When it comes to marketing technology services and solutions to CIOs, the name of the game is relationship-building. During ITSMA’s Marketing Leadership Forum in April 2006, three members from the CIO Executive Council, an organization with more than 350 member CIOs worldwide that represents companies with more than $1.5 trillion in annual revenues, discussed what makes a “strategic partnership” attractive to the CIO, their views on putting “skin in the game,” and what they wish technology providers would do differently.

Mark Hall, general manager of the CIO Executive Council, moderated the panel, which featured:

• Larry Frazier, CIO, Chevron Phillips Chemical
• Babak Aghevli, CIO, DataPath
• Jeff O’Hare, SVP, Enterprise Information Technology, West Corporation

Key takeaways include:

• Strategic partnerships are not built overnight; services and solutions providers need to earn CIOs’ trust by staying with them over the long haul.
• Account management is particularly important in dealing with complex solutions; CIOs want to have one point of contact who will take overall responsibility for the project.
• Don’t overstate your capabilities; CIOs will either know you’re lying or they’ll be unhappy with the end results.
• Direct marketing is not effective with CIOs; find ways to get in front of industry influencers and bolster word of mouth.