Latest / Customer Journey with Fexingo: Touchpoints, Mapping, and Multi-Channel Marketing / The B2B Buyer Journey Touchpoint Most Maps Miss
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, you know that six-month B2B sales cycle we've been tracking with that software company? The one where the CFO finally signed off last week? Luna: Yeah, the one where the marketing team thought the demo request was the turning point. But you told me the CFO actually made the call after a private meeting with the IT director. Lucas: Exactly. And that meeting — the one between the internal champion and their own colleagues, with no vendor in the room — is a touchpoint that never shows up on any journey map. And I think it's the one that actually decides most B2B deals. Luna: So before we dig into that, I have to say, if these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own work, it would mean a lot if you considered supporting the show. It's what keeps us ad-free. Lucas: Yeah, honestly, if today's episode gives you one idea you can take to your team, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a small way to keep this going. Luna: Right. And we appreciate every listener, whether you chip in or not. Now, back to that champion meeting — why do you think it's so overlooked? Lucas: Because it's invisible. You can't see it in your analytics, you can't tag it in your CRM, and you definitely can't attribute a click to it. But it's where the real persuasion happens. The champion has to sell your product internally, often without you even knowing. Luna: So what does that meeting actually look like? I imagine the champion isn't just saying 'this is cool.' Lucas: No, they're building a business case. They're anticipating objections from the CFO about cost, from IT about security, from legal about compliance. And they're doing it alone, with maybe a one-pager you gave them. Luna: And that one-pager is probably not enough. I remember you mentioning a stat that most champions feel unprepared for those internal meetings. Lucas: Right, I think it was over 60 percent. So the question is, how do you map a touchpoint you can't see? You have to design for it, even if you can't track it directly. Luna: So what would that look like in a journey map? Do you just draw a box that says 'internal champion meeting'? Lucas: You could, but the key is to think about what content supports that moment. Instead of just a product spec sheet, you might create a 'champion enablement' asset — something that helps them make the case in their own words. Luna: Like what? A slide deck they can customize? Lucas: Exactly. Or a short video that walks through the ROI model, so the champion can send it to the CFO beforehand. I saw a company do that — they made a three-minute video explaining the payback period, and the champion said it was the reason the CFO greenlit the budget. Luna: That's a great example. But how do you know if that video actually helped? You can't see the meeting. Lucas: You can't. But you can ask the champion directly. Post-sale, have a conversation and say, 'what made the difference for you internally?' And you'll hear the same story over and over — it was that video, or that one-pager, or that ROI calculator. Luna: So it's almost like you have to map the journey from the champion's perspective, not the vendor's. Lucas: That's exactly the shift. Most journey maps are built around the vendor's touchpoints — your website, your emails, your sales calls. But the B2B journey is really the champion's journey through their own organization. Luna: And that's especially true now with self-serve buying. I read that a huge percentage of B2B buyers want to research on their own before talking to sales. Lucas: Right, Gartner's been saying that for a while — something like 70 to 80 percent of the buying journey happens before the first sales conversation. So the champion is already deep into their own research, and then they have to bring that to their internal team. Luna: So the internal meeting becomes even more important, because it's not just about convincing the committee — it's about the champion being credible for having done their homework. Lucas: And that's why you need to give them the ammunition. Not just a logo-laden brochure, but something that reflects well on them. Something they can say 'I found this' and it makes them look smart. Luna: Have you seen any brands do this really well? Like, beyond the video example? Lucas: I think of companies like HubSpot and Salesforce — they have entire resource centers with templates, calculators, and benchmarks. A champion can go in, pull a report, and bring it to the meeting with their name on it. Luna: So it's about making the champion look good, not just your product look good. Lucas: Exactly. And that's a subtle but critical distinction. If your content makes them look like a vendor shill, they won't use it. But if it helps them solve an actual business problem, they'll champion you. Luna: So how would you actually map this touchpoint in a visual way? Like, where does it sit in the journey? Lucas: I'd put it right after the demo request or the trial signup, but before the negotiation. It's that moment where the champion is evaluating you internally. So on the map, you'd have a 'champion internal evaluation' stage, with a sub-touchpoint for that meeting. Luna: And what metrics would you attach to that? Lucas: You can't measure the meeting itself, but you can measure leading indicators. Did the champion access the ROI tool? Did they download the security whitepaper? Did they attend a demo with a colleague from IT? Those are proxies. Luna: So you're tracking engagement with specific content, but you're tying it to that internal meeting as the outcome. Lucas: Right. And you can also look at deal velocity. If deals with champions who engage with internal-enablement content close faster, that's a signal the touchpoint is working. Luna: Makes sense. I'm also thinking about the flip side — what happens if you ignore this touchpoint? Do you lose deals you thought were safe? Lucas: All the time. I've seen deals that looked 90 percent won die in the final internal meeting because the champion couldn't justify the cost or the security review went sideways. And marketing wonders why the pipeline vanished. Luna: So it's almost like the journey map is incomplete if it doesn't include this invisible step. Lucas: Completely. And the fix isn't hard — it just requires a mindset shift. Stop thinking about your customer as the person at the other end of your email, and start thinking about them as someone who has to sell you internally. Luna: That's a good way to put it. So if someone listening wants to start doing this, what's the first step? Lucas: Talk to your sales team. Ask them what their champions say about internal meetings. What objections come up? What content do they ask for? And then build a small 'champion enablement kit' — maybe three or four assets that directly address those objections. Luna: And test it. See if deals start moving faster or if win rates improve. Lucas: Exactly. And I think you'll find that the internal champion meeting is not just a touchpoint — it's the fulcrum of the whole B2B journey. Luna: I like that. So next time you're mapping a journey, leave a space for the invisible meeting. Lucas: And give your champion the tools to win it for you. That's the takeaway.