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The Benefits of Sharing Your Security Posture Early in the Sales Cycle

Group Shaking Hands

Modern InfoSec teams have plenty on their plates on any given day. From managing internal data privacy practices to ensuring compliance across vendors to generally monitoring data security, a lot is going on. But, unfortunately, there is one InfoSec responsibility that tends to take up more time than it should—sales security questionnaires and assessments.

The role of risk management in the sales cycle

InfoSec representatives are typically called in during the sales process to review security posture responses and determine whether or not the vendor, client, or partner in question can safely partner with an organization. Unfortunately, many InfoSec reps have given bad news that has either killed a deal in its tracks or caused a once-manageable sales cycle to be pushed out weeks or months.

While neither of these situations is ideal, both can be avoided by starting conversations around security and data privacy earlier on in the sales cycle instead of later. Here are a few key benefits of sharing your security posture early in the sales cycle:

  1. Your team can identify any compliance issues early with time to work through them. If there is a red flag in a questionnaire or assessment, your team can have time to work through this issue with the vendor or client in question, rather than having to rush things along or shut the deal down altogether.
  2. Your InfoSec team can breathe easier. As we said above, InfoSec professionals have a lot on their plate. Dropping everything to focus solely on a deal compliance issue can be immensely stressful, and getting things out into the open earlier can make life easier on the InfoSec side.
  3. Your sales or procurement team can also be more effective. Typically, security posture conversations cause a significant roadblock in sales or procurement conversations. Instead of holding up these conversations, your InfoSec team can work through compliance responses simultaneously as these sales conversations are taking place – no roadblocks in sight.
  4. You can establish a reputation among vendors. Vendor compliance is never an easy task, and if your company makes it easy for others to work with you, then you’re going to be known in a good way.

By sharing your security posture early on in the sales cycle, your team can become an ally and partner to your sales team instead of a roadblock. As a result, InfoSec team members can spend more time focusing on critical issues than managing sales-specific red flags.

Want to learn more?

If your team is looking for a new, more efficient way to manage security questionnaires and assessments during sales cycles, Whistic can help. The Whistic Security Profile makes it easy to share security postures with clients and vendors at any time in the sales process. You can learn more and schedule your personalized consultation today.

Sales Enablement