With pressure continuing from the business to improve efficiency
and keep the headcount lean with an agile infrastructure, CIOs are
grappling with a mix of managerial and leadership issues. This is a
huge challenge, and the vendor (partner) community plays an
extremely important role here—in supporting the CIO with a
range of services and products that are appropriate for his
requirements.
According to a recent survey by one of the leading CIO forums,
just one out of five senior IT executives stated he/she was willing
to spend time talking to vendors on an unsolicited basis. A
detrimental cycle is then created—sales people push even
harder when response and conversion rates are lower than normal,
and frustrated salespeople become more aggressive. Both set of
actions are bound to cause more annoyance in the minds of their
targets.
If you look at the top five items on the list of issues that
CIOs face while interacting with vendors, they can be summarized as
follows:
Issue # 1
Unsolicited telephone calls / E-mails
Many sales people use mass mailers which just end up in the spam or
junk folder. Some are also guilty of making calls on direct numbers
or worse on a cellphone. This comprises a big pain
area—unsolicited e-mails and telephone calls eat up a big
part of a CIOs time and attention. This is also a big distraction
and can become a nuisance.
Recommendation: Sales people should send
personalized e-mails and then seek permission to call. If the mail
is not answered, so be it. Direct calling, calling without
permission and starting to speak without preparation are sure ways
to cause a CIO to switch off.
Another issue is telephone etiquette—many calls are made
in an intrusive and aggressive manner—something that just
puts one off immediately and closes the door for future
interactions as well. Vendors must have their sales people or
tele-callers trained in soft skills and telephone etiquette. This
is the first impression and touch point with a CIO. This can indeed
make or mar the impression and the relationship.