In Part 1, we looked at the five people who decide a radiology AI deal, and why one champion is only one vote.
Now let’s look closely at that champion, because they carry the heaviest and most overlooked load:
The radiologist who loves your tool still has to sell it, and nobody has given them the means to do it.
(Pilot to Purchase: Part 2)
A Scenario
A radiologist watches a demo and is genuinely impressed. At the end of the call, the vendor says, “Could you put together a short summary for your committee?”
The radiologist agrees and means it. But that evening there are still 80 reads in the worklist. The next day brings more. The summary never gets written, and the vendor’s follow-up lands in a crowded inbox.
Two weeks later, the radiologist’s enthusiasm hasn’t faded. The momentum has. Nobody said no. Nothing moved.
The Champion’s Dilemma
A radiology champion is asked to do a second job on top of a very full first one:
✔ Clinical work: a heavy daily volume of reads that doesn’t pause for a vendor project.
✔ Internal selling: explaining the tool to a chair, a CIO, a CFO, and legal, in language each of them understands.
✔ Personal risk: putting their name behind a tool that may add work for colleagues if it goes badly.
They want the tool to succeed. They just don’t have the time, the materials, or the roadmap to carry it alone.
Where Vendors Go Wrong
“Our champion will take it from here.”
That sentence treats goodwill as if it were capacity. A champion’s enthusiasm is real, but it doesn’t write the business case, answer the security questionnaire, or chase the budget approval.
Vendors often make three mistakes:
- They ask the champion to create materials the vendor should have prepared
- They send long decks that nobody inside the hospital will open
- They follow up with more demos when what’s needed is a clear next step
What the Strongest Vendors Do Differently
- Pre-write the case. A one-page summary the champion can forward as it is, covering the clinical value, workflow impact, and cost in plain language.
- Answer the other four roles. Short, separate answers for the chair, IT, finance, and legal, so the champion never has to improvise.
- Offer a clear pilot plan. A defined scope and success measures, so the champion isn’t inventing the pilot.
- Provide peer references. One conversation with another radiologist at a comparable site is worth more than a stack of slides.
- Respect the clock. Short calls, specific asks, and follow-ups that make the next step easy.
Final Thought
A champion opens the door.
A prepared champion gets the whole room to say yes.
Your champion wants you to win.
Your job is to make it easy for them to help you.
Next in the Pilot to Purchase Series:
Part 3: Why the CFO Says “Not This Year”
Your turn: What’s the most useful thing a vendor has ever given you to help sell a tool internally?
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