A Security Objection

Here’s a piece of good PR in action. It’s funders managed to get decent coverage in the dailies from claiming half of all employees would sell their work passwords for just a fiver. And incredibly, a third had already at one stage passed on their corporate logins to someone.

When I sold sales knowledge management, the eyes of the head honchos would inevitably light up. Yet at some stage someone less disposed would utter the security objection.

If we have all our top secrets in one place, online, blah blah blah, disaster will strike.

It was rubbish of course. If a disaffected salesperson wants to take their black book with them, they’ll do so whatever the online guard you put in place.

I used to tell the tale of just such a chap. An outstanding seller, but overlooked for promotion. Victim of politics. So he wrought his revenge. When he resurfaced at a competitor, he did so with the contract details of every single one of his old company’s clients. Enough to spend the next couple of years smashing quota on low hanging fruit alone for sure.

In my case, prospects could get concerned about key sales dna falling into the wrong hands. How you sell against each competitor. The best references you use. How you handle common objections. The way you pitch new products. Your visions and roadmaps.

The truth is, if someone’s off to somewhere similar (most likely snaring the post on the promise of contacts and insider info galore), then they’ll take whatever they want. How many people do you know that have had their sword cut in half only to jump ship to a fierce rival over the past year or two? In a winning team it’s hardly ever any. Think of all the people you have (and probably later regretted) taken from a place after the same spend as you. What have they brought with them? In the vast majority of cases it is nothing of any value beyond water cooler tittle tattle.

If this objection had any validity, then no-one would ever buy crm. Or even erp. Why would you even send emails either?

The truth is that the best defence against any of these demons is to have the best sales set-up in the industry. Yes, a foe may have your latest thoughts, but to have that snapshot alone, is to go backwards. If only you are evolving and have the right plans, then any amount of subterfuge is unlikely to derail you.

How are you mapping out your sales best practice journey?