Do Salespeople Make the Worst Tech CEOs?
Some tech companies appoint a salesperson to chief executive when business demands. Why do they do this? Does it work?
August 22, 2016
By Derek Handova
Technology company CEOs usually come in two flavors: IT genius founder for the growth stage and finance gal (or guy) for milking the cash cow during the maturity phase. However, some tech companies appoint a salesperson when business demands. Why do they do this? Does it work?
Something different seems to happen when a sales rep takes over as head of a tech company.
Oftentimes this leads to disasters in the making: staff demoralization, founders bailing out, deferred investment in operations and R&D, misunderstanding of the overall business, dereliction of duty by board-of-director members, and other signs of trouble. Some salespeople even recognize these issues themselves, and when they were in position to take the reins, they declined. They know their strengths and where they lack capabilities.
“From 2001 to 2008 when I was running IT Matters (now E.S. Williams & Associates) with two partners they had an opportunity to appoint me president/CEO,” says Stuart Crawford, president and CMO, Ulistic, provider of outsourced marketing solutions for managed IT service companies. “They didn’t do that and had Rob Hay, my partner and operations guy, become president. It was for the best. Rob was able to streamline operations, maintain morale and allow me to do what I was good at—sales and marketing.”
Crawford goes on to caution any organization from promoting a salesperson to CEO. Because salespeople naturally concentrate on their specialty, and a company needs a professional who can understand the entire operation from the leadership role, he says.
Understanding the Technology vs. Sales-Driven Mindsets
Before you can understand why salespeople are fundamentally unfit for the role of tech CEO, you have to know the back story that makes them unprepared to lead in this industry. While women may be from Venus and men from Mars, it seems that technologists and salespeople do not even share the same solar system. The way some industry observers see it, dyed-in-the-wool techies believe that the truth lies in the numbers while salespersons see business as a numbers game.
“The tech-driven mindset focuses on what customers are big and which trends and data are superior,” says Terry Akins, an independent marketer, who has experience with companies large and small. “It tells the truth about where the market is going and who is buying, and then you can easily find the next move with that data. Techies can see the faults of any company and what to do to correct them. The tech-driven mind will do honest marketing.”
On the other hand, the sales mind focuses on current customers and relationships and those that can be acquired. They call as many people as they can and get as much advertising in high-profile places as they can afford, according to Akins.