Map the room: who signs, who sells for you, who blocks
A stakeholder map for one deal is short: a row for each person on their side, and the part they play in this decision. Below: the roles worth naming, the question that finds each one, what to do about a blocker, and a blank map to fill in.
Updated
What is a stakeholder map in sales?
A list of the people on the buyer’s side who touch this decision, and the part each one plays in it: who signs, who sells it inside for you, who tells you how it works, and who is against it. Titles come second. An org chart shows who reports to whom; it rarely shows who decides.
Which roles go on a stakeholder map?
The economic buyer, your champion, a coach and any blocker. Most people on the map won’t hold one yet, and a name with no role is the next thing to find out. One person can hold two roles.
Most roles can go to more than one person. The economic buyer usually can’t: if two people have to sign, find out which one can say yes when the other says no.
Champion
Sells it inside when you’re not in the room, because they gain something from it themselves.
“If this goes ahead, what changes for you?”
Whether they have a reason of their own to push. Someone who only likes the product is a fan, not a champion.
Economic buyer
Can say yes to the money when others say no. Usually one person, and often not the one you talk to.
“When a purchase this size went through last time, who gave the final yes?”
A name from a real purchase, instead of a guess from an org chart.
Coach
Tells you how the decision really works and who matters in it. A coach helps you; a champion takes a risk for you.
“Who else will have a view on this before it’s decided?”
The names that aren’t on your map yet, and a person willing to tell you.
Blocker
Loses something if this goes ahead, and can slow it or stop it. Often quiet on the calls you’re on.
“Who would be least happy if this went ahead?”
The person to meet before they meet the signer without you.
Only one name on the map? Your deal is single-threaded covers who to add, and how to ask your champion for them.
How do I handle a blocker?
Find out what they lose if this goes ahead, before you try to get past them. A blocker usually has a reason: a project of their own, a vendor they picked, or work that lands on their team. Ask your champion what it is, then ask for time with the blocker and hear it from them.
Going around a blocker to the person who signs may work once, and it tends to cost you the blocker for the rest of the deal. If what they lose is real and you can’t fix it, tell your champion, and let them decide whether it goes to the signer.
Ask your champion
“What would [name] need to see before they’re comfortable with this?”
Ask the blocker
“What happened the last time a project like this touched your team?”
Ask the blocker
“If this goes ahead, what changes for you?”
What goes in a stakeholder map template?
A row for each person on their side, and a column for each thing you need to know about them. Start with a row for each role, then add everyone you’ve heard named, even with the role left blank.
The columns: Name · Title · Role on this deal · Champion side · What they care about · Met them? · Reports to · Sways · Next question. Champion side is technical, business or executive: whether they defend the evaluation, make the business case, or get the deal priority. Why each side needs someone.
Download the blank stakeholder map: CSV. Opens in Excel and Google Sheets. If Excel puts each row in one cell, import it through Data › From Text/CSV and set the delimiter to Comma.
Should the map show who reports to whom?
Only where it changes who decides. A reporting line tells you who can overrule whom. It doesn’t tell you who wants this, and a director with no budget can still stop a deal the vice president would sign.
Fill in “Reports to” and “Sways” where you know them, and treat both as your read of the room, not something the buyer told you. Those two columns stay in your copy: SalesWolf keeps each person’s role on the deal, not who reports to whom.
SalesWolf doesn’t draw the map.
It keeps the people on the account and each person’s role on this deal. It proposes the champion, the economic buyer and a blocker from your calls, and you accept each one. A coach you set by hand, and each champion’s side. A deal holds one economic buyer: give the role to someone else and what you recorded about the last one as buyer is deleted.
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