How to Have ‘The Talk’ About Security with Your Customers

Cybersecurity is like life insurance – it’s the last thing on your mind, you don’t think anything bad will happen to you, and it’s a waste of money on something you don’t even understand. Until there is a security or compliance breach, your customers won’t ask you about it, and otherwise they don’t seem receptive to you addressing it.

This is especially true for SMEs that are price conscious, security non-tech savvy and with more immediate day-to-day priorities disinclined to plan for the longer term. As their reseller – and hopefully trusted advisor – you know that cybersecurity is a big problem and it’s only getting worse. So how do you start a conversation and have “the conversation” with your customers? This can be uncomfortable not only for them, but also for channel partners. So what is your starting point?

Whether your customers lack knowledge of the state of affairs in cybersecurity or have had their perceptions shaped by inaccurate or misleading information, the channel offers an excellent opportunity here. By giving your customers a factual picture of what’s happening along with the risks of unproven threats, you’re well-positioned to change their minds and propose solutions that help protect their data. Not only can this improve the standing of your trusted advisor with individual customers, but it can put you on the right track with the right security partners to develop sound security practices.

Key talking points for your customers

Rather than adopting a negative tone based on FUD – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt – focus on the objective realities, not just what SMBs experience every day, but also the broader trends affecting all businesses , especially in relation to technological advances.

A good entry point would be Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS), either for an existing deployment or one you want to start with. When you’ve positioned UCaaS as a productivity driver rather than a way to reduce telecom costs, the security conversation will be easier to have because you’re tying it to something important to your business.

With UCaaS being part of their cloud migration journey, security becomes an even bigger part of the story for overall business continuity. With that in mind, here are some relevant, industry-based trends that can seamlessly connect the dots between the value of UCaaS and the need to mitigate cybersecurity threats.

• The use of communication and collaboration tools is increasing. All you have to do is look at Microsoft Teams adoption trends to confirm this. All UCaaS platforms are experiencing double-digit annual growth rates, and as traffic increases, so do cybersecurity risks. Despite being a legacy pre-UCaaS tool, email usage also remains high and we all know that this application is riddled with all manner of attacks.
• Social channels for companies are also growing. We all use them and they have now become an integral part of the workplace and contact center communications mix. Whether it’s social media platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter, or messaging platforms like WhatsApp or Messenger, they play a role in increasing productivity. All are common goals for bad actors.
• The digital transformation is an ongoing process. All businesses are going digital, and with UCaaS, so are your communications applications. This creates new data streams, and as digital channels are added, each represents a new vector for attacks.
• Bad actors get smarter. The more digital touchpoints you have, the more attractive you become as a target – whether you are a large or a small company. It also means that malicious actors evolve to find new vulnerabilities. Just because you can now identify mass phishing schemes and malware threats doesn’t mean you’re safe. Scammers have moved to other methods such as B. Social engineering, where they can extract information from social media activity to develop highly targeted, personal offers for specific employees.
• Cybersecurity insurance is becoming a business requirement. If customers haven’t already mentioned this, explain that this is an indication of how real – and pervasive – security issues have become, especially in regulated industries. Meeting these insurance requirements should be seen as money well spent, especially when your customers’ customers are beginning to demand it.
• Mindset of SME executives. This is more subtle, but SMBs easily believe that security threats only exist in companies and that they are too small to be targets. This is precisely why SMBs are attractive cybersecurity targets – thinking this way means they don’t take proper precautions, making them easy targets. Not only that, since SMEs outnumber corporations, there is no shortage of targets.

Finally, talk about the big picture

Security offerings can be sold on their own like any other point solution, but the value proposition is stronger when tied to bigger things. Some customers may simply view security as a logical add-on to UCaaS, especially when they understand the new vulnerabilities that arise from large streams of data entering and leaving their network. However, when looking at the breadth of UCaaS offerings, it’s important to note that for some vendors, security is core and built into their UCaaS solution, while others offer it A la carte.

That explanation might be enough to get them to provide an appropriate security solution, but you can also position this at a higher, more holistic level.

At the most basic level, security measures should be taken to…