Getting To 'Yes' In Government, Education IT Sales

Rachel Eckert
Rachel Eckert

The vendor community can learn from that. Spend some extra time to fully understand the culture within an organization if you hope to succeed at selling a transformative technology into that organization.

This is particularly true when it comes to how investment in technology today can lead to projected cost savings in the future, as in the case of virtualization. This technology is seeing increased political interest, which is why many CIOs are learning the importance of managing expectations. Many stakeholders find it difficult to appreciate the benefits of virtual servers that they are unable to see. Without being able to see the actual technology, expected cost savings is similarly difficult for stakeholders to visualize.

SLED CIOs have found that using terms like “cost-savings” or “cost-avoidance” can result in budgets getting the axe from state legislations, Houston, Texas, CIO Charles Thompson says. Bringing down costs may send a message the agency no longer needs the same level of funding. Instead organizations have found success using alternative semantics like “cost-shifting” since it preempts a “use it or lose it” mentally, suggesting savings could be used on other programs and initiatives.

Three keys to navigating SLED IT waters

So how do vendors navigate the confusing waters of SLED IT? Here are three key things to know:

Know your customer. Identify the decision makers and influencers at both the agency and state, county, or city CIO level. Reading strategic plans and budget documents will let you know the agency goals, what they need to meet those goals, and how you can help.

Know the culture. An agency’s culture affects its operations. While most agencies are modernizing and consolidating systems, they’re used to the old way of doing things, and may be slow to accept change. It’s important to address the cultural issues in an agency before you can successfully implement a technology solution.

Know the budget. Tight government IT budgets make it essential to know exactly how much an agency can invest in a solution, and to work within those limits. A solution that fits within the agency’s budget will keep stakeholders from shutting down discussions.

By understanding the process and politics underpinning the agency, state, county, or city IT budgets, you’ll get non-technology-minded stakeholders to understand the importance of investment. That in turn will assist in finding out who has the power to say “yes” and make it easier to navigate the procurement process.

Rachel Eckert is a Senior Analyst with the immixGroup Market Intelligence Team, focused on SLED. She can be reached at Rachel_Eckert@immixgroup.com or connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/racheleckert.