Do you find #infosec vendor sales frustrating? Can't stand those emails: "Do you care about security?" or "Without <vendor> you're breached?" I talked about the unfortunate reality of security sales and what we can do to make it better scmagazine.com/home/opinion/…
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The sales cycle for security tooling is the worst.
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What else would make it better in your opinion?
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It’s like asking what would make buying a new car from a dealership better. The whole process is geared for sales, regardless if the product is a good fit.
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Fair. It seems the transition we need is from ‘used car sales’ mode to an actual valuable partner. In the past, I found myself first identifying quality teams I trusted. Then, if they were working on a problem that I was facing I was happy to explore their product.
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Very much the reverse of sales. Instead of you selling me a product, I evaluate the quality of your teams and then ask if you have products that might be interesting to me.
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Back in my PayPal days, we had someone that would coordinate calls with vendors, ensured they skipped the 10 minute intro/origin story/market blurb, and stuck to a tight agenda focused on our needs. I didn’t know how good we had it.
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Replying to @bilcorry @_mwc
These days, I leverage my knowledge of tools I’ve used in the past and ask around in my trusted network for recommendations. OSS has a bigger role these days; it side steps the sales cycle, but comes with other costs.

Jun 29, 2019 · 4:38 AM UTC

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Replying to @bilcorry @_mwc
To your point, if you’re having success reversing the sales model, then could be interesting. Transparency on pricing seems like a win too.