Champion Identifier
<quick_start> Trigger: "Find potential champions at [Company]" or "Who should I connect with at [Company] to champion our tool?" Input: Target company name, your solution/product, any existing contacts Output: Ranked champion candidates with scores (0-60), outreach templates, org chart, and multi-threading strategy </quick_start>
<success_criteria>
- Company context analyzed (stage, news, pain points, decision style)
- 3-4 champion candidates identified and scored on 6 dimensions
- Each candidate has outreach strategy (warm intro or direct)
- Multi-threading plan with coverage map provided
- Warning signs and red flags documented
- Champion development plan with phased actions included </success_criteria>
What Makes a Great Champion?
The Champion Profile:
- Has Pain: Directly affected by the problem you solve
- Has Power: Can influence decision or control budget
- Has Gain: Personally benefits when you win (promotion, bonus, easier life)
- Is Accessible: You can reach them and build relationship
- Is Willing: Open to new solutions and vendors
Champion vs. Coach vs. Blocker:
- Champion: Actively sells for you internally, has skin in the game
- Coach: Helpful but passive, gives you intel but won't advocate
- Blocker: Opposes your solution (loves incumbent, risk-averse, loses if you win)
Scoring Framework
Scoring Dimensions (0-10 each):
- Role Relevance - How directly does their role relate to your solution?
- Influence Level - Can they affect the buying decision?
- Accessibility - Can you reach them? Warm intro possible?
- Change Agent - Track record of adopting new solutions?
- Personal Stake - Do they personally gain if you win?
- Engagement Potential - Likely to respond to outreach?
Total Champion Score: 0-60 points
- 50-60: Ideal champion candidate
- 40-49: Strong potential champion
- 30-39: Possible champion with work
- Below 30: Not likely to champion
Output Format
# Champion Identification: [Company Name]
**Company**: [Company Name] | **Industry**: [Industry] | **Size**: [Employees]
**Your Solution**: [What you sell] | **Analysis Date**: [Date]
---
## Target Account Overview
**Company Context**:
- Stage: [Startup/Growth/Enterprise] | Recent News: [Funding/Growth/Changes]
- Likely Pain Points: [Based on stage and industry]
- Decision-Making Style: [Committee/Top-down/Consensus]
**Your Connection**:
- Existing Contacts: [X] | Mutual Connections: [X] 2nd degree
- Inbound Interest: [Yes/No] | Competitive Intel: [Competitor?]
---
## Champion Candidates (Ranked)
### #1 IDEAL CHAMPION: [Name]
**Champion Score**: 54/60
**Profile**: [Name] | [Title] | [Department] | [Tenure] years
**Scoring**: Role Relevance: 10/10 | Influence: 9/10 | Accessibility: 8/10
Change Agent: 9/10 | Personal Stake: 10/10 | Engagement: 8/10
**Why They're Ideal**:
- Pain: [Specific pain points their role experiences]
- Gain: [Career/team/personal impact when you win]
- Help: Can give insight into process, intro to EB, advocate internally
**Outreach Strategy**:
Best Approach: [Warm intro via X / Direct outreach]
Warm Intro Message:
> Hey [Mutual], I'm trying to connect with [Name] at [Company].
> We help [companies like theirs] with [problem]. Would you be
> comfortable making an intro?
Direct Outreach:
> Subject: [Company] - [Specific Problem]
> Hi [First Name], I noticed [observation] and thought you might
> be dealing with [problem]. We helped [similar company] reduce
> [metric] by [X%]. Worth a quick call?
**Personalization Hooks**:
- Recent Activity: [LinkedIn posts, job change, etc.]
- Shared Interests: [University, conference, group]
- Best Opening: "Hi [Name], saw you recently [activity]..."
