( CNN ) -- Finding out who talks to who and who can influence other people is an age-old marketing tool . Now , companies are finding a goldmine of valuable information by mapping networks of influence -- both inside and outside their organizations . Take Danish consulting company Innovisor -- they took advantage of their employees ' increased use of social media to land two major banks as clients . After locating all their employees ' LinkedIn connections to two companies they were targeting as clients , they divided the contacts into three groups : Information providers , Influencers and Decision Makers . Working their way up the chain from information providers , they then asked their employees to gather as much information as they could about their target companies . `` Everyone , from the cashier at the bank had valuable information to add , '' says Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard , partner at Innovisor . `` By the time we approached the decision makers we understood the structure of the business and we brought a level of knowledge that created a far better dialogue than you would normally have , '' he added . Freedom key to workplace of the future . The process was inspired by Morten Hansen , professor at the University of Berkeley , and his book `` Collaboration : How Leaders Avoid the Traps , Create Unity , and Reap Big Results . '' He calls the process `` Swarm the Target '' -- in this case the target being the prospective clients and the swarm being information seekers coming from all directions . In its essence , it 's marketing . `` If you want to sell new sneakers you pinpoint the two or three most popular people to buy them , '' says Hansen , and adds that when you map a corporation 's internal network , `` you pinpoint the most central people and contacts in a company . '' When Innovisor is not putting their knowledge to creative use for their own benefit , this is exactly what they do . The company makes it their business to map the internal networks and relations of client companies -- helping them pinpoint who talks to who and who influences others . `` Relationships between people are invisible , '' says Hansgaard . `` By making them visible you can make them controllable . You can illuminate gaps in collaboration , you can build them and you can strengthen them . '' This kind of knowledge can prove crucial to a company 's efficiency , for example when implementing change . At Vestas , one of the world 's largest wind turbine manufacturers , Innovisor pointed to one person as having a major influence on 58 people . `` He is someone you really need to have on board when you want to change things , '' says Hansgaard , and adds that one of the most amazing things is that a lot of companies are not aware who their `` influencers '' are . With one client in the Middle East , Innovisor found three major influencers . `` Two of them , the company leadership had no idea even existed , '' says Hansgaard . The mapping of a network can also highlight problems with collaboration , which according to Hansen can have a major impact on a company 's bottom line . Case in point is Apple . `` The iPod 2001 was a collaboration across units in Apple and with partners outside , '' Hansen says . `` It was put together by already existing technology . In hindsight we know how important that was . The company that should have done it , Sony , was in a far better position to do it but they failed miserably to collaborate . '' The bottom line is that businesses are people and relations matter . As networks grow broader , bigger and more global -- - as they expand across distances , borders , cultures and functionalities -- so do their potentials and problems . Mapping networks , says Hansgaard , can provide a clearer picture for leaders to make decisions . `` It also provides a readiness to change by giving employees visible proof why it is necessary , '' he says .
Businesses are mapping networks of influence in their organizations . Spotting and utilizing influencers is a marketing tool , says Berkley professor Morten Hansen . Danish company Innovisor used employees ' networks to land new clients .