Revenue Builders

Breaking Down the Traits of a Champion with Anne Gary

Feb 9, 2025

Anne Gary, Managing Director at Force Management, shares her expertise on the traits of sales champions. She delves into distinguishing between business and technical champions, emphasizing the importance of influence over positional authority. Listeners learn to utilize organizational and power charts to identify key players and change agents. Gary highlights how the right relationships can drive decision-making and improve business outcomes, offering invaluable strategies for sales success.

15:37

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Anne Gary

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Quick takeaways

Understanding organization charts is essential for identifying both positional authority and influential individuals who can sway decisions in sales.

Differentiating between business champions, who focus on strategic outcomes, and technical champions, who emphasize product features, is crucial for effective selling.

Deep dives

Importance of Organization Charts

Understanding organization charts is crucial for identifying potential champions within a company. These charts reveal the hierarchical structure and positional authority of individuals, which can help sales reps recognize who holds managerial or executive roles. However, organization charts do not indicate who has real influence in decision-making processes, which is equally important to assess. Identifying individuals with significant political power or subject matter expertise is key to finding those who can sway decisions, rather than just relying on titles alone.

Intro

2min

Understanding Organizational Influence and Decision-Making

2min

Understanding the Influence of Change Agents in Organizations

2min

Champion Dynamics in Sales

7min

Navigating Business Challenges and Champions

2min

In this episode of The Revenue Builders Podcast hosted by John McMahon and John Kaplan, Anne Gary, Managing Director at Force Management, dive into the crucial topic of identifying and understanding champions in the sales process. They explore the differences between business champions and technical champions, the significance of the power chart, and the role of coaches. Discover how to distinguish between these key players, the indicators to look for when meeting potential champions, and the importance of aligning with individuals who have both authority and influence within an organization.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[00:01:21] Start with an organization chart to understand the hierarchy, reporting structure, and positional authority within an organization.
[00:02:33] Identify not only positional authority but also influence within the organization, as influence plays a crucial role in decision-making.
[00:03:44] Just because someone holds a position in the organization doesn't guarantee their influence in the sales process, especially with the economic buyer.
[00:04:30] Look for change agents on the "power chart" who have a track record of making a positive impact on the organization.
[00:06:02] Influence and authority are independent of hierarchy; influential champions can be found at various organizational levels.
[00:07:23] Business champions focus on articulating positive business outcomes, while technical champions possess deep domain expertise.
[00:10:10] Champions provide access to the economic buyer's power, which is essential for controlling the decision process.
[00:12:26] Coaches offer valuable insights and guidance but may lack the authority and influence to access the economic buyer.
[00:13:40] Continuously test conversations to identify whether you're developing a technical champion or a champion with the necessary business acumen.
[00:15:11] Business champions address substantial business problems "above the noise" and speak in terms of business outcomes.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:03:44] "Just because somebody has positional authority in a company, we can't automatically conclude that they have power in the organization over a potential decision to buy our software."
[00:04:30] "Start by looking for change agents on the 'power chart,' individuals who have made a positive impact on the organization in the past."
[00:07:23] "Business champions focus on articulating positive business outcomes, while technical champions possess deep domain expertise."
[00:10:10] "You really know you're in control when you have a champion that's selling on your behalf, helping you control the decision criteria in terms of influence."
[00:15:11] "Business champions address substantial business problems 'above the noise' and speak in terms of business outcomes."

Listen to the full episode with Anne Gary in this link:
https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/finding-your-champion-with-anne-gary

Listen to the episode we did with Anne Gary on Economic Buyers here:

https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/getting-to-the-economic-buyer-with-anne-gary

Check out John McMahon’s book here:

Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4

Check out Force Management’s Ascender Platform: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/