A few years ago, we CIOs proudly announced that every company is a technology company. We were in our element, digital transformation was our reality, and the seats at the table began to open up for us.

We were right, and we are living it out, and the pandemic only solidified our conviction and people’s belief of us.

Move over for the CMO. They are following our lead, and their announcement rings true: “Every company is a sales company.”

Never has technology and marketing needed to align themselves more than today. The CIO doesn’t need to be a master at sales and marketing, but (s)he does need to master the mindset, focus and communication of their fellow marketing and sales specialists.

Technology leaders and marketers share the same mindset

We are both consumer-centric. We don’t create in a vacuum. We test with the end-user in mind.

We don’t build “it” in hopes people will come; we build knowing the need that is being met.

We research; we evaluate; we adjust. We work in iteration. We scale.

Speed is our friend; hurry is the devil.

Every single line of business needs us. We aren’t just tasked anymore; we bring strategic insight for crucial decisions.

We are data hogs. And we know what to do with it.

Technology leaders and marketers share the same focus

REVENUE is an acrostic for marketing and sales strategy. I won’t break it out here, but I will highlight three points that technology and marketing focus on to drive results and business line revenue.

• Relationship: Digital transformation and marketing know how to leverage relationships in order to advance their cause. In this case, relationship is another word for trust. We are after followers, and followers are those who have given us trust. Violate the trust, lose the followers. Technology and marketing are keenly aware of potential missteps.
• Value: Relationships build trust by adding value. Successful football coach Urban Meyer said, “All of life comes down to bringing value.” The same is true for business, and value is driven by technology and marketing. For most, the key to value creation is to educate. Fail to be present on a regular basis, and customers will not be present when you need them.
• Networks: Technology and marketing focus on people networks. There is no such thing as a customer. Every customer is a network of customers. This is true for external customers as well as internal customers. Serve one and you serve more; win one and you win far more.

Technology leaders and marketers share the same communication needs

As a CIO, have you run into different communication styles? Have you realized you weren’t getting a message across because of how people process differently?

Have you ever needed to pitch an idea? Of course you have. Have you relied on what you know rather than how to say it? Probably :-)

You work hard to align technology with goals of the business. Marketing does that every day too; are their presentations kicking your butt? Quite possibly.

Do you understand influence and persuasion? Marketers have a whole science behind them that drives their messaging. Do you ever feel caught in the headlights compared to them?

“What we have is a problem in communication.” Not really. People are at the mercy of a good communicator. I enjoy healthy two-way communication, but I don’t need it to get you to do what I want (fortunately, what I want to do is to serve you).

Technology leaders and marketers teach people how to respond to them. They foster and promote good communication, but they don’t rely on another party to communicate well. Good communicators move people to action.

I have found this need to be so important for CIOs and technology leaders that CIO Mastermind is sponsoring communication training on Sep 17, 2021. As a result of the training, you will gain a better handle on

• Understanding and adapting to different communication styles
• Pitch exercises
• Aligning with the goals of the business
• Defining sales and understanding influence
• A list of power questions for gaining understanding
• Further references for your library

Contact us for registration information.