Alan over at StillSecure dropped this little nugget out this morning, and quite frankly it just rubbed me the wrong way. You see, despite his conversations with a number of his customers, he still failed to see the obivious. That being, the fact he was able to have conversation with his customers at all. You see, each and every person in a product company has to earn the right to to talk to the buyer. I spent years of my career buying products for various programs I was respoonsible for, and the sales people that got a chance to pitch me had all done something different. They had engaged me as person, a practiioner, and as a businessman. Before the talk ever turned to product, they invested the time in learning about me, my organization, my infrastructure, my regulatory environment, and my business.
There is an old saying in the sales business: "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." After all these years, I still believe that this is case for many of us practitioners. We want to see that the sales person isn't just spouting off of a marketing "cheatsheet". We want them to fundamentally understand what their solution means ot our operations. And that, takes a significant amount of investment on their part. That investment gains the trust of the already skeptical security person, and allows the sales person to continue to engage them in the future. I'll be more likely to take your call when I know that younot only understand my position, but that you have aligned your own interests with it. when we both have skin in the (same) game, then we can both work toward a common goal: my success.
Of course, this is a double-edged sword. If at anytime the sales person starts being less than genuine or truthful, or just as bad, introduces someone else into the equation (a partner, Product Manager, Regional Sales Director, etc.) that pegs the needle on my BS Detector, they go back to square 1. In especially egregious cases, they will never again get a reply to an e-mail, a phone call answered, or even a courteous 'hello' at a tradeshow. They have violated the trust that had been built and undermined their own poistion by takiing away the single most valuable thing I have: my time.
This is not an overnight thing. Just as with all relationships, it takes time to build trust. And a single person, ad campaign, webinar, or other communciation from your company can do a lot of damage. So, be careful what I get exposed to. Talk straight with me, and I'll let you in.
So Alan, keep having those conversations with your customers. Genuine conversations, about them, not you. And you will see the benefits emerge over time.
Until then, don't worry. I'll address how the community finds out about your products in another article.
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