Do IT Salespeople Lie?

by Paul DiModica

Several years ago, my first book (How to Sell Technology) was featured in CIO Magazine. The writer bought my course and called me on the phone and said – I am coming to Atlanta to meet you because I am going to write an article about you in our magazine.  He met me at an Italian restaurant in the city. We had an elongated conversation about my IT success techniques and strategies and the writer (the former CIO of Dell and PepsiCo Worldwide) covered many subjects during my interview.

Here is the CIO article - read it for yourself
http://www.cio.com/article/31046/The_Hardest_Job_in_IT_Is_Sales_Not_CIO

After reviewing my IT sales and marketing approach, the writer digressed into a subject that he believed should have been included and addressed.  He felt that I should have openly discussed how salespeople don’t always tell the truth when they market and sell technology and services to management. De facto – he thought I should talk about how IT salespeople lie.

Wow, I thought -- where is this guy coming from?

He suggested that I needed to develop a chapter on honesty into my IT course in order for it to be complete. It made no sense to me. He was the former CIO of two global 1000 companies and he implied that he bought (or attempted to buy) IT software and services from salespeople who lied.

How did that happen?

Funny -- up to this point, he has never spoken to someone like me before. All of the other interactions he has had with IT sales and marketing executives in his career involved trying to sell him something. So, I asked him:

• Did he not have an army of corporate lawyers to look at contracts to make sure his firm was protected?

• Did he not have a gaggle of administrative assistants to check references to make sure the presentation pitch was accurate?

• Did he not set up benchmarks for acceptance for the IT purchase?

• Did he not assign a competent project manager to supervise the IT acquisition and installation?

He really never answered these questions but perhaps his experience has been borne from several factors which included being pitched by overenthusiastic salespeople who were were not thoroughly trained about their offerings or executing a purchase before all of the due diligence was completed.

But there are bigger questions here that must be asked -- with particular emphasis on the fact that most buyers do not have the in-house resources that his company had.

Doesn't the "buyer" have a fiduciary responsibility to confirm what they are buying and do IT salespeople lie?

Do most IT buyers not know how to buy correctly?

IT salespeople do not go in the backroom, make up the price, create the client’s configurations, layout the project plan and develop written specifications by themselves. No, it’s a team effort. Operations, engineering, training, finance and sales often are involved in the development of prospect generic templates or custom proposals based on the size of the deal.

So, if the IT purchase is not installed correctly or does not work as marketed, there are many departments and executives involved. Most of the time, the IT salesperson is just a liaison between the company and the prospect by providing a presentation and proposal of what the company will deliver.

But, do IT salespeople lie? Sure, some do. They get caught up in the enthusiasm of a qualified lead and then make up product or service capabilities, or commit to undocumented timetables of new offerings, or give discounts that are not approved.

However, most salespeople don’t lie. Selling IT is hard . . . and most salespeople are business professionals.

What often happens when buyers buy wrong is that they don’t know how to buy correctly so they just blame the salesperson who is usually the most visible company representative.

Listen, if you want to sell more IT and services and increase your client referrals - don’t expect the buyer (regardless of how big their company is or their business title) to know how to buy correctly.

They could have bought your type of IT product or service 7 times - wrong!

Manage the sale from both sides of the selling process by backfilling the lack of buyer knowledge and you will increase your revenue capture.

Here is the CIO article - read for yourself
http://www.cio.com/article/31046/The_Hardest_Job_in_IT_Is_Sales_Not_CIO

Your comments are welcome. Email me at:
pdimodica@valueforward.com

To your IT revenue growth,

Paul R. DiModica
CEO-Founder
Value Forward Group
IT Business Growth Acceleration Specialists
(770) 632-7647
www.valueforward.com

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