We stopped trusting "internal champions" and win rates doubled from a 22%
"stalled deal" rate to closing $1.4M ARR in 90 days.
I was reviewing a pipeline with a Senior AE. He had three deals marked at 90%.
"The Champion is leaning in hard, Alan. They’re basically doing the selling for
us."
I told him to delete the deals from the forecast. He thought I was joking.
20 days later, all three went dark. Why? Because Champions are the most
dangerous people in your pipeline.
They tell you what you want to hear because they want to feel important. But
when they sit across from their CFO, they fold like a lawn chair. They have the
"title" but zero "tension."
In 2026, if you aren't creating Internal Friction, you aren't
in a real deal.
Here is the radical system I installed to stop the bleeding:
Stop looking for a "Champion." Start looking for a
Mobilizer, someone who is willing to be uncomfortable to get
this done.
1. The "Negative Close" Test: The moment a prospect says, "I
love this," hit them with tension.
-
The Script: "Most projects like this die because the VP of
Ops sees it as a distraction. If they tell you to wait until next year,
what’s your move?"
-
The Goal: If they don't have an answer, they aren't a
champion. They’re a fan. Fans don't sign checks.
2. Stop Sending "Thank You" Notes: Thank you notes are for
polite losers.
Send a Mutual Accountability Plan (MAP).
- Don't say: "Thanks for the great demo!"
- Do say: "Here is the list of 4 things you agreed to get from Legal before
Friday, so we don't miss the Q3 rollout. Can you confirm you’ve started that?"
3. The CFO "Kill-Switch" Brief: Your champion is terrified of
looking stupid in front of Finance. We created a 1-page "CFO
Shield", a brutal, numbers-only document that proves the cost of not
buying is higher than the price of the software.
-
The Tactical Hack: Put your price at the top, then list 3
specific ways your prospect will lose their bonus if they don't solve this.
The Transformation: One enterprise team was tired of "great
conversations" that ended in "maybe next year."
We enforced the Pressure Test. They disqualified 30% of their
pipeline in one week. The remaining 70%? Win rate jumped from 16% →
24%. They stopped chasing ghosts and started closing fighters.
The 2026 Reality: Politeness is a lead indicator of a lost
deal. If your prospect isn't willing to fight their own team for you, you don't
have a deal. You have a hobby.
Stop being liked. Start being necessary.
Alan "Modern Seller" Ruchtein.
