If you’re running a large deal and only working with a champion, you’re playing a dangerous game. The deal might feel like it’s moving forward, but without executive sponsorship, your deal is severely at risk and will likely stall. 

Here’s what top sellers know and do differently: they get to power EARLY. Why? Because they understand power compresses deals, eliminates blockers, and secures real budget. 

💡 The key is to get to power early, before you bring in your extended team for deep discovery, demos, business cases, and proposals. If you invest your time and resources into an opportunity before meeting with power, you run the risk of the deal stalling once they sell up because Executives may have competing priorities. Then you just lost 3-6 months of your time. 

Here’s the exact talk track we coach our clients to use when they’re stuck below power:

“We are excited to partner with you to solve this challenge and deliver a solution that fits within your existing environment. To properly solve this challenge, we plan to invest significant time, resources, and energy into this project. Before we proceed, we need to make sure this has Executive Sponsorship and aligns to your company’s highest priorities for this year. This will ensure we’re not wasting your team’s time or ours, and will maximize your chances of getting the project approved later on.”

And when your champion hesitates, anchor the value of getting execs involved. 

Why is this in their best interest, and what’s in it for them? 

Here’s how you respond when champions push back: 

“Involving executives on both sides early is how our customers get the best pricing, the best resources, and the best support. That visibility is only going to help you win and get the outcomes you’re after.”

If they still won’t introduce you to power, they aren’t a true champion. 

Getting to power is one of the core skills that I coach my clients on. 

Two of our top performing sellers, Keslie Neibel of Snaplogic and Christina Godwin of Workday, have mastered the art of getting to power early in the sales cycle. 

In this week’s training video, Kelsie masterfully demonstrates how she uses this talk track to gain executive access to all her deals – word for word.

It’s no coincidence that both Keslie and Christina have become top performers at their companies. 

It was an honor to have them present their playbook for becoming top sellers as working moms with a 9-5 schedule during our recent Fall Mastermind. 

Here’s a clip of Kelsie’s exact talk track – highly recommend that you steal it: https://youtube.com/shorts/UGf7AXWV7Gs

If you’re serious about closing big deals, you need to get to power as early as possible!