The Most Overused Word in the Security Industry

It rolls off of the security sales person's tongue, dances through the air, and makes it's way into my ears... there's that word again...

I have been in countless meetings with equipment manufacturers trying to sell me on their offering. Two sales professionals really stand out to me as really good though, and no they did not sit down and ask me, "What keeps you up at nite?" I really loathe that question. I think it's because it feels so disingenuous. I will let the sales people in my network wonder if I am writing about them (those asking the question, and those wondering if they are one of the two)... let the LinkedIn DM's begin.

Over the past few years consultative sales has become a very common sales approach, and somewhere in this sales approach the security industry began to use the word 'solution'.

"Our solution is 12 megapixels..."

"Our solution can connect up to 10,000 devices..."

"Our solution" this, that and the other....

A solution is not a solution unless it is solving a problem... by definition. End user practitioners don't really care about the features of your product. End users care about the problems your offering solves. I know it doesn't feel that way when the practitioner is asking you questions like, "What resolution is your camera?" or something along those lines. If I am being honest, sometimes practitioners are really good at risk assessments and building training programs, however not so good at systems. Isn't that why the over used term 'trusted advisor' was coined?

So, let me ask you, "Which problems does your solution solve?" Do you have a narrative built around the problem solving? Do you have a case study or white paper built around the problems being solved? Do you have a video testimonial? Yes, a video testimonial... because time is short and video is the content that everyone loves... marketing people know this, however sales people seem to forget.

Give your end user prospect something meaningful to take from the backroom and bring into the boardroom. The value that you bring is directly related to the problem you are solving by using your solution.

I implore the sales persons reading this to stop using the word solution unless you are actually discussing the problem you are solving... by definition. Who knows, maybe an end user practitioner will notice, and it will give you an edge over your competition who keeps regurgitating 'industry terms'.

#security #physicalsecurity #sales #securitysales