Your customer champion leaves the company mid-project and momentum stalls. What do you do?

30-second answerSay your answer out loud first, then reveal.

Act quickly. Find out who inherits the responsibility and who the executive sponsor is, and brief them on goals, progress, results so far and the value to them. Re-validate priorities (the new owner may have different goals), identify new champions among users who benefited, and make wins visible with metrics and testimonials. In future engagements, build multi-threaded relationships so the project never depends on one person.

Steps

Within days: ask the champion (before they leave, if possible) for introductions to their successor and to the sponsor.
Briefing pack: one page covering the problem, results so far (numbers), user quotes, next milestones, and what's needed from them.
Re-discovery with the new owner: "What are your top priorities this quarter?" Adapt the roadmap if needed.
Grassroots champions: power users who rely on the tool can speak to its value.
Executive visibility: a short update to the sponsor connecting the project to their goals.
Risk flag internally: let your account team know the account is at risk.

Prevention (multi-threading): build relationships with the sponsor, the IT owner, the user team lead and power users; hold regular steering meetings; share results broadly.

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Your customer champion leaves the company mid-project and momentum stalls. What do you do?

Steps

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