How to approach technical directors and the likes

Enterprise Cold Calling: CTOs and CIOs

Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Head of IT, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), IT Manager, Chief Information Security Manager...

So many different titles for essentially the same thing: the person responsible for a company's IT infrastructure and potentially its software development teams.

In this article, we'll look at why this persona is particularly interesting for outbound prospecting, and what makes this target audience challenging. Because yes, cold calling still works.

I. Which Job Titles Should You Target in Which Industries?

CTOs and CIOs are primarily found in larger SMEs, mid-sized companies and large corporations across a wide range of industries.

However, there's an important distinction: CIOs are primarily responsible for IT infrastructure and information systems, much like Heads of IT, whereas CTOs and Technical Directors tend to focus more on technology and software development itself.

As a result, you'll find CTOs in scaleups, SaaS startups, e-commerce platforms, and similar businesses. This isn't necessarily the case for CIOs, who are more commonly found in larger organizations.

In smaller non-tech SMEs, you'll generally find neither a CTO nor a CIO. Instead, you may find an IT Manager, an Information Systems Manager, an IT Security Manager, or simply someone responsible for IT.

Sometimes, it's simply the CEO who handles these matters, or rather, someone who has outsourced the entire function to an external IT services provider.

In fact, even when a company has an IT Manager or IT Security Manager, it will often rely on external Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to manage its IT infrastructure on a day-to-day basis.

These providers may also take care of additional cybersecurity services.

So, depending on the companies you're targeting, make sure you're scraping the right personas.

See here for more information on how to build a high-quality prospecting list.

II. How Difficult Are They to Reach?

I'd give CTOs and CIOs an upper-intermediate difficulty rating.

Some personas are even harder to reach, so I wouldn't classify them as extremely difficult. However, they can still be challenging to contact and engage.

Generally speaking, C-level executives in large companies, mid-sized businesses and even SMEs are harder to prospect because they receive more sales approaches.

To get 30 CTOs or CIOs on the phone through cold calling (roughly equivalent to a good full day of prospecting), you'll often need to call between 120 and 170 people.

That said, it's still possible to book between 1 and 4 meetings per day with this type of audience. I've personally achieved these results on numerous occasions.

See here for more information on how to succeed at B2B cold calling.

IT Managers and IT Security Managers can be easier to reach and engage. However, be careful about targeting them in mid-sized companies and large corporations, as they may not have decision-making authority.

In SMEs, on the other hand, they'll often be decision-makers for IT and technology-related matters, subject to approval from the company's management, of course.

In terms of market size, this is a particularly interesting audience for multichannel cold email and LinkedIn prospecting.

There are approximately 150,000 to 400,000 IT, cybersecurity and technology decision-makers in France.

Of course, it all depends on the exact niche you're targeting. But if your audience is relatively broad, your address