A Moment of Truth
I’ve been on LinkedIn now for around 10 years, in that time I’ve worked in three different industries, gained connections and customers within each of them but never taken the time to write a blog.
This has been down to a few factors; lack of time, will anyone actually read it and most importantly, what the hell do I write about? I’m sure I am not alone here?
After some careful consideration, what could be better than outlining some of my experiences after one year within the IT industry and that “squeaky bum” moment in December 2018, less than 3 months into my role, when our CEO blogged his 2019 predictions entitled “Death of an IT Salesman”. Hang on a minute, that’s my job!
Before I get on to that brief moment of terror nearly a year ago, I’d like to share a few things I’ve learnt about the IT industry which now seem obvious but were completely new to me. If any of my fellow IT sales professionals are reading this, I would love to know if this rings true with you?
Tech Speak
- Acronyms – Used by everyone for everything, to the point where the same 3 letters can have multiple meanings.
I worked in recruitment for 11 years so acronyms weren’t new but the sheer volume of them and the fact the meaning seems to change based on the topic, was mind boggling to me. In the end I started writing them down with their various meanings and after a couple of months typed up the most important ones, printed them out and pinned them in front of me where they still hang to catch my gaze, as I glance up from my screen.
- IT Job Titles – why can’t they all be the same in every company?
My job title has never been a motivator for me, I’ve always said you can call me a tea boy as long as you pay me and yes, I have been a tea boy many years ago. I fully understand job titles are important but why so many variations on the same role? Is it to confuse us newbie IT Sales people so that we start badgering Procurement instead? Probably not, but when you’re starting out and think that CDO is universal for Chief Data Officer but turns out to be Chief Digital Officer in another organisation, you suddenly realise: “I need a list of all these variations”.
- Technology is everywhere and underpins everything, but wouldn’t solutions or outcomes be better?
This was and still is the biggest learning curve and, in my opinion, the biggest difference from other industries. Technology can scare people at the best of times and given the fast-moving nature of the IT world, becomes ever more confusing for those that not only use it, but for those like me that try to position our company and myself as different to the competition. Every day is a school day when it comes to IT, and I’ve learnt not to get bogged down in the nuts and bolts of an environment and focus on what the customer wants to achieve around backup, disaster recovery and accessibility of their data and most importantly, are we as a company and they as a customer best placed to work together?
Conscious Competence
If you’ve got this far, well done, you will remember I said they now seem obvious and even as I write them, I realise that people will read this and go “DUH”! But, cast your mind back to when you started in the IT industry or any industry for the first time when everything was completely new and your first reaction was “how will I ever get my head around all this?”, only to realise, a few months down the line that it’s become a habit and is ingrained in you.
“Squeaky bum time” – Sir Alex Ferguson 2003 title race.
I won’t lie, when the email came through on that cold day in December my blood ran even colder as I dreaded clicking the link below, not knowing if it would lead to an early finish time, followed by a quick call to several old recruitment contacts.
https://www.predatar.com/2019-predictions-death-salesman/
Hopefully by now you’ve clicked the link, read the blog and wondered why on earth I was so paranoid? But in my experience and especially in a new role, let alone a new industry, your mind doesn’t always go to your happy place when you receive something unexpectedly and related to your role. Maybe that’s just me?
Long story short, my CEO was giving his opinion on the trend of AI, as we moved into 2019 and how effective IT sales people could use AI to gain greater insights into their customers and disrupt their way of thinking for the benefit of both parties.
Looking back on 2019, I certainly think this was a good prediction, but I don’t think enough companies or individuals have taken the chance to embrace AI or use it for the good of everyone. To me, AI still sounds and feels Sci-Fi or only available for huge companies with unlimited resources. What many people don’t realise is that AI is everywhere and is used by us in our solution Alchemis Protect® and by our partner Predatar, but do we need to shout about this when we’re talking outcomes, rather than technology?
I think AI will continue to dominate the industry into 2020 as more people embrace it, understand it and use it but what else will dominate the industry?
I would love to hear people’s thoughts around this and other buzz words or key technologies that will drive IT throughout 2020, but then that depends if anyone took the time to read it.
Matt – Still alive; IT Salesman.
