Four Big Problems That Will Derail Your Sale

Here is the problem with most technology companies…

Actually there are four,

…and if you’re honest you’ll recognize that your company has all four.

The Sales Problem. The sale is technical – too technical. Sales calls focus on technical people, technical products, and are conducted using technical presentations. The smarter your presales technical guy is, the better you feel about your chances of winning. On the other hand, there’s no pressing need and the deal often comes down to price comparisons as you respond to requests for proposals and quotations on products. You spend many hours working through issues that really don’t matter to a non-asset owner.

The Marketing Problem. There’s a marketing disconnect. Most sales people are not happy with the marketing department, and marketing is not sure why sales won’t use their stuff. If you’re a marketing professional with real marketing expertise, or you have one in your company, you’re one of the few. Most of the resellers, and even smaller manufacturing companies don’t have marketing people who understand the power of direct response marketing, and how to make it work. Big companies spend millions on branding, but that won’t translate into sales in your region.

The Assessment Problem. With compliance laws and uncertainty, people are assessing security. However, the assessments are not turning into remediation projects. Only about 20% of the assessments I see turn into projects or managed services contracts. Given that almost all assessments turn up issues I would call “urgent”, it doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t convert to project work almost every time. Most assessments are too technical, focus on the wrong things, don’t highlight the urgency, and never reach the asset owner.

The Presentation Problem. Chances are your company presentation is boring. It looks like every other technology-company presentation. It starts with your company name, how big you are, years in business, certifications, some great clients, and the products or services you provide. They all look the same. If you’ve had trouble booking new appointments with c-level executives, to show your corporate presentation, I’m not surprised.

The updated version of The House & the Cloud is nearly complete. I’ve added answers to all four problems described above, and demonstrated how a great security value proposition, with a security sales strategy can alleviate these issues. Stay tuned…it should be going to print soon!

If you don’t have the current House & the Cloud book, you can get it free in PDF Format right here (CLICK). Download it and you’ll be one of the first to know when the new version is out!