InfoSec: The Unsung Hero of Sales and Customer Confidence

This is a topic that is close to my heart. Having worked very closely with the sales and CSM team, the fireside chat between Girish, Co-Founder Sprinto and SKI (Sathiskumar Iyappan), Deputy CISO Freshworks on the topic “Leveraging Information Security to Win mid-market & Enterprise Deals” in SAASCON23 event in Bangalore was music to my ears. In continuation to the topic, I am sharing my thoughts and view below as a blog.

High-profile data breaches that make headlines can have a devastating impact on companies’ reputations and bottom lines. When customer data falls into the wrong hands, trust is shattered, and customers lose confidence in the affected organization. As a result, sales teams may struggle to close deals and retain existing customers.

In today’s digital era, where data breaches and cyber threats are becoming increasingly prevalent, information security (InfoSec) plays a critical role in safeguarding businesses and their customers. Beyond its technical aspects, InfoSec serves as an unsung hero in the world of sales, playing a pivotal role in building customer confidence and establishing trust. InfoSec serves as a silent guardian, bolstering sales efforts and instilling confidence in customers.

Effective InfoSec practices build a foundation of trust that sales teams can leverage to their advantage. When customers know their data is protected, they feel more comfortable sharing personal information and doing business with a company. This newfound trust translates into increased customer confidence, which is an invaluable asset for sales representatives.

As technology continues to evolve, consumers have become more aware of the importance of their data’s security. compliance, security questionnaires, and pre-filled questionnaires play crucial roles in fostering trust and ensuring customer data protection.

Compliance: Upholding Data Security Standards

Compliance with industry standards and regulations is a fundamental aspect of a robust InfoSec strategy. Customers want to be assured that the companies they engage with are adhering to the highest data protection practices. Implementing compliance measures such as SOC2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, or any other relevant standards demonstrates a commitment to safeguarding customer data. Compliance also fosters transparency, making it easier for customers to understand the data collection and usage policies.

Security Questionnaire: Assessing Customer Concerns

Engaging customers through a security questionnaire is an effective way to gauge their security concerns and expectations. These questionnaires allow businesses to understand customer perceptions of data protection and address any apprehensions they might have. The questionnaire can cover topics like data encryption, access controls, incident response protocols, and third-party data-sharing practices. By demonstrating an eagerness to consider customer concerns, businesses can create a strong sense of trust and openness.

Pre-Filled Questionnaire: Simplifying the Trust-Building Process

In some cases, customers might not have the time or technical knowledge to complete a security questionnaire in detail. To simplify the process, businesses can provide pre-filled questionnaires with common security concerns and best practices already listed. This approach saves customers time and effort while ensuring that crucial security aspects are covered. Additionally, it reinforces the notion that the company takes data protection seriously, building confidence in potential customers.

The discussion also emphasized that despite having all the necessary security measures in place, organizations are often faced with the daunting task of filling out extensive security questionnaires. This process consumes significant time and effort across departments. Companies can have dedicated personnel working closely with the sales and customer success team to respond to security questions/questionnaires and at the same time can be outsourced to teams who have experience responding to these types of questionnaires. With the rise of AI/ML technology, innovative SaaS platforms now enable organizations to respond to these questionnaires efficiently, reducing the turnaround time significantly. We may still need a human to review the response, but the turnaround time would be reduced significantly.