5 Steps to Help Chart the Right Course for Security Directors

These key tips can help your clients sell their ideas more effectively at a higher level.

IT SOUNDS LIKE it could be something out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, featuring swashbuckling heroes on the high seas attempting to protect their vessels and treasure from the likes of sea monsters, mutinies and marauders. But this tale takes place today in real-time in every corner of the world: Security professionals fighting life-and-death battles, literally, to gain senior management support and adequate funding.

The monsters and marauders may seem like smooth sailing compared to the choppy waters treaded by security directors today. Why share this story now? This is September and the month in which ASIS holds its annual Seminar and Exhibits for the security practitioners we all support with our consulting, products, services and ideas to help them improve their security programs.

They take this relationship seriously as should you; after all, our careers and reputations are on the line. Their trust in our recommendations and the inside strategies they do all year have one end game – get the necessary budget resources to protect people, property and assets. Period! You may think it’s a no-brainer to execute the maneuvers necessary to reach that end game, right? Not so fast.

Job Well Done Might Mean a Tougher Sell
The hard truth in the physical security world is that the better the security directors are at their profession the less visibility they create in the boardroom. Mitigating and eliminating risks means nothing bad happens, so convincing the board more funds are needed … well, you get the picture.

Those Fortune 500 chief security officers who have embraced the disciplines of professional selling have and continue to win funding for their security projects and teams. Just ask them.

As puzzling as this conundrum is for those of us “in the know,” you must look at how business priorities are decided in the boardroom. What are the business goals of shareholders, the analysts’ expectations and senior management compensation packages at this time? While management understands maximizing shareholder value, do they really understand how gaps in security could impact the material results of their balance sheets? The answer is often, no. Let’s investigate why that is.

Essentially, most security practitioners are great security experts, but not so great at selling the ideas that gain budget commitment to mitigate risks. I know because I have trained security practitioner clients how to sell (and you thought I only trained installing security contractors and systems integrators). They now have selling skills, strategies and tools to reposition their value proposition in their companies. So for those we have not worked with, both practitioners and systems integrators, what can you do starting tomorrow to build selling skills?

5 Keys to Unlocking Budgetary Treasure Chests
Help your clients sell their ideas more effectively at a higher level, or teach them how to sell! I know the sales moniker is often disparaged in professional security circles; however, those Fortune 500 chief security officers who have embraced the disciplines of professional selling have and continue to win funding for their security projects and teams. Just ask them. Can you say the same for your efforts? If not, then step back and continue reading.

While security consulting is a passion I have had for 19 years, I have taken my security consulting clients to the dark side – sales training. I know, a bit strange for a security consultant; however, my second passion, besides the mysterious elements of security integration, is professional sales. I have done this in both my corporate and entrepreneurial careers, and frankly, it is how stuff gets done.

Here are five steps I know work pretty well that you can learn or teach to your security clients.

1. Always do your homework. Understand what makes your business tick. I know you understand security, but do you know the three key performance goals of an end-user organization’s CEO this year? Do you know how your program can support these goals? Do you know how your systems integrators can help?

2. Ask the right business questions based on your homework. This should be second nature as investigating, interviewing and finding truth is part of security professionals’ core competencies.

3. Use silence as a tool by actively listening to people when they answer questions. What words do they choose and how are they delivered? What does their body language say about what’s important to them and requested of you?

4. Figure out the departmental wins that support their goals and quantify them if possible. Some things can’t be measured, but that doesn’t mean they are not important.

5. Communicate with senior management in their language. The way they “hear” things can make all the difference if you can successfully speak the lingo, mate.

The moral of our tale? Those who help steer the security practitioners’ ship more effectively will get to reap the riches onboard, or else it’s time to walk the plank.

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About the Author

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Paul C. Boucherle, Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Certified Sherpa Coach (CSC), is Security Sales & Integration’s “Business Fitness” columnist. A principal of Matterhorn Consulting, he has more than 30 years of diverse security and safety industry experience including UL central station operations, risk-vulnerability assessments, strategic security program design and management of industry convergence challenges. Boucherle has successfully guided top-tier companies in achieving enhanced ROI resulting from improved sales and operational management techniques. He is a charismatic speaker and educator on a wide range of critical topics relating to the security industry of today and an accomplished corporate strategist and marketer whose vision and expertise in business performance have driven notable enterprise growth in the security industry sector.

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