Chris Erickson

Critic
DISC Type : C

Senior IT Category Manager at CVS Health

Greater Chicago Area, United States

Overview

Chris is a Senior IT Category Manager at CVS Health with experience at four Fortune 500 companies, including Walgreens and Whirlpool. He oversees strategic sourcing for major IT categories like public cloud, SaaS, and software. He holds an MBA from Florida Gulf Coast University and is described by colleagues as an invaluable contributor.

Outside of his direct professional role, Chris shows a keen interest in leadership development, having completed courses in Servant Leadership and Developing Executive Presence. He also pays close attention to the customer-facing side of technology, noting exceptional retail checkout experiences.

He played a key role in the Herc Rentals divestiture from Hertz, contributing to work on hundreds of vendor contracts.

Personality Overview

Information Seeker

ROI Driven

Critic

They don’t appreciate bells and whistles unless backed by data.  They prefer to do logical analysis and value evidence over emotions. They are quite likely to negotiate on pricing or other key terms.

Topics They Care About

IT Strategic Sourcing
He oversees strategic planning and execution for IT categories including public cloud, SaaS, hardware, network, telecom, and managed services at CVS Health.
Complex Vendor Negotiations
His experience spans major vendors like Oracle, Microsoft, Google, AWS, SAP, Accenture, Dell, and Cisco, showcasing extensive negotiation and management skills.
Retail Technology
He shared insights on a positive checkout experience at a Lego store, highlighting an interest in point-of-sale hardware and the retail customer journey.

Media Appearances

Chris has no verified media appearances

Work History

11-2023
Senior IT Category Manager at CVS Health
8-2019 - 11-2023
Senior Category Manager, IT Procurement at Walgreens
9-2017 - 8-2019
Senior IT Sourcing Specialist at Whirlpool Corporation
1-2017 - 10-2017
IT Sourcing Manager at Herc Rentals
7-2016 - 12-2016
Associate Sourcing Manager, IT at Herc Rentals

Education

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Florida - Warrington College of Business
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Florida Gulf Coast University

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 11 Location : Greater Chicago Area, United States Job Level : Middle Designation : Senior IT Category Manager at CVS Health
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Insights For Selling To Chris

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Be ready to answer many clarity-seeking questions and requests for information
  • Keep some extra margin while sharing pricing, they are likely to negotiate later
  • Don’t forget to mention how you compare to competition on both features and pricing

DONT's

  • Don't give superficial answers, they are easily rattled by them
  • Don’t try too hard to build a relationship with them
  • Don’t try to give too many examples of other users, they like to make their own decisions

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Chris is

  • Strong evidence of ROI, effective pricing, and proven data points matter the most to them.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Chris

  • It is not very hard for them to say no if they are not convinced about the decision.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Chris move?

  • They are neither the fastest nor the slowest decision makers, they are somewhere in the middle.
  • Can Chris take some risk or not?

  • They can bear some risk if their analysis backs the decision.

You And Chris

Personality Compatibility


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