5 Rules for Pitching to a CIO

Last week, I gave the "6 Rules for Pitching to a CFO." I know from your comments and emails that many of you sell for technology companies. Since I've known -- and hung out with -- dozens of sales reps for high tech firms and have done a fair amount of selling myself in this environment, I thought you'd appreciate some perspective on how to sell to CIO in medium to large firms. Here are five basic rules:

• RULE #1: CIOs are not CEOs. C-level execs can be grouped into two buckets: the ones who have real power and the ones that don't. CEOs and CFOs always have real power. Titles like Chief Ethics Officer or Chief Environmental Officer don't. CIOs fall somehwere in-between. In most firms, the CIOs have a limited amount of power to actually spend money. And in some firms, CIOs have a purely "advisory" function and actually have very little power, except as a gateway to those who have real clout.
• RULE #2: CIOs secretly want to be CEOs. Regardless of the actual power that they weild, CIOs share one characteristic: they all secretly want to become CEO, if not of their current firm, than of another firm. Because of this, they're always looking for ways to appear less technically-oriented and more, well..., statesmanlike. That's why few CIOs ever turn down a position on the board of directors of another firm. They want to be bigwigs, but know that they're not quite there yet.
• RULE #3: CIOs want business insights. In order to appear "CEO-like," a CIO must build a bridge between the technical world and the business world. Most CIOs already have a technology background, so they have only a limited interest in product features and other trivia. Instead, CIOs need original insights into their industries and companies, based upon original analytical skills and research. Then they want an approach that uses technology to add business value to the corporation.
• RULE #4: CIOs are very risk averse. Ten years ago, CIOs had it easy. The business world was all agog with technology and IT spending was almost automatic. That's no longer the case. So many big IT projects have failed and so many IT fads have come and gone, that most CEOs and CFOs have become techno-sceptics. As a result, CIOs are far less willing to take risks with new technology and new concepts.
• RULE #5: CIOs need your help to sell. Once you've gotten the CIO on board on a corporate-wide technology project, the CIO will still need to sell the rest of the company on the idea. Unfortunately, many CIOs are not very good at selling, which means that you'll need to help the CIO prepare slides, present the business case, and make the project seem as if it has a low risk of failure and a quick ROI.