We continue our Best Advice Q&A series with Tanner Bengtzen, director of strategic partnerships at ProdataKey. He shares the best advice he’s ever gotten, how he boosts security industry newcomers and the person who has had the most influence on him and could elevate others in the sector.
Security Sales & Integration: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Tanner Bengtzen: I have received a lot of great advice but I think the piece of wisdom that has really stuck with me is: “nobody is going to wake up and do the hard things for you.” What that means to me is that we’re much more in control than we think.
If we want to take our lives into a certain direction, we have to take the responsibility to push that forward. As much as I would love to believe the idea that someone is constantly looking out for me and making conscious decisions to better my personal and professional life, it’s just not true.
I most definitely have people in my court, as we all do, but it’s not like we have these agents that are looking out for us all the time. If I want to make something happen, I have to do the work.
SSI: What advice would you give to those looking to achieve success in the security industry?
Bengtzen: If I was introduced to someone new in the industry, I would remind them of the importance of building alliances within this industry. Not everyone has to be your best friend, but it is in your best interest to create alliances. That goes for people at a dealer level, people at a manufacturing level, people at a distribution level, and even competitors!
The industry is very big from the outside but, from the inside, there are actually very few faces that represent it. You need to build alliances with those people if you actually want to build true partnerships and opportunities.
SSI: If you could point to one person in the security industry and tell up-and-comers, “Make sure to listen to what they have to say,” whom would you pick and why?
Bengtzen: This might be biased since he’s become a good friend over the years but I would say Jake Voll, who is the CEO of SS&SI. Jake has helped set the standard of what a security professional should be, and he’s taken particular interest in helping me both personally and professionally. For that, I am extremely grateful.
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