Undercover

Security's Value Proposition

If you're going to sell security to your CFO-and others in the organization-you'd better know what matters to them.

By Anonymous

I think the notion of adding value is a many-sided story in itself. As I said in my pitch to our CFO, we can show how our efforts avoid clearly measurable risk. We can demonstrate in any number of ways these days how we contribute to our firm's competitiveness. I obviously had not "sold" Mr. Beancounter prior to his visit. My fault. He's the guy who whispers in the CEO's ear on cost management, after all! If your organization is doing its job well, you have tons of data, metrics and risk mitigation stories to support your cost and put the value equation in perspective. Advertise successes. Think of signs at construction sites saying "254 days accident free!" What signs might each of your programs have on the wall? At your periodic meetings with senior management, have some bullets on metrics and a story or two keyed to that manager's hot buttons. It works.

Value is in the eye of the beholder. Our products are often hard for the business to understand and see. Know your clientele and open their eyes with the facts.

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