I regularly ask people: what is the purpose of sales people in society? Why does the role exist in the first place? The most frequent answer I receive is that their purpose is to achieve company revenue goals. Wrong Answer! So, I then ask what would happen if we had a society of bad sales people, who might achieve their sales goals, but were selling their customers the wrong thing……… people generally realise that it would cause us all to be wearing the wrong shoes, ill-fitting clothes, driving the wrong cars, buying the wrong wine, etc. In short – society would be in CHAOS. This then leads to the realisation that the purpose of a sales person is to resolve the customer’s needs. This can of course be phrased in many different ways, but essentially means that the sales person should understand the needs of the customer, and then educate the customer appropriately regarding the best buying options.
Why am I writing about this? Because this is the time for sales people in IT Security companies to step up and fulfil their purpose. The business community needs IT security providers to do what it takes to protect vulnerable companies. I am troubled, but not surprised, by recent reports that I’ve come across. For example, according to a UK EY study, 96% of companies believe their IT security functions are insufficient, and only 4% of companies in the UK believe they are equipped with security systems that meet their needs. Therefore, 96% of companies in the UK acknowledge that they need better IT security. This is an absolutely FANTASTIC SELLING OPPORTUNITY for IT security providers– and the business community is clearly crying out for suitable companies to help them resolve their vulnerabilities.
Small businesses are vulnerable too, with 63% of them in the UK suffering a cyber-attack in the past year – a jump of 22% compared to the previous year (according to UK’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills). That’s a SCARY number – especially if companies don’t do anything about it. But companies often lack knowledge on what a sufficient solution is – thinking that having an up to date anti-virus on each device is enough. IT ISN’T. This is where they need the help of their IT services provider.
And it’s not just about cyber-attacks – there is human error too creating vulnerabilities for companies. Despite strong media coverage and education regarding BYOD, its benefits and dangers – many companies still don’t have ANY BYOD policy in place (e.g. more than 50% of mobile devices in Ireland have no anti-virus protection according to ESET). Data leakage prevention also remains a blind spot for most companies, with 66% of companies admitting that they don’t have adequate data protection in place. IT services providers should therefore not just be installing software to protect, but also advising their clients regarding policies and protocols to protect against data leakage and security breaches caused by human error.
We can all think of examples of casualties of cyber-attacks (the recent Adobe and Loyaltybuild breaches spring to mind) and data leakage (Edward Snowden at the National Security Agency).
The concern is that as 96% of companies still don’t believe they have adequate security solutions in place, a tsunami of breaches (and shut downs) is just around the corner, which would lead to CHAOS.
This all adds up to a powerful need in society for IT security companies, including IT service providers, to ensure that their customers are doing the right things, using the right solutions and being provided with the best options when purchasing IT security services and solutions.
Many IT service providers have the technical know-how regarding how to implement such solutions, but lack the capability to engage with prospects at the right level, with the right messaging, to ensure that the right discussions occur. Maven TM can assist with this. We can engage IT services providers with companies that need to improve their security systems. These companies are easy to find after all……. it is 96% of companies ……..
Maven TM is specialised in B2B Telemarketing and B2B Technology Sales Leads Generation services for technology companies looking to consolidate, expand or penetrate national or international markets. For more information, please contact Maven TM at info@maventm.com.
