BitcoinAddict

Tips for telling to IT and IT Leaders?

I have an interview next week and this company is one of the top companies on my list. The product they sell is to IT Teams and IT Leaders and it helps them manage and secure their applications.

In the past, I have not directly sold to IT teams but I was hoping that for those of you that have, you could share some experiences on what is unique about selling to IT.

One objection I can see coming up is that I have not directly sold to IT before so I was hoping you all could help me learn what is different about selling to IT compared to other departments.

👑 Sales Strategy

☁️ Software Tech

👥 Hiring

13 comments

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braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

IT are very informed. They know what they want and come with a list of requirements. They won't engage unless there is a project.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

All very true.

They're not talking to you unless they have a reason to do so.

And when they do talk to you, don't ever try and BS them. Don't make shit up. They won't mind if you have to return with an answer after consulting your team, but they won't ever forgive you if you try and pull something over on them .

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I’ll add, allow them to be experts at what they do, and let them explain what they are solving for. They are usually direct, and appreciate straightforward processes.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Great call outs, Bunny!

Brokenpuppet

Contributor

Enterprise AE

I sell almost exclusively to IT departments (CIO down to Director level) and they hate being sold to as much as accountants. They are all about mapping outcomes to challenges.
Relationships and partnerships matter a lot here and you need multiple validation points as they are calculated and of course very technical.
Follow Jon Santee on LInkedin as he is a great IT leader that helps bridge the gaps between the two professions.
good luck!

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

This. I'd also add that IT departments are not like Sales/Marketing they actually appreciate the effort you make in an out reach so don't hesitate to bring everything you got at them. Maybe explaining it well in the interview would make more sense.

Also, as mentioned above, they're much more aware. You're selling something practical and not a "maybe kinda thing" you need to learn a lot to be super confident to sell. Confidence would take it to lengths.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

I have not sold to IT before but here are 2 things i have focused on durring an interview when selling to a new buyer.

1. dont try to convince them that experience doesn't matter - own that you havnt done it and will most likey need to learn some key details about the buyer.
2. highlight the areas of your current process that you think are transferable: how you uncovered a need during a discovery call, how you are good at identifying what is a big enough need to make a purchasing decision or not (again not specific use cases but HOW you evaluate it)

Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

The vibe is consultancy, relationship, and partnership. They are looking for things that make their org/org's systems more secure and/or less complicated. If you can take weight off of shoulders and save them man hours or even time to worry about things, they'll listen. To the others point - be succinct in what you are trying to gain and upfront on why it should directly matter to them and their responsibilities.

IT leaders, in my experience, are tough poker face guys that could be having the best or worst day of their life and you wouldn't know it. I like to get a person beneath them to learn as much as I can or make a relationship on the many common hobbies of IT personnel - PC gaming being a huge one that I've been able to lean on and get champions to become IRL friends.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

You get the mtg.
Your SE does the ppt. Why? Because they won’t believe the sales guy.
You do the follow up Sales 101 stuff.

lowhangersalesbanger

Executive

Account Executive

You cannot lie about what your product does to people in IT. They will see throug it in a heartbeat. So if you don't know an answer just tell them. They don't expect you to know all the technical stuff anyway.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

Sales

You’ll need to understand their buying process. Usually it’s different than a normal procurement route. They have more leeway.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

IT is inbound or referral based. They don’t want you to call them and they likely have no capacity to consider anything but what is current on their sprint or what is preventing them from being efficient.

You need to ensure you have a strong marketing engine and trade show presence that can drive folks in. Also a strong partnerships program or customer referral program is crucial.

BillyHoyle

Tycoon

Senior Account Executive

It depends how specific of a territory and product you have. If you have a larger, less ironed out territory I've always had success asking for referrals and attending trade shows. If it is super defined territories, it's all about creating ground swell with front line managers or execs in other departments to get information on company wide initiatives and then positioning your product that aligns with those to the CIOs office.
Just my two cents.