You may have heard of security alert fatigue — end users get so many alerts about new threats from their security solution that they begin to ignore them and wind up being almost as vulnerable as if they’d never installed the system in the first place.
Another kind of fatigue is afflicting CIOs and IT managers: security solution fatigue. There are so many new solutions on the market that address so many different types of threats that it can be nearly impossible to make a selection. Or worse, buyers may make a decision to quickly and wind up with a solution that doesn’t fit their needs.
The proliferation of high-profile data breaches and new email-based threats is putting additional pressure on clients. While they are justifiably worried about security, the breadth of available options is daunting.
For MSPs, the fact that customers are being bombarded daily with pitches for new solutions from an endless array of startups and competitors is beginning to impact the sales cycle. So how do you get around this?
The Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT) recently published a study on cybersecurity solution overload that outlines some of these issues. Increased awareness of cybersecurity threats has driven investment in hundreds of new startups. According to the report, the problem of solution overload can be “overcome by altering the business model to value long-term stability over potential short-term gains. Vendor solutions need to be transparent, they need to support growth, and they need to offer layered security.” Those solutions also need to perform as promised and address the needs of the organization.
Security Bundles Simplify the Sales Conversation
How can vendors and MSPs rise above this increasingly large crowd of solutions? One way is to create bundles of security products that can help streamline and simplify the sales conversation. By combining complementary products and services under a single umbrella, MSPs can lower deal friction, reduce the administrative tasks associated with the sale, streamline the purchase process, and accelerate the sales cycle.
Cybersecurity requires a variety of different solutions at various levels of the network, in addition to application security and email-focused tools that can include user training, simulations, and protection from specific threats like spear phishing or ransomware.
Bundling a comprehensive email security offering, for example, that provides spam filtering, threat detection, training, and other tools can make it easier to focus the sales conversation on outcomes (a reduction in successful phishing attacks, for example, or improvements in employee performance thanks to better training) instead of outlining how each solution works.
This type of bundled offering can be appealing to larger customers that need a rapid rollout to protect them against specific threats. By putting the focus on the client’s security goals and how the total solution can help reach those goals, MSPs can avoid confusing clients with a laundry list of components that have to be explained and sold individually.
Simplification is key. Clients have become numb to security solution presentations. If you have to launch into three or more different pitches to cover all of the products you offer, you may wind up not selling any of them.
Bundling a comprehensive suite of email security solutions can simplify sales conversations with customers. MSPs can tell a simple, compelling security story without getting mired in the details of multiple products. This approach can make it easier to protect your clients while closing more deals faster.
