---
title: "How to Identify a Champion in a SaaS Deal: A Practical Guide | Brazn AI"
description: Learn how to identify and develop a true champion in SaaS deals using key qualification tests, distinguishing champions from coaches, managing champion risk, and leveraging AI signals.
image: https://www.brazn.ai/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/How%20to%20Identify%20a%20Champion%20in%20a%20SaaS%20Deal%20A%20Practi.png
---

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- [procurement](https://www.brazn.ai/blog/tag/procurement),
- [sales advocacy](https://www.brazn.ai/blog/tag/sales-advocacy),
- [champion risk](https://www.brazn.ai/blog/tag/champion-risk),
- [champion vs coach](https://www.brazn.ai/blog/tag/champion-vs-coach)

# How to Identify a Champion in a SaaS Deal: A Practical Guide

![](https://www.brazn.ai/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/How%20to%20Identify%20a%20Champion%20in%20a%20SaaS%20Deal%20A%20Practi.png)

- May 2, 2026

![Alex Margarit](https://www.brazn.ai/hubfs/Alex_Margarit.avif)

[Alex Margarit](https://www.brazn.ai/blog/author/alex-margarit)

# How to Identify a Champion in a SaaS Deal: A Practical Guide

In complex [SaaS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_service) sales, the [champion](https://www.linkedin.com/learning/influencing-the-decision-maker-with-sales-champions/what-is-a-champion) is the internal advocate who sells on your behalf when you're not in the room. They make introductions to the Economic Buyer, navigate internal politics, surface [objections](https://www.zenithtraining.ie/how-to-handle-sales-objections/) before they become fatal, and create urgency with [stakeholders](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stakeholder.asp) who will never speak with you directly.

Without a champion, you don't have a deal. You have a contact who finds your product interesting — which is a completely different thing.

The champion is also the most commonly misidentified element in [MEDDPICC](https://meddpicc.net/). Reps mistake enthusiasm for advocacy, seniority for influence, and responsiveness for sponsorship. A genuine champion is specific: they have power within the organisation, they are personally invested in the outcome, and they actively do things on your behalf that require them to spend political capital.

## The Four Qualities of a Real Champion

**Power and influence.** The champion must have credibility and standing within the buying organisation — either positional authority (senior enough to make or strongly influence the decision) or functional authority (the internal expert whose recommendation carries weight). A junior enthusiast is a coach, not a champion.

**Personal stake in the outcome.** The champion must have something to gain from this purchase succeeding — a business objective that the product serves, a professional goal that the outcome advances, or a problem they own that the solution fixes. If success of the purchase doesn't advance the champion's own interests, their advocacy will be limited.

**Willingness to act.** The champion must be willing to take actions on your behalf that require effort or political capital — setting up the EB introduction, sharing internal information, advocating in meetings you're not part of, pushing [procurement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procurement) to prioritise the contract. Passive enthusiasm is not championship.

**Access to the Economic Buyer.** The champion must have a relationship with the EB and the ability to get your message in front of them. A champion who can't get you to the EB is a champion with insufficient access — which limits their effectiveness in a multi-stakeholder deal.

## Champion Identification: The Tests

**Test 1: The EB introduction ask**

The most reliable champion test is asking for the EB introduction and observing the response.

*"We're at the stage where it would be really valuable to get \[EB name\] involved — even a 20-minute conversation to share the business case we've been building. Would you be able to set that up?"*

A real champion says yes and delivers the introduction within a week. A pseudo-champion says yes but consistently finds reasons why the timing isn't right. A contact who isn't a champion says no or explains why the EB doesn't need to be involved.

**Test 2: The internal information ask**

Ask for information that requires the contact to go beyond what's comfortable:

*"To tailor the business case to what your board cares about most — do you have a sense of what their top three priorities are for this year? Anything from investor communications or board materials would be really helpful."*

A champion finds a way to share relevant context. A contact who isn't a champion deflects or provides only what's publicly available.

**Test 3: The competitive intelligence ask**

- "Are there other vendors being evaluated? It would help me understand where we stand and tailor our approach."\*
- "Is there a conversation about this happening internally that I should be aware of? Anything I should be preparing for or helping you navigate?"\*
- They respond to your questions but never proactively share new information.
- They say the EB is "aware" but won't arrange a direct introduction.
- They're enthusiastic about the product but can't articulate the internal business case.
- They've never mentioned any internal discussion about the purchase — no politics, no competing priorities, no concerns from other stakeholders.
- Every follow-up action they commit to takes significantly longer than expected.

If you have a coach and not a champion, your primary objective is to find the real champion — or to develop this contact into one.

## Champion Risk: When Champions Leave or Go Cold

Champion departure is one of the most common causes of late-stage deal loss. When a champion leaves their role — resignation, internal transfer, restructure — the deal loses its internal advocate, its EB relationship, and often its urgency at the same moment.

Champion risk management:

**Multi-thread before you need to.** Never rely on a single champion. Identify and develop a secondary internal advocate — ideally at a different level or in a different function — from Stage 2 onwards.

**Connect the champion to the EB before they leave.** If the champion transition is happening, arrange a direct EB introduction as a priority before the champion's last day.

**Activate the secondary champion immediately.** If the primary champion departs, the secondary must step up before internal momentum dissipates. This requires the secondary to already be briefed on the deal, the business case, and the current state.

## How Brazn Identifies Champion Signals

Brazn's call analysis tracks champion-indicating behaviours across every conversation — internal advocacy signals, information-sharing quality, EB access indicators, and competitive intelligence provision. The Champion element of MEDDPICC in Brazn is scored not on what the rep believes about the champion, but on specific observable behaviours extracted from call and email data. This makes champion assessment objective rather than optimistic — and surfaces champion risk before it becomes a Stage 4 surprise.

## See Brazn in your sales stack

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![Brazn sales intelligence dashboard](https://www.brazn.ai/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Brazn_dashboards-Sep-18-2026-06-57-25-8701-PM-Sep-19-2026-05-16-14-7852-PM.png)

![Alex Margarit](https://www.brazn.ai/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alex_Margarit-Sep-19-2026-05-16-13-6652-PM.avif)

## About the author

[Alex Margarit](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aemm/) is a Sales AI Expert and SaaS Sales Leader with 25+ years of experience at BMC, ServiceNow, and DocuSign.

 Blog Post

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