There are two types of companies, those that sell promises and those that sell products. As CIOs and CTOs one of our responsibilities is to keep corporate executives and their initiatives aligned with reality. What happens when this doesn’t happen? Bad things, man... bad things.
CEOs, COOs and Sales executives are usually heavily incented to generate or increase sales in their organizations. To support that process large scale directional planning needs to occur. Too often, however, that planning takes place without involvement from top technologists. When that happens the results can be disastrous.

As top technologists it continues to be our role to keep executives in check. I can think of several occasions where I was personally called “negative” or “impeding the process” or “a pessimist” (gasp) all by stating technical fact. How do we walk that fine line and yet keep our companies grounded when we work with executives who like to promote incorrect product capabilities or specifications? This is a question that continually forces us to examine our relationships with our executives.

As top technologists, we need to be trusted as we need to trust our leadership. When these two factions do not communicate well results are very, very bad. Client expectations get set during the sales process and then are destroyed during the delivery process. Usually, the root of this problem can be traced back to the beginning of the sales process that was initiated by a senior executive.

Once the expectations are set, customers build dreams that will likely differ from reality. Over promising and under delivering unduly and unnecessarily places the organization in a continual catch up game. Customers will ask for features they were promised whether or not the product is even technically capable of delivering the desired outcome. In short, control of the relationship has been lost and can rarely, if ever, be regained. To bash on a company we all know and love, Microsoft continually falls into this model. Windows Vista is a perfect example of over promising (features and delivery dates) and under delivering by removing features and delaying shipping dates.

Executives must feel there is a need to over sell the product. Perhaps they cannot resist piling on when a sales meeting appears to be going well. I have personally witnessed this and cringed when the executives made promises and statements about our technology that were simply not true. Handling this situation is difficult. There is likely no good answer. If we step in and contradict the executive in public we’ve undermined their authority and credibility in front of the client, definitely a career limiting move. If we wait and talk to our executives after the meeting, we now have a customer with an inflated view of the product. Neither is a good place to be.

On the other hand, when the product as it exists today provides a solid competitive advantage there is absolutely no reason to over promise, rather under promise and over deliver should be the key. Continually surprising a customer with extra features and capabilities is a good thing. We remain in control of the relationship and drive our customers to new uses of products. Apple often falls into this model. For example, Apple very rarely publicly discusses a product that’s in development or not within the final days of testing. OS X Leopard (10.5) will be an example to watch. To date, there has been nothing public from Apple about what will be delivered in that product with the possible exception of the inclusion of Boot Camp. At their World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) Apple is expected to show functionality that will make it into 10.5. If history can be an indicator, what is demonstrated in August, will be in the product when it’s released.

We have two scenarios. Microsoft sells based upon forward looking statements and promises, while Apple sells ship ready product. Neither model has been proven wrong as Microsoft remains one of the strongest companies and brands in the world today. Compare that with Apple continually receiving design awards for inventive products that push the state of the industry forward. As a technologist, I certainly know which environment I prefer. As an investor, I also know which environment I prefer. They are one in the same. Apple’s influence verses market share ratio anomaly continually sparks heated discussions. Why does Apple have such a loyal following? Their products are technically superior than anything else being offered in their chosen market places. Their hardware is solid and OS X is a great, productive operating system. Thus, they under promise and over deliver.

Are the sales teams talking about currently available product or dreamware? Are the product features sold accurately? Are customers surprised or upset when meeting with the technology teams early on? Do the products accurately meet expectations? These are all questions we should be asking ourselves on a regular basis to determine if the company is as it’s desired to be.

It’s clear that in many cases trust would solve this issue. As we know, trust is a multi-directional street. However, this is material for another article.

Additionally, the sales teams need to have a technology expert available and working with them in order to ensure under promising and over delivering. Incentives here are very important. It is common to incent sales people on the revenue they generate. A more proper system would be to incent them on the systems delivered combined with a customer satisfaction metric. That’s the only way to get a company on the same page regarding customer relations... and thus to retain control of the relationship.

As technology leaders we need to continually enforce what our products are capable of with a light to moderate dose of directional statements and planning. This can be accomplished via strategic planning meetings, elevator conversations and just about any form of communication available. It’s key that this communication occur timely and accurately.

It is important to make sure the company’s message is uniform and accurate regarding it’s products. Retaining control of the relationship is a critical item to build and manage relationships moving into the future.

We need to help our executives deliver a consistent, accurate message. We need to do it privately first to arm them when they’re in the public. Getting them to properly represent products will make life a lot easier on the technology teams and retain control of the relationship.

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