Defense in Depth

Should CISOs Be More Empathetic Towards Salespeople?

Apr 25, 2024

Emily Heath, general partner at Cyberstarts, joins the podcast to discuss the relationship between CISOs and sales representatives. They delve into the challenges CISOs face with aggressive sales tactics, emphasizing the necessity of empathy and authenticity in sales interactions. The conversation highlights the importance of setting boundaries, providing strategic feedback, and building relationships based on trust and value.

34:40

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Episode guests

Emily Heath

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

CISOs should show empathy towards sales reps to drive product quality and competition forward.

Effective communication is vital for CISOs to provide constructive feedback to sales teams and enhance mutual respect.

Deep dives

Sales Pitches and CISOs' Perception

The podcast discusses the common complaints of CISOs about sales pitches and when those complaints might come off as entitlement. Sales pitches can be overwhelming for senior staff, leading to patience thinning. However, showing empathy towards sales reps is crucial as they drive product quality and competition forward.

Introduction

3min

Navigating the CISO-Sales Relationship

11min

Navigating the Relationship Between CISOs and Sales Representatives

4min

Navigating Sales Outreach as a CISO

6min

Navigating Cybersecurity Sales in a Competitive Market

7min

Contrasting Strategies in Dealing with Salespeople and Job Opportunities in Cybersecurity

3min

All links and images for this episode can be found on CISO Series.

Check out this post for the discussion that is the basis of our conversation on this week’s episode co-hosted by me, David Spark (@dspark), the producer of CISO Series, and Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap), CISO, LinkedIn. Joining me is our guest, Emily Heath, general partner, Cyberstarts.

In this episode:

How do CISOs feel about sales pitches?
Do they have legitimate complaints?
When do these legitimate complaints cross the line to sounding entitled?
Do CISOs need to show a little more empathy to sales?

Thanks to our podcast sponsor, SquareX

SquareX helps organizations detect, mitigate and threat-hunt web attacks happening against their users in real-time, including but not limited to malicious sites, files, scripts, and networks. Find out more at sqrx.com.

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Defense in Depth

Should CISOs Be More Empathetic Towards Salespeople?

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Sales Pitches