Skip to lesson
Exit
Enterprise Sales Mechanics1 / 2

2 min lesson

Build the champion, don't just find them

Answer "What is the practical difference between a fan and a champion and how do you test which one you have?" Use the clue you found.

Step 1 of 2

Build the champion, don't just find themthe most impactful relationship

A champion is more than a fan. A fan likes the product; a champion will spend their own credibility to get it bought. You develop one by finding the person who feels the pain most acutely and then arming them to sell when you're not in the room.

  1. 1Identify the developer or lead who feels the pain and has internal credibility - influence matters as much as enthusiasm.
  2. 2Arm them with a tight ROIReturn on Investment. The value gained versus what it cost, the language an economic buyer funds deals in. Press Enter for the full definition. story, usage data from their own org and a one-pager they can forward to their VP without editing it.
  3. 3Test them. Ask the champion to get you a meeting with the economic buyer. A real champion makes it happen; a fan stalls - and now you know which you have.
  4. 4Coach the internal sell. Help them anticipate Security and Procurement objections so they're not blindsided in their own building.
  5. 5Protect the deal by adding threads - never let it rest on one person who could leave.
Treat gatekeepers as their own deals

Security/IT and Procurement aren't afterthoughts you handle at the end. Each is a mini sales cycle with its own buyer, criteria and timeline. For an AI coding tool the security conversation - code privacy, training-data policy, SOC 2, IP indemnity - can make or break the deal. Open it early and run it in parallel, not after the eng team says yes.

What keeps four or five threads pointed at the same date is a mutual action plan. A MAP is a shared document listing every step from here to signature, with an owner and a date on each line, agreed with the customer. It turns vague optimism into a schedule both sides committed to.

Learn more

Full explanation

Full explanation

Interview move

If asked how you'd run a Cursor enterprise cycle, name the committee by function and say you'd multi-thread from week one with a MAP. Then add the Cursor-specific nuance: the security/IP review is its own track you open early, because developer love can carry you to the exec but only a clean security story gets you through procurement.