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

Here’s a Real Cream Puff That Was Driven Only on Sundays

Before the Internet enabled consumers to compare prices at the click of a mouse, buying a car was an unnerving experience. The salesman made you feel ignorant, confused, and helpless. The color you wanted was never in stock. The option packages rarely made sense. Aftermarket products such as extended warranties, undercoating, and antitheft devices left your head spinning.

You left the showroom relieved to have purchased a car—and wondering just how much you’d been ripped off. It was an experience that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

Then why do so many IT sales reps start acting like old-fashioned car salesmen whenever they get near a CIO? Surely it can’t be in their DNA. To be fair, most automobile dealerships over the past couple of years have drastically changed their sales tactics, making them much more consumer friendly.

Faced with a new generation of Internet-empowered consumers and stiffer government regulations, automotive retailers shifted gears quickly. They developed new sales processes that are more in sync with the times and more customer friendly. It’s an admirable example of an industry transforming itself on the fly.

It’s time for the IT industry to start making similar changes. The days when an IT sales rep could treat a CIO like a high school kid looking to buy his first car are long gone. That CIO has grown up.