Risk
You're Not Getting Your Security Budget!? You Might Be Bad at Sales.
Clients often tell us they can’t get the security budget they need. This can be interpreted as a sign that organizations simply don’t value physical security, but there’s something else at play: security professionals aren’t making leadership care about security.
Security is bad at sales. This is reflected in the perpetual lack of budget we so often hear about. If you want this situation to change, you need to learn sales skills and convince your leadership of security’s importance.
Security professionals haven’t learned to sell
The marketing department is great at marketing. The sales department is great at sales. It’s the legal department’s job to make a convincing argument. Security doesn’t always have these skills. And because security doesn’t bring in revenue, we often find ourselves being labeled as a cost center by leadership.
It doesn’t help that security isn’t always the most popular kid at the table. It’s our job to tell people things they don’t necessarily want to hear: we tell people to wear their badges when they don’t want to. We tell them they can’t prop open doors, or that they need to park in a specific place. When we step up to request our budget, all of this is working against us.
This is made more difficult by the fact that persuasion isn’t often part of our skillset. When Security asks for their budget, it may be with a dull presentation or with worst-scenario, fear-based tactics. These don’t always work.
This means there’s even more of a reason to study sales. We have to sell the need for better security, and clearly communicate the problems security will solve in a way that connects with leadership.
Sales 101 for security professionals
How can you get better at asking for a budget? Below are some strategies that will make you better at sales:
Assess your risk: The first step in any budget process is to assess your organization’s risk. Security risk assessment software makes assessment easier and also allows you to create a visual presentation that shows your risk at every site. By having data on hand, you can illustrate the need for security budgeting and show exactly how that budget will be used.
Discovery: What are your colleagues worried about? What about leadership? Get outside of the security department and meet your other co-workers. Talk to them and learn about the business concerns that are keeping them awake at night. Specifically find the worries that relate to security issues.
Shape your pitch: Use what you’ve learned to build a pitch for your budget. Explain how security can meet their needs and address their worries.
Connect with your audience: Often security pros make a rational argument for their budget, but neglect an emotional connection with their audience. Remember: most people make decisions based on emotional connections. Make an effort to get to know the people you’re talking to. Build your influence with leadership and colleagues. When leadership trusts you, they’re more likely to invest in your budget.
Don’t get upset: If the conversation doesn't go your way, don’t have an emotional response, or at least don’t have one in public. Keep building influence and working on your pitch.
Make friends: Do you know someone in marketing who can improve your pitch? What about sales? Get out of your department and befriend the people who can help you learn how to be more persuasive. Befriend someone in leadership who can act as a champion for security. The more consensus you build, the easier this process will become.
Use risk analysis to convey key information: Risk is dynamic and changes all the time. Using risk analysis to convey importance, priority, relevance can help you with the rational part of the conversation. Use the insights gathered from your security risk assessment software to illustrate your point.
Businesses do see security’s value - they just need a reminder
If you're tempted to respond to this blog post by saying “well, businesses just don’t value security,” that’s not true. We saw how quickly security’s stock can rise a few years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During lockdown, businesses realized there was a need for improved security, new technology, and more guards. As a result, budgets spiked and security guard salaries rose. Leadership valued security to guard empty sites and keep personnel safe.
That was temporary, however. Once the pandemic receded, budgets started dropping. The crisis was over, and it was back to business as usual. Unfortunately, security professionals didn’t use their newfound popularity to keep security top of mind with leadership.
In other words, it’s not that your organization doesn’t value security, it’s that you haven’t convinced your company to spend money on security. It’s your job to make leadership care about security, and you have more power to do that than you think. You just have to change the way you ask for funding.
Use data (and sales skills) to get your security budget
Learning how to sell security isn’t about manipulation. It’s about communicating value. When you can clearly demonstrate how security protects people, operations, and revenue, leadership listens. Circadian Risk gives you the tools to do exactly that. Our platform helps you quantify risk, visualize vulnerabilities, and present data in a way that resonates with executives..
Don’t let another budget cycle pass without the resources you need. Use Circadian Risk to back up your message with hard data and clear visuals that make leadership care about security.
Ready to make your next budget conversation a success?
Talk to us today to see how Circadian Risk can help you communicate — and justify — your security needs with confidence.
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