CEOs Want Personal Relevance And Ethics In Their IT Suppliers

Almost three quarters of all C-suite executives are playing close attention to brand strength when making technology purchase decisions and picking suppliers that have a personal relevance.

A brand survey conducted by The Good Relations Group found that 73 per cent of purchases are completed when a brand is strong and has a personal relevance with CEOs, who play a front-seat role in 90 per cent of technology purchases.

“Never underestimate the value people place on good actions, good engagement and good recommendation.  The DNA of a good company technology will encompass all three dimensions of good, becoming a Triple G company.  This is especially important in a global market where traditional factors such as product and price can quickly be matched,” stated Jackie Brock-Doyle, CEO at The Good Relations Group.

In the same way, 64 per cent of UK technology sales are driven by either emotional factors such as actions, recommendations and engagement, or rational factors including product, price or future proofing.

Personal recommendations are among the biggest drivers when choosing a supplier and reading good things is twice as important for CEOs as it is for other C-Level executives.

The Corporate Social Responsibility policy of a supplier has also risen in importance among C-Suite executives with ‘People and Planet’ activities now a “given” among purchasers and most suppliers must also be ‘Corporate Activists’.

In a nutshell, organisations want suppliers to help them become a more responsible business. This doesn’t mean that C-Suite executives are expecting every supplier to be perfect and most just want suppliers to be truthful.

Telling the truth was illustrated in a list of the top seven issues that could get a supplier fired. Top of the pile was providing false customer references and using child labour whilst third place went to using a factory that featured regular fatalities. Covering up an incident, using illegal immigrant labour, handing confidential data to the government and tax evasion made up the remainder of the seven.

Even though this was the case, seven per cent of UK companies don’t think being truthful is a core component of an ethical or responsible company and 15 per cent aren’t of the opinion that a principled stance on data privacy is needed.

The 175 CEOs and other C-Suite executives surveyed were also asked about the best companies in the world with Cisco topping the list of companies as most ethical and responsible, Microsoft was dubbed the most recommended, and Apple led in the brand stakes.