Take the Bull by the Horns: Turn Security Conversations Into Competitive Advantages
Take the Bull by the Horns: Turn Security Conversations Into Competitive Advantages
Security checks at the end of your deals are only a pain if you let them be. Bringing the security conversation earlier in the sales cycle can be a great way to set yourself apart from your competitors. Building trust upfront helps your prospects see you as a trusted advisor - and reduces delays later in the sales cycle.
We sat down with Matt Doherty, Brad Buda, and Peter Doro to talk tactical methods for understanding, communicating, and being proactive about security in your sales process.
Key Discussion Topics
Establishing your security credentials: what are the basics you should know?
What security information should you share and when?
How to partner with your security team to reduce uncertainty & make the sales process more predictable
What about when a security review is unavoidable?
key takeaways
Organize - don’t agonize! Proactively figuring out security information that will need to be shared
Have a little bit of friction in place for sharing security. The low friction items should also be the least lift on your side, but make sure the customer has increasing skin in the game at each point / each bigger lift.
Always keep a little something extra in your pocket during a security review; that way you’re never caught flat footed if their team reviews all your items and then asks for more.
Remember on the other end there is always a human who wants to help and doesn’t want to be in the way, or shut things down!
Use your champion - they want to be using your solution as quickly as possible. Also, make sure you set expectations with your champion. It’s going to be an iterative process each time.