The CIO as a Sales Person

The role of a CIO has grown in the first decade of the 21st century. Where many simply felt the CIO (Chief Information Officer) was just another CTO (Chief Technology Officer), they are finally starting to understand the difference as well as appreciate the different skills each role brings to the table.

While a CTO is almost always a pure technologist (classically trained in technology), the CIO almost always starts in the business end of things. More often than not, starting their careers in Sales/Marketing. I myself started out in sales until nearly halfway into my career when I switched to technology.  You see, the CIO must transform IT into a business, thus he (or she) really should have the background to lead multiple departments. I would argue that sales are chief among those talents. Those CIOs not able to sell and influence the business is prone to the budgetary ax wielders.  Sales skills make a CIO more visible to the business, they are more able to understand the needs of the business while being able to translate those needs to the technologists.

Some of the key sales skills that would bolster any CIO's career include: 

• Communication: Communication is critical and while I am sure most CIO's can communicate, being able to communicate to the business process owners is another thing entirely. Communicating a project or the need for a project is akin to telling a story in the business world. Of course, all of the nuts and bolts of how a project will work is important, but once you start to explain algorithms, the business audience will start to glaze over and you may as well have started by saying (in your best Charlie Brown) "Wha, wha wha wha wha....$10,000.00, wha wha wha wha."  Communications should sell the project, raise the benefits, tout the outcomes and excite the business process owners. Essentially, they really don't care HOW it gets done, just that it has a positive impact for them. Additionally, proactive communications are key. A weekly email or sit down goes a very long way to assure support for IT initiatives.
• Manage The Expectations: Unclear expectations will always kill a technology department. Equally so, unmanaged expectations will cause the same outcome.  As a CIO you must sell what the IT Team can do as opposed to what the business wants (trust me, those two are never the same). This is best accomplished by offering alternatives. A CIO with a solid sales background can be very adept at doing this. "What you are asking for cannot be accomplished the way that you want, however, I would suggest this to get to the same results or even this." Alternatively, you could also suggest another way to accomplish the same goal as a less expensive method: "We could accomplish what you want, the way you want it by adding x cost; or we could do it this way for x savings."  Typically the business process owners want all of the possible functionality and want it now. It is up to the CIO to educate them on the cost/impact of all those priorities and then let them choose what they can live with or without.
• Selling the Change: Any change of technology and/or process is painful in any organization. The CIO must spend the time to sell the change throughout the entire organization, they must understand what will happen (and when it will happen) to realize the benefits of the changes.  Selling change is a long term process and continues through the launch of any new technology. From providing samples (I always like to give a select few Users new machines or early access to applications), to extended training as well as demos, to illustrating the ROI; it is a constant and necessary job.
• Deliver & Market: Once you sell the business process owners, you obviously must deliver the goods! In addition, you must market not only the success of the program/project, but the ongoing benefits as well. All good sales people will tell you that they follow-up consistently even after the sale is made and the goods have been delivered.
• Work with the Sales Team: This particular skill has been growing more recently, that is the need of the CIO to travel and meet with customers. Face it, customers have demands, they have needs that the business has to meet. After all, they are the reason your organization exists. A CIO that can sell to a customer, is a CIO that brings high value to the overall team.

A CIO that can master selling skills is a CIO that will be integral to the success of the business overall and will be a champion of the IT Team.