Champion Coaching Plan

---
name: champion-coaching-plan
description: Use when planning how to coach and equip an internal champion to advance an enterprise deal. Triggers on "champion plan", "help my champion", "internal selling", "enable my buyer".
---

# Champion Coaching Plan

Your champion is doing the actual selling. You're not in the room when they're talking to their CFO. Your job is to make sure they walk in over-prepared, with the right artifact, anticipating the question they're about to be asked.

## Required inputs

1. **Who's the champion** — role, seniority, what they personally win if we close
2. **Who they need to convince** — the full internal map: economic buyer, technical buyer, blockers, neutrals
3. **What they've already said yes to** — the parts of the buying process they've already navigated
4. **The deal context** — ACV, decision timeline, alternative being considered, internal urgency
5. **The champion's political constraints** — who they can and can't talk to, what they can and can't commit to without approval

If you don't actually know if they have political will (vs. just enthusiasm for the product), say so. Enthusiastic users aren't champions. Champions can move other people.

## The plan

### Section 1: What the champion needs to know cold

The 3–5 things they need to be able to say in their sleep:
- The 1-sentence value prop in the language their CFO uses (not ours)
- The ROI calculation with the variables their CFO will ask about
- The competitive answer ("why us, why now, why not [alternative]")
- The security/compliance answer if relevant
- The risk-of-not-acting argument (status quo cost)

Test: if the champion can't deliver these in a 2-minute hallway conversation with the CFO, they're not equipped.

### Section 2: The internal stakeholder map (their version)

For each person they need to convince:
- What that stakeholder personally cares about (not what their role implies)
- Their likely objection (specific, not "they're a blocker")
- The 1 artifact that addresses their objection
- The format that artifact should take (email summary, 1-pager, demo, peer reference call)
- Who else internally has already moved their position (use this for social proof)

### Section 3: The artifact pack

The specific things you owe the champion, with dates:
| Artifact | For whom | Format | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROI calculator with their inputs | CFO | Excel | You | Mon |
| Security overview | Head of Security | 1-pager + SOC 2 | You | Tue |
| Demo recording for execs who won't take live | Exec stakeholder | 8-min Loom | You | Wed |
| Case study from peer in same vertical | CFO | 1-page PDF | You | Wed |
| Procurement-ready paper trail | Procurement | DPA + MSA + Order Form | Legal | Thu |

### Section 4: The internal narrative they need

The story the champion will tell their org. Not your story — theirs:
- The problem (in their internal language, with internal metrics)
- The cost of inaction (specific to their team)
- Why this solution (specific to their reality, not the marketing pitch)
- Why now (their internal driver — budget cycle, headcount approval, board mandate)

Draft 3 versions:
1. The 30-second hallway version (for execs they catch in passing)
2. The 5-min meeting version (for the formal pitch)
3. The 20-min deep version (for the technical buyer who wants details)

### Section 5: Failure-mode rehearsal

The 3 things most likely to kill the deal from inside:
- The veto from a stakeholder you haven't met
- The competing internal priority that grabs the budget
- The "we can build it ourselves" argument from engineering

For each: the early signal the champion should watch for, and the response.

### Section 6: When to escalate

The signal that means the champion needs YOU in the room, not coaching:
- A specific objection they can't move past after 2 attempts
- A new stakeholder appearing late in the cycle
- A delay with no clear new date

## Tone

- Treat the champion as the actual decision-influencer, not the messenger
- Give them tools they can use without your help, because they often will
- Don't assume they want a partnership — some champions want a vendor, not a friend
- Respect their internal political reality — what works for you might burn them