‘Hidden’ Decision Makers? How AI Maps Internal Politics Before They Kill Your Deal

Your champion just went silent. That $100K deal you've been forecasting is officially dead, killed by someone in a completely different department you never knew existed.

In this episode of AI-Powered Seller, Jake Dunlap reveals how to use AI for sales stakeholder mapping to identify the TRUE power dynamics in any organization before your deal gets derailed by internal politics.

Most B2B sellers focus on organizational hierarchy when they should be mapping the "powerarchy", the real influence networks that determine whether enterprise deals live or die. Jake demonstrates his exact AI sales prompt that identifies ghost stakeholders, maps informal approval processes, and gives you tactical strategies to navigate complex organizational politics in B2B sales.

This sales AI episode covers:

• Why traditional B2B stakeholder mapping fails in today's complex buying environment
• The difference between your sales champion and THE decision maker (and why it matters for deal closing)
• How to identify the "shadow CIO" and other hidden decision makers using AI
• Jake's complete AI framework for political deal analysis and sales strategy
• Specific discovery questions to ask different stakeholders based on their motivations
• Warning signs your enterprise deal is about to be torpedoed by internal dynamics

Using a live demonstration with ChatGPT for sales, Jake walks through analyzing a fictional deal scenario, watch how AI identifies informal power structures, predicts potential deal blockers, and provides actionable next steps to win the political game in enterprise sales.

Every enterprise sales rep and mid-market seller needs to be running this AI sales process on every deal.

📍 Chapters

00:00 Your Sales Champion Went Silent - Here's Why

02:30 Why Traditional B2B Stakeholder Mapping Fails

05:15 Hierarchy vs Powerarchy: Understanding Real Sales Influence

08:45 Live AI Political Analysis for Sales Deals

15:20 Tactical Next Steps and Enterprise Deal Warning Signs

18:30 How to Future-Proof Against Political Sales Landmines

New episodes drop every other Wednesday @ 8 AM CT / 9 AM ET

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►Connect with Jake: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakedunlap/