Partnering With the CIO: The Future of IT Sales Seen Through the Eyes of Key Decision Makers

Levels of Commitment

A sales rep’s ability to say “Been there, done that” weighs more heavily as a factor in the vendor selection process when the solution under consideration is critical to the business, says King.

“If the solution isn’t critical, we might be willing to try something new with the vendor. But even then, the vendor will need to demonstrate some past success in doing new things with other customers or within other parts of our business,” says King. “I’m really looking for signs of commitment. I want to know that the vendor will stick with us, and not get bored and disappear.”

Not every relationship has to be strategic. King doesn’t expect the same level of commitment from a vendor selling PC peripherals as he does from a vendor selling an enterprise financial management solution.

“We look for higher levels of commitment from vendors supplying business-critical solutions. As the business process becomes more critical, our need to feel comfortable with the vendor increases,” says King. “If we’re talking about a commodity such as a computer mouse, then we don’t need the same level of comfort with the vendor.”

When King is interested in working with a vendor, he doesn’t hesitate to explain precisely what he’s seeking.

“Early in the sales cycle I try to describe the role that the vendor will be playing within our company. I’ll describe the vendor’s responsibilities, the level of service we’re expecting, and the kinds of results we’re looking to achieve,” says King. “And ...