for you at least once. ## How do I know if my champion is real? Give them something that costs them a little to carry, and watch what arrives and when. A coach tells you how the deal works; a champion has already moved something for you at least once. ## Champion or coach: what’s the difference? A coach tells you how the deal works; a champion changes how it goes. You find out which one you have by asking them to carry something, and watching whether it arrives. Both are worth having. Only one of them should hold up your close date. | The deal needs | A coach | A champion | | --- | --- | --- | | The person who signs | Tells you who decides. | Gets you in front of them. | | Its case made inside | Shares how things really work inside. | Makes your case in a meeting you are not in. | | Something done by a date | Answers your questions. | Does something with a date on it, and it arrives. | ### The test: a small ask with a date on it Ask for something that costs them a little standing, and put a day on it. What arrives, and when, is the result. - “Could you send our summary to [the person who signs] this week, with your own note on top?” - “Would you bring whoever runs security review onto Thursday’s call?” - “Before this reaches [name] for signature, could you get us fifteen minutes with them?” A no is not the failure. A no is information, and often an honest one. The failure is the yes that never arrives. In SalesWolf, a champion reaches tested only when you have recorded a test they were given and what they delivered. Until then they sit below it, however well the calls go. - Once you know who is real, [the Champion Plan](https://www.saleswolf.com/artifacts/champion-plan) puts each of them on one page, with the next test for each. - If your champion won’t take you to the person who signs, that is your test result. [Economic Buyer: who signs, and whether they know the deal exists](https://www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/economic-buyer) ## How it actually gets missed The friendliest contact gets recorded as the champion. Friendliness is the weakest available signal — it costs them nothing and predicts nothing. The rep finds out the difference in the last two weeks, when they need someone to carry a document into a room they cannot enter. How deep, not how many ## Champion questions, from candidate to tested Champion has four rungs, and where a deal sits on them is the difference between a dimension you have answered and one you have qualified. These are the rungs SalesWolf marks on the deal, by the same names and in the same order. What is written under each is the standard to hold a deal to. The product can only mark what is on record, so check its rung against this bar before you rely on it. 1. ### candidate Someone who could become a champion: engaged, accessible, on the right side of the problem. A candidate has not yet done anything for you. 1. “Who on your side is closest to this problem, and would want a hand in fixing it?” Finds the candidate by the problem, not by who was friendliest on the call. 2. “Would you want to be involved in how this gets decided, or would you rather hand it on?” Lets your contact choose; a candidate says yes and means it. 2. ### motivated They have a personal win here — something they get from this that they are measured on. Motivation is what survives an inconvenient week. 1. “What does a win here look like for you personally?” Finds the motivation, or finds that there isn’t one — both are worth knowing in month two. 2. “If this goes well, what changes for you at your next review?” Ties the win to something they are measured on, which is what survives an inconvenient week. 3. ### influential You have watched them move somebody else. Not their title; an occasion. 1. “If you were putting this in front of your leadership without me, what is the version that lands — and what is the bit they push back on?” Tests whether they have rehearsed the internal case, which is the first evidence of a real champion. 2. “Tell me about the last time you got something approved here that others were unsure about — how did you do it?” A story is a lead, not the rung. Influential means you have watched them move someone — ask, then watch for it. 4. ### tested They carried something for you and delivered — a meeting they arranged, a document they defended. Only this rung predicts what happens when you are not there. 1. “Who else needs to be comfortable with this, and would you be willing to bring them in?” A small, safe test of whether they will actually spend standing on this deal. 2. “Could you send our summary to [name] this week, with your own note on top?” A small ask with a date on it — what arrives, and when, is the test. Done when · You can name a champion with a personal win in the deal, evidence they move others, and a test they've passed. [The questions for every letter, on one page.](https://www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/questions) This page in plain text, with nothing to sign in to. Open it on a phone on the way into the call. [www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/champion.md](https://www.saleswolf.com/meddpicc/champion.md) Sample deal · Halden Freight · Champion ## On a deal, it has a position. On this one, it has reached influential. ## Qualification Partly captured: Champions Gaps aren't failures. They're the next things worth learning. The chip from the deal cockpit in SalesWolf, once three calls and an email thread are in. [Work a deal](https://app.saleswolf.com/login) [See it on a sample deal](https://www.saleswolf.com/sample-deal) 14 days free, no card, no call.