Speak two languages simultaneously to close the deal.
Navigate the political and financial landscape of every enterprise deal. Below the line for the Champion. Above the line for the Economic Buyer.
Below vs Above the line.
Personal Success
Champions & Managers
Company ROI
Economic Buyers
Defining the players.
The Champion
Has Power + Intel + Pain. They sell for you when you aren't in the room.
The Influencer
Can guide or block the deal, but lacks direct signing power or deep internal intel.
The Economic Buyer
The ultimate Yes/No. Owns the budget and cares about the 5 ATL Pillars.
Build, test, sell with the Champion.
Not yet
Build the Champion
Move them from User → Partner
"How would solving [Problem] personally impact your career goals this year?"
"If we hit these KPIs, what does that mean for your next performance review?"
"What would change for you personally if this project succeeds?"
Test the Champion
Are they actually a Champion?
Ask for the internal "unofficial" org chart
Request a meeting with the Economic Buyer
"Can you walk me through exactly how a purchase like this gets approved?"
"Who usually tries to block deals like this?"
Sell WITH the Champion
Arm them to win internally
Create a 2-page Business Case for them to forward to the EB
"When you talk to your CFO about this, what question always kills deals?"
"What objections do you expect, and how can we prepare together?"
Four steps to align with the EB.
Acknowledge the Pain
Your team is currently losing 20% efficiency due to [Symptom].
The professional business case.
Executive Summary
The 2-minute TL;DR for the EB
Your team is losing 15% of development capacity due to [Current Process].
Implementing Acme to automate [X] and [Y].
Projected savings of $250k/year with a 6-month ROI.
Business Case
Data-heavy proof for the CFO
Investment vs. Return - clear table with projected numbers.
Every month we wait costs the company $20,000 in lost efficiency.
Who is needed for implementation? What is 'time-to-value'?
Value Realization Plan
The risk-removal promise
We guarantee these 3 metrics will move.
Onboarding complete, first workflow automated.
50% of target processes migrated.
Full deployment, measurable ROI achieved.
Risk Mitigator
Why Acme is the safest choice
SOC2 compliant, end-to-end encryption, 99.99% uptime SLA.
Dedicated CSM, 24/7 support, guaranteed SLAs.
500+ enterprise deployments, 97% retention rate.
Full data export, no vendor lock-in.
Who does what in the deal.
| Component | Champion's Role | EB's Role |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Summary | Helps you write it | Uses it to brief the Board |
| Business Case | Provides raw data | Approves the math |
| Value Realization | Executes the plan | Holds accountable for ROI |