### #2 STRONG POTENTIAL: [Name]
**Champion Score**: 47/60
[Profile, scoring breakdown, strengths, concerns, outreach approach]
### #3 GOOD BACKUP: [Name]
**Champion Score**: 42/60
[Similar structure, slightly shorter]
---
## Who NOT to Lead With
### [Name] - [Title]
**Why Not**: [Too senior / Wrong department / Blocker risk]
**But Consider**: [When they might be useful later]
---
## Multi-Threading Strategy
1. **Start With**: Champion #1 - Highest probability
2. **Parallel Outreach**: Champion #2 - Different department
3. **Economic Buyer Access**: Ask Champion #1 to introduce up
4. **Technical Validator**: Connect with [Technical Person]
5. **User Buy-In**: Get feedback from [End User Rep]
**Coverage Map**:
Economic Buyer (Decision): [Name, Title]
→ Champion (Advocate): [Champion #1]
→ Technical (Validate): [Technical Person]
→ Users (Adopt): [User Team]
---
## Account Mapping (DMU)
| Person | Role | Title | Champion Score | Influence | Status |
|--------|------|-------|---------------|-----------|--------|
| [Name] | Champion | [Title] | 54/60 | High | Not contacted |
| [Name] | Economic Buyer | [Title] | N/A | Final | Via Champion |
| [Name] | Technical Buyer | [Title] | 35/60 | Veto | Should engage |
| [Name] | End User | [Title] | 28/60 | Feedback | Include in demo |
---
## Champion Development Plan
### Phase 1: Initial Contact (Week 1)
- [ ] Secure warm intro or send personalized outreach
- [ ] Schedule discovery call
**Success**: Meeting scheduled
### Phase 2: Discovery & Qualification (Week 1-2)
- [ ] Run discovery call, validate pain
- [ ] Assess influence and willingness
- [ ] Get them to open up about process and players
**Success**: They articulate pain clearly and agree to next step
### Phase 3: Value Demonstration (Week 2-3)
- [ ] Tailored demo focused on their pain points
- [ ] Share case study, calculate ROI
**Success**: They say "this would really help us"
### Phase 4: Champion Activation (Week 3-4)
- [ ] Ask: "Would you be comfortable introducing me to [decision maker]?"
- [ ] Provide ammo to sell internally (ROI calc, one-pager)
**Success**: They introduce you to economic buyer
### Phase 5: Deal Progression (Ongoing)
- [ ] Regular check-ins, coaching on internal process
- [ ] Get input on proposal, have them socialize internally
**Success**: Deal moves forward with their helpDiscovery Questions
For Discovery Calls:
- "Walk me through how [process] works today at [Company]"
- "What's working well? What's frustrating?"
- "If you could wave a magic wand, what would you fix?"
- "Who else is impacted by [problem]?"
- "What have you tried? Why didn't it work?"
For Champion Qualification:
- "Is this problem on your roadmap to solve?"
- "How did buying decisions work in the past?"
- "Who typically gets involved?"
- "What would success look like for you personally?"
- "Would you be comfortable introducing me to [economic buyer]?"
Warning Signs (Not Actually a Champion)
- Too Agreeable: Says yes to everything but never takes action
- Can't Get You to Others: Always has excuse why you can't meet boss
- Doesn't Know Process: Can't describe how buying decisions get made
- Not Actually Affected: Talks about problem in abstract, no personal examples
- No Skin in Game: No personal KPIs tied to the problem
Action: Keep them in loop but find the REAL champion who has pain.
Pro Tips
Finding Champions: Look for recent hires (want quick wins), promotions (want to prove themselves), pain posters (share challenges on LinkedIn), change agents (adopt new tools), event speakers (accessible).
Building Relationships: Make them look good internally, arm them with talking points and ROI, coach them on selling you internally, don't put them in awkward political positions.
Best Practices:
- Start at Director/VP level (too junior = no power, too senior = too busy)
- Multi-thread to reduce single point of failure
- Qualify early with validation questions
- Give value before asking for introductions
- Document champion interactions in CRM
Emit Outcome Sidecar
As the final step, write to ~/.claude/skill-analytics/last-outcome-champion-identifier.json:
{"ts":"[UTC ISO8601]","skill":"champion-identifier","version":"1.0.0","variant":"default",
"status":"[success|partial|error]","runtime_ms":[estimated ms from start],
"metrics":{"profiles_analyzed":[n],"champions_identified":[n],"atl_count":[n],"confidence_high":[n]},
"error":null,"session_id":"[YYYY-MM-DD]"}Use status "partial" if some stages failed but results were produced. Use "error" only if no output was generated.