Posted in May, 2025 

 

In Health IT, great products don’t win deals—people do. Especially the right people on the inside. That’s why understanding how to identify and empower clinical champions is as critical as your pitch. But where there are champions, there are also blockers—and the most dangerous ones are invisible until it's too late.  

This white paper explores how to navigate the political landscape of provider organizations, develop true internal champions, and avoid the silent killers of enterprise sales momentum. 

Why Stakeholder Mapping Is So Critical 

Selling into hospitals isn’t just about buyer personas—it’s about power dynamics. You’re not selling to one person, or even one team. You’re selling to a network of decision influencers who often don’t agree with one another. 

Typical buying group includes:  

• Clinical (CMO, Department Heads, Nurse Leaders) 
• IT (CIO, Security, Integration) 
• Operations (Process owners, frontline managers) 
• Finance (CFO, budget committees) 

Each has veto power. Few have full buying authority. 

What a True Champion Looks Like 

✅ Understands internal politics and how to navigate them
✅ Has personal skin in the game (they benefit from your success)
✅ Advocates for you internally without being asked
✅ Pushes the process forward—scheduling meetings, looping in stakeholders
✅ Will help you build the business case, not just give you quotes 

A champion doesn’t just like your product.
They sell it for you in the room where it happens. 

Spotting Political Landmines (Blockers in Disguise) 

🚩 Passive approvers who say, “This looks great” but never follow through
🚩 IT contacts who use security review to delay progress
🚩 Mid-level managers who feel threatened by workflow changes
🚩 Clinicians who say, “It’s not a priority right now” even when the pain is clear
🚩 Stakeholders who attend demos but don’t ask questions 

These people often have internal influence, and unless surfaced and addressed, they can quietly tank your deal post-pilot or post-demo. 

How to Navigate the Politics 

• Use MEDDPICC® to uncover the decision web—not just the org chart 
• Ask your champion: “Who might be hesitant about this?” 
• Preempt objections by aligning messaging to stakeholder-specific risks 
• Equip champions with internal pitch decks and ROI/payback language 
• Keep a running stakeholder map—who’s engaged, who’s silent, who’s resisting 

How Elevate HIT Sales Helps 

We train Health IT teams to:  

• Spot and validate true champions early 
• Use discovery to uncover hidden friction and influence 
• Develop playbooks for internal influence building 
• Coach founders and sellers on navigating multistakeholder deals in provider orgs 

Conclusion 

In provider sales, your success often depends on someone you’ll never meet—unless your champion gets them on board. 

Let Elevate HIT Sales help you build a champion-led motion that turns internal politics from a blocker… into your biggest lever.