Sarah Trainor

In today's digital age, security has become a critical concern for businesses of all sizes. However, sales teams often struggle to understand and communicate security information to their prospects. SafeBase is uniquely positioned to solve these pain-points. By enabling sales teams to better leverage security information, SafeBase Trust Centers are a critical tool for improving sales processes and, ultimately, driving revenue growth.

The Importance of Security in Sales

The role of sales teams has evolved significantly over the past decade, particularly in the technology industry. In addition to simply selling a product, sales teams are now expected to educate clients about the product’s functionalities and technical aspects, including security.

Prospects are increasingly aware of the importance of security, expect their vendors to have a thorough understanding of security-related issues, and are more likely to do business with vendors who can demonstrate a thorough understanding of security-related issues. If sales teams are unable to effectively communicate security information to prospects, they may lose out on sales opportunities to competitors who can.

SafeBase Trust Centers are utilized by several functional teams involved in the procurement process: legal, GRC, Security, but none more than sales. Especially among larger organizations with mature security postures, sales teams frequently account for more than half of a company’s internal Trust Center users.

Leveraging Security Information in Sales

To better leverage security information in sales, sales teams should focus on the following areas:

1. Understanding Security Terminology and Concepts

One of the biggest challenges for sales teams is understanding security terminology and concepts. To effectively communicate security information to clients, sales teams must have a basic understanding of security-related terms and concepts, including various types of attacks,  protocols, common security audit and testing documents and reports, and best practices for securing data. When prospects have security questions, sales teams should be prepared to answer the basics!

2. Identifying Client Security Needs

Sales teams should work with prospects to identify their security needs or considerations that may be specific to their company or their industry. This includes understanding the type of data that prospects are handling, as well as their existing security measures. This level of care and concern will impress security-minded prospects, and result in stronger business relationships in the long term.

3. Proactively Sharing Security and Compliance Information

Sales teams should be able to articulate the security posture of their products and services in order to build customer trust. With a SafeBase Trust Center, it can be as simple as sharing one link. Depending on the company or customer, this information can be shared as soon as the first demo or later on in the sales process. By being proactive, sales reps can impress prospects and answer security questions before they even come up.

After setting up a SafeBase Trust Center and proactively sharing it with prospects, Crossbeam was able to shorten their sales cycle by 7 days on average!
4. Using Security as a Competitive Advantage

If a company has a robust security posture, sales teams should use it as a competitive advantage, particularly when a prospect is security-minded! Bringing up security in a demo or during follow-ups can be the extra boost your company needs over the competitors, especially when the race is a close one.

A customers recently told us that their Trust Center helped them win a major enterprise deal. The prospect was impressed with their security posture, and even moreso with their transparent approach. When the prospect asked the competition for something similar, the competitor wasn’t able to provide anything even close.
5. Collaborating Closely with Security Teams

Sales teams should collaborate with their organization's security teams to stay up-to-date on the latest security processes and any changes. In return, sales can keep security updated on the questions prospects are asking, and concerns prospects might have. With this feedback loop in place, teams who use SafeBase can continually add new, helpful information to their Trust Center. For example, if prospects often ask about ISO 27001 or Fedramp, security can add those documents to the Trust Center or create Knowledge Base entries that future prospects can easily reference.

In Conclusion

Security has become a critical concern for businesses of all sizes, and sales teams must be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively communicate security information to prospects. SafeBase Trust Centers can improve sales processes and drive revenue growth by enabling sales teams to communicate their company and product’s security and trust posture efficiently and comprehensively.

SafeBase is the scalable Trust Center that automates the security review process between buyers and sellers. With a SafeBase Trust Center, companies can seamlessly share sensitive security documentation with buyers and customers, including streamlining the NDA signing process by integrating with your CRM and your data warehouse. 

If you’re ready to take back the time your team spends on security questionnaires, create a better buying experience, and position security as the revenue-driver it is, get in touch with us.