The Aristocrats of Information Technology

My second job was the real deal: cold-calling sales - a Gun-Slinger. At the time, I did not know what I signed up for. But I had bluffed my way in and would soon find out. I was sent directly to the US Head Office for training. We were a smallish consultancy of maybe 30 souls and the founder was a gifted 30-something experienced and avuncular sales guy who quickly became my mentor. There were some awkward moments including his younger but very heavy little sister rubbing her crotch up against my knee and asking me out on a date but that’s another story. At the end of training Bruce challenged me to put everything I had learned, into practice and he would be my hands-on sales manager while ‘we’ worked to build my and the company’s first ever sales trip to France. To do this I needed one hour appointments with the CIO (Chief Information Officer/head computer guy) of the largest companies in France and a one hour travel gap to the next and to fill three days with a target of fifteen appointments for a week about four weeks out. People who could meet but not at that time would be booked into the week of the following month and so my sales pipeline would be created, There was only one small problem. Just who were these guys and how do you get an appointment. Simple. Here is the Forbes and Fortune 500 Magazine editions with a special section dedicated to France. Start at the top (Elf Aquitaine) look that company up in Dunn & Bradstreet (remember: no internet and cell phones were for crazy rich traders only and the rest of us were still flashing business cards at each other that had a Fax number too! Pretty cool), call the D&B number and ask for the CIO. No problem. I get up super early or work super late I don’t remember which - and I start making international calls to the head offices of the largest companies in France and I ask for the CIO at Elf Aquitaine. I get put through to an Executive Assistant-type - super professional, clearly intelligent, sharp witted, charming and with a steely focus on serving her boss and Elf Aquitaine. In my bluffing, halting schoolboy French, I ask if I may speak to the Directeur d’Informatique. She inquires as to who she might have the pleasure of speaking. I inform her of my name and company and that I am calling on behalf of the President of our company from our Headquarters in the USA. I explain to her how our President will be in Paris on such-and-such dates and would the gentleman be available for an hour on say February 17th at 11am? My translation into French of gentleman was, of course, gentilhomme, what else could it be? I distinctly heard muffled laughter and a pause and then a small throat clearing cough and sniff before Madame came back on the line and after a short while I had my first appointment and was walking on air. That night as I bragged of my success to my French bride-to-be I also asked her if 'gentilhomme' was the right word. She fell about laughing and told me that I had asked to get on the schedule of the Knight of Computer Technology and that no doubt I had gotten my first appointment because I had made the Knight’s assistant laugh so much and given her a story she would be able to dine-out on for a month.