The key to getting beyond your difficulties is empathy - and an understanding of that is important to the people with whom you are communicating.
For instance, a CEO is going to have a very strategic outlook - a vision. You don't want to discuss day to day operations with someone at that level.
A CFO will be focused on the financials - Total Cost of Ownership, Returns on Investment. This is key - financial people only accept hard dollar projections. If you say something will save the company money because it'll make the employees more efficient, you'll need to present a business case to prove it. Otherwise, it won't be accepted. Intel's I.T. department has a great white paper on this on their website.
A CIO, while interested in technology, isn't going to be interested at the same level as an network administrator. You'll need to understand the CIO's vision, concerns and priorities to achieve some kind of symbiosis.
All these people will be concerned with compliance, liability, business continuity and disaster recovery to some degree or another. The key is to demonstrate how what it is you are discussing, applies to their concerns.
As you move down the corporate ladder, people will become more concerned with less strategic, and more tactical or day to day concerns. Budgetary issues will always be at the forefront of any conversation.
Finally, to understand the Sales Manager, it?s important to internalize a couple of things:
More than any other position, the jobs of Sales Management and Salespeople are at risk. To their supervisors, what was done last month or last quarter doesn?t matter. It?s always, ??what have you done for me this month?? Salespeople tend to dislike paperwork or anything else that slows them down or takes their focus off their goal or exceeding their sales quota. They often tend to work hard at controlling their environment. Largely, I think, because so much of their professional like is really out of their hands.
When trying to persuade anyone, but salespeople in particular, remember two rules: FAB and KIS. Feature / Advantage / Benefit and Keep It Simple. Feature: Using a pass phrase instead of a complex password. My cat Ryan is 8 or I married Julie in 1997 or ESPN is channel 45. Portillo?s hotdogs are $1.69. The Advantage is that it?s easier for people to remember them because they can personalize them and they?re flexible. The Benefit is that it maintains integrity while maintaining operational effectiveness.
KIS is incredibly important. Coming up from the IT ranks, you have a deep appreciation for the technology. Much more so than the vast majority of your colleagues. Just because you?re enamored with a particular technology doesn?t mean your colleagues will have any appreciation for it whatsoever. This can be difficult to adjust to. Just remember to keep in mind that you have to tell them what?s in it for them. Does it make their life easier? Does it save them money? Is it fun? Will it increase their prestige? These are salient points.
About Outside Salespeople ? they are a particular breed. They chose that career because it offers a level of flexibility other positions don?t offer, unless you?re your own boss. It?s generally very challenging and very stressful. Yes, they may get paid well and there may be big perks but remember, if the company doesn?t have sales, the company folds, so there?s value in that. To handle the stress and the rejection, Salespeople tend to have big egos. They have to. Otherwise they couldn?t survive the position. It?s like emotional Teflon. Generally speaking, they will look to you to streamline things ? to make things easier, faster, more reliable.
While a significant part of your job is defensive in nature, keeping the good in and the bad out, it?s important to realize how your decisions impact others. I worked for one company in which we had to type the exact same data no less than four times, into four different programs, in the same computer. I had upwards of 14 passwords. Now, I am completely cognizant of the reasons and logic behind this. I?m also aware of the fact that there are reasonable solutions to these problems. These were big time wasters. Do you think anyone in my department thought the folks in I.T. had any idea as to the impact that had on our operations?
Find ways to achieve your goals while making it as easy as possible for others to do their jobs and you?ll be a hero ? especially if that isn?t the case now.
Good luck!
Jonathan Rubin
