How to Sell Cybersecurity- We spoke with professionals to learn how they presently offer cybersecurity and information security goods and services to their clients.
Let’s look at seven of these tried-and-true ways that you may use right now:
Understand the Requirements of Different Industries
Different sectors have their own set of standards and compliance regulations to adhere to. For example, the security procedures that a healthcare organisation must follow are vastly different from those that a law firm or accountant should consider.
Your offer will most likely differ depending on who you’re selling your cybersecurity services to.
As a result, it’s critical for cybersecurity companies to understand the verticals in which they market.
You know more about security than they do, so research the laws and regulations for yourself. Find out what particular firms are needed to do, and whether their location has an impact on what is required.
You’ll be able to segment your prospects into separate lists more easily after that.
You can construct Smart Views in Close, for example, that automatically group leads together depending on your criteria. As a result, you can establish divisions based on industry, region, or any other significant feature. You may quickly change and amend those criteria, and your dynamic lead lists will update in real time.
Build and maintain a wide network online and offline
Your prospects are continually inundated with messages from a variety of sources, some of which are genuine and others which are spam.
So, how do you get others to pay attention to you? In a world of “spammy” security messaging, how can you stand out as a legitimate solution?
According to Magda Chelly of Responsible Cyber,
Making connections and maintaining relationships with your customers can be the key to success for most businesses. By continuously building a network of colleagues, business partners, and more, you are ensuring that whenever you need a strong pipeline and a definite lead, you can call upon your network to help you. One of my colleagues mentioned, you build relationships when you are interested in people, not when you make people interested in you.
It’s critical to be real whether you’re building your network online or offline. If you’re a salesperson who isn’t. You sell your prospect on yourself by selling nothing.
Apozy’s Rick Deacon adds, “Genuine, valuable information and good dialogue can lead to a new client.” “The issue is that individuals are phoney and ‘market-y,’ and it doesn’t work for them. It’s crucial to be someone who others want to talk to.”
You could, for example:
- Use LinkedIn to share useful material.
- Attend (or host!) a virtual event in your field.
- Interviews on podcasts and shows hosted by notable people in your field are a great way to get your name out there.
Provide material that starts fresh dialogues and helps you extend your network to draw your audience to you. Make yourself the person people want to speak with.
Become an Educator and Security Consultant
You’ll be in a better position to educate your prospects after you understand the various security standards that different sectors must follow.
Many firms are unconcerned about protecting themselves from cyberattacks, but they recognise the necessity of adhering to regulatory rules. They’re probably aware that they’re not well-informed.
That’s where you, as the hero, come in: you can assist them cut through the legalese and figure out what’s really expected of them.
You establish yourself as an information security specialist by serving as an advisor and lecturer. This strategy helps you create trust with your prospects, and they’ll likely recognise they need your support on their own.
Ask Questions that Reveal Needs they didn’t Know they had
People, on the whole, despise being told what to do or what they require.
So, rather than trying to persuade or persuade your prospects that they require better security solutions, ask them questions to enable them arrive to their own conclusions. You could, for example, ask queries like:
- Are you up to date on your industry’s regulations?
- Are you safe from internal dangers and unintentional leaks?
- How safe is it for you to share documents and communicate internally?
- How do you deal with security issues posed by remote workers?
- Do you have a plan in place to deal with an incident?
You can help your prospects recognise they aren’t entirely prepared for the hazards by discussing these and other questions.
They’ll be more receptive to hearing about your options after that.
Concentrate on how Your Product Helps them run their Business
Remember that fear tactics don’t work in real life. Instead of using fear to sell your goods or service, utilise value.
As a result, you’ll be able to focus less on what you do and more on what it accomplishes for them.
Here’s what Responsible Cyber’s Magda Chelly does:
I summarize the benefits and value of the product that I am offering using regulatory requirements and use cases. This usually works in our industry, as depending on where the customers are, the awareness might be very different.
In the field of cybersecurity, use cases and case studies can be extremely useful. Because your prospects may not fully comprehend their demands or what they can achieve with your product or services, it is your responsibility to offer them real-world instances of the outcomes they could expect. This is a great storytelling technique that can assist you in closing more business.
Use use cases that are relevant to their industry to help them reach that “aha” moment.
Keep their Priorities in Mind
When it comes to security, each company has its own priorities and objectives. Perhaps they wish to give their consumers more trust by adopting infosec products or services to better protect their data. Perhaps they don’t want to get fined if they don’t follow the rules. Perhaps they’re looking for ways to keep a newly remote crew safe.
Before you start pitching, you should figure out what this prospect’s top priorities are.
Consider how you may begin your pitch by emphasising the need of printer security. After a few minutes of talking, you learn that this prospect has lately transferred the bulk of their teams to the cloud and has eliminated the majority of their printers. Security solutions for their remote staff were what they really required.
Don’t be that person.
Instead, concentrate on their priorities first, then build your proposal around their company. This will not only save you time and efforts, but it will also increase your chances of piqueing their attention.
Don’t be Frightened to show your Vulnerability
Is it true that you can guarantee 100 percent security?
Come on, now, tell it how it is.
If your prospects are familiar with cybersecurity, they understand that there is no such thing as 100 percent security. If that’s all you have to offer, you’ll quickly lose any trust people had in you.
Instead, make an effort to be vulnerable.
Here’s what Apozy’s Rick Deacon has done:
We close deals by being vulnerable and upfront with our product’s efficacy and execution. To prove you can do what you say, you need to show a technical person what it does, how it does it, and what the real outcome is while not pretending you fix every problem they face.
Pretend you’re a silver bullet who can solve any security issue that arises. Even if a prospect isn’t familiar with cybersecurity, they’ll recognise that something that seems too good to be true almost always is.
So, be truthful and true to yourself. Make it clear to your prospects that perfect security isn’t a realistic aim. Demonstrate how you can assist them in anticipating dangers and being prepared to fight or respond to cyberattacks. In sales, practise radical candour.
