Business Development | Risk

5 Things Your Security Customers Want Most But Won't Tell You

February 26, 2019 | 5 min read
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Does this scenario sound familiar? You’ve lost another risk assessment prospect and you don’t know why. They were a referral from one of your customers and you thought they were a sure thing—but suddenly they dropped off the face of the earth. No explanation, and you never hear from them again.

You won’t win every potential customer—no one does. But some physical security professionals are better at winning new clients than others. These consultants understand the unspoken expectations of their security customers, and they know how to meet those expectations.

If you know the unspoken expectations of your potential customers, you can spend less time on sales and earn greater profit margins. You can guess what they want, or you can read on to discover the top things your risk assessment customers want most.

Related reading: 5 Customer Questions Your Marketing Content Needs to Answer

A Trustworthy Website

Your website is your most valuable marketing tool. Think of it as your the ideal salesperson—it works 24/7 to help you win sales, and it costs you practically nothing to maintain. A professional-looking website acts as the face of your company to boost prospects’ confidence in your expertise. But your website can also work against you.

Your website says more about your business than anything else. If it looks 10 years old, your sales leads will think you’re a decade behind the times. You’ll immediately lose business the moment your prospects go online.

To close a sale, you’ve got a lot of ground to make up if you have an outdated website. Customers won’t say so, but it’s an established fact that marketing agencies have known for years.

A Personal Connection

People don’t buy based on logic. They buy based on emotion, then justify it with logic. It’s something we all do, usually without even realizing it. Focusing only on logical reasons for prospects to hire you won’t win a lot of customers. Instead, you’ll need to connect with them on an emotional level.

Connecting with customers means understanding them and empathizing with them. Your security clients will be spending good money on you, exposing their failures to you, and secretly wondering what you’ll find that they don’t know about. They may be worried about costly remediation and increased liabilities. They won’t tell you, but your prospects are secretly hoping you’ll feel their pains, concerns and anxieties. Some tips for building empathy:

  • Seek to establish common ground
  • Listen intently
  • Pay attention to things outside of yourself
  • Start with your customer’s concerns, not your own

Connecting with clients also means establishing a rapport—getting your clients to like you. That’s a scary idea for a lot of security consultants, but it’s easier than you might think. Try these tips:

  • Smile often
  • Maintain eye contact—especially when listening
  • Be considerate and polite
  • Be honest
  • Care more about helping than making a profit

Those are little things, but they make a big difference. The better you can connect with prospects, the easier it will be to make a sale.

A Humble Expert

Clients want to be assured that you know your stuff, but they’ll be turned off the moment you start throwing around jargon that they don’t understand. Show your expertise without showing off your ego. Come alongside clients, don’t patronize them. If their own egos are hurt, they’ll never tell you—and you’ll be left wondering why that promising sale never closed.

Instead, take the time to explain concepts and terms they might not be familiar with. When in doubt, simply ask if they need an explanation. That simple courtesy will go a long way.

Tech-savvy Pro

Customers expect experts to keep up with the latest tech and software solutions. They usually won’t mention it, because to them it’s an obvious expectation. Most businesses are constantly looking for the best tools and latest tech that can cut losses and boost productivity. For most organizations, it’s simply a given.

But not for security consultants. Despite all the new tech that’s available in the security industry, consultants are often behind the times when it comes to risk assessment tools. It’s unusual to find a consultant who doesn’t rely on paper-and-pen or spreadsheets to do their work.

Your customers expect more from you. To make the sale—and keep repeat customers—it is no longer optional to adopt the best available risk assessment software on the market.

Professional Demeanor

There’s nothing that will scare off a potential client faster than an unprofessional “expert.” A lot of security consultants are experts in their field, but they come across as unprofessional. Chances are, these consultants don’t even realize that’s the image they’re projecting.

Whether you’re a career consultant or doing risk assessments as a side gig, your clients are trusting you with their businesses. They deserve top-quality professionalism. For example:

  • Be on time. If you say 11:00, don’t show up at 11:10.
  • Dress the part. If you’re going to an enterprise organization, wear a suit and tie. Never dress more casually than the people who work there.
  • Be prepared and organized. Do your homework on your client before the first interview. Have everything you need within reach, and have a robust plan of action.
  • Practice good communication. Be clear and timely, and consider the best channel of communication (phone, email, etc.).
  • Make good on your commitments—do what you say you’ll do, follow through on your promises.
  • Be appropriate. Don’t talk about last night’s bar crawl or your brother’s colonoscopy. There’s nothing wrong with small talk or sharing personal stories, but steer clear of sensitive, graphic or polarizing topics.

Like this article? Check out Top Things Your Physical Risk Assessment Customers Wish You Were Doing

Close More Security Sales

Every customer has unspoken expectations. Fair or not, it’s your job to know them and meet them. Do that, and you’ll find yourself closing more sales. Miss the mark, and you could be left scratching your head when a promising prospect suddenly goes radio silent.

Which of these best practices are you already knocking out of the ballpark? Which ones are you whiffing on? Make a list of the ones you want to improve on, and start with one this week!

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