6 Points Of Power Mapping Your Team Needs To Know

6 Ways To Boost Your Professional Network.

Referred leads close six times more successfully than non-referred leads.

It makes sense right!

Referred leads come with much greater trust and credibility, as the leads are introduced by someone who already had a positive experience with your business.

The deal becomes much easier to close with the significantly reduced barriers to conversion..

However, you need to find your influencers — your loyal advocates who will influence purchasing decisions. This is where Power Mapping comes into play.

What is a Power Map?

A power map is your strategic guide to understanding the key people influencing a B2B buying decision.

Power Mapping is a visual tool that maps out who’s who in decision-making—you identify critical roles like decision-makers, influencers, and potential blockers—you use it to discover how they connect and influence one another. This information strengthens your win-rate by multiples.

A power map clarifies each stakeholder’s authority, level of interest, and stance towards your solution. By understanding this terrain to navigate, you can:

Target your approach: Engage the right people with the right message.
Build alliances: Identify and nurture potential champions.
Navigate obstacles: Anticipate and overcome resistance effectively.

Core Power Mapping Questions

Who do you want to meet with?
What do you want to know about them?
To what extent can their behaviour influence the buying decision?
Does your team know how to draw up their own bespoke Power Map?
Do you have the right Power Mapping Coach guiding your team?
Does your team know how to use their pipeline contacts to improve relationships?
Where are your referrals coming from?
And crucially: does your team know how to effectively build long-term customer relationships?

Power Mapping Basics:

Below we describe what is a power map in more detail.

1. Identify who you need to influence. Who is the key decision-maker?

Find the REAL decision-makers. We’ve been there – talking for months to who you think is the decision-maker, but find out it’s someone else with the power to make decisions.

2. Next, figure out who has influence over them. For example – senior leaders, colleagues, family, former co-workers. Then create a map showing the connections. (Figure 1)

Their trusted inner circle has outsized influence. Discover and track who their influencers are. Who gets CC’d. Who is having conversations with who between and after meetings.

3. Colour code all individuals based on their relationship with you. That is:

Yellow for a close connection
Blue for a loose connection
Red for no connection
- Think of power map colour coding as your relationship temperature check – it’s not just about who you know, but how well you know them. Getting this right helps you predict deal outcomes with remarkable accuracy.

4. Highlight any “Power Points” — The power players who connect to many other influencers or have significant influence over the decision-maker.

Every organisation has people who seem to know everyone and influence everything. Finding them can cut your sales cycle almost in half.
Watch who gets consulted on big decisions
Notice whose opinion others always seem to quote
Track who’s leading the key projects
Pay attention to who can get meetings scheduled quickly

5. Chart out the Power Pegs on a grid, based on high-low levels of helpfulness and influence. (Figure 2)

Map out where each contact sits on influence vs. support
Keep updating as relationships evolve
Plan your moves based on where people end up

6. Target those who are most influential and likely to support you.

Create action steps to engage at multiple levels and leverage their relationships to gain access and influence.
Create personalized plans for these key players
Share insights and provide value that actually matters to them

Power Mapping: The Sales Strategy That Helps You Close Bigger Deals

Every salesperson has faced it at one point or another: you build a great relationship with someone at a company, deliver a compelling pitch—and still, the deal goes nowhere. Why? Because you weren’t talking to the right person. Or worse, you didn’t know who the right person was.

This is why power mapping is your secret weapon. Originally used in advocacy and strategy, power mapping helps you identify and influence the real decision-makers in your deals—and avoid wasting time on contacts who can’t say “yes.”

With a power map, you can go beyond job titles to uncover the people who actually move the needle—and create a strategy to reach them.

Why Salespeople Need Power Mapping:

B2B buying groups are big: Typically, the average B2B buying group includes several decision-makers. Power mapping helps you understand who they are.
Influence ≠ title: The person with the highest rank isn’t always the key player.
Time is limited: Focus your energy on the people who can move the deal forward.

How to Create a Power Map for a Sales Deal

1. Start With the Buying Group
List everyone involved in the buying process: your point of contact, their manager, procurement, IT, legal, the CFO—whoever touches the decision.

2. Assess Power and Influence
For each stakeholder, ask:

Can they approve or block the deal?
Do others listen to or defer to them?
What’s their role in the decision-making process?

3. Determine Support Level
Rate each contact as:

Champion: Actively supports your solution
Neutral: Undecided or uninvolved
Blocker: Opposes or favors a competitor

4. Map It Out
Use a simple 2×2 grid:

Vertical axis: Power/influence (low to high)
Horizontal axis: Support level (opposed to supportive)

Now you can visualise where everyone stands—and plan your next move.

Example: You’re selling software to a mid-size company. Your main contact in operations loves your product (Champion), but has limited power. The Director of IT is skeptical (Blocker), and the CFO, who holds the budget, is neutral.

Your strategy?

Arm your champion with ROI data to influence internally
Book a separate meeting with the CFO to show long-term cost savings
Address the IT director’s concerns directly with your technical team

Now you’re not just selling—you’re strategically managing influence.

Tips for Effective Power Mapping in Sales

Use CRM tools: Many CRMs allow you to document stakeholder roles and influence.
Ask the right questions: “Who else will be involved in the final decision?” is gold.
Re-map regularly: Relationships and dynamics shift during the sales cycle.
Build champions: A well-placed internal advocate can be more powerful than the C-suite.

Power mapping separates average salespeople from great ones. It’s not just about having a contact—it’s about knowing who to influence, when, and how. With power mapping, you stop guessing and start selling smarter.

Create a Powerful Sales Engine

Connect influencers with the referred leads they bring, and you’ll create a powerful sales engine that:

Drives growth
Increases customer loyalty
Expands your network

To book your Team’s tailored Power Mapping KONA workshop – click here. Also to learn why KONA’s sales training processes are preferred over more traditional sales training methodologies (such as the Miller Heiman sales process) read more here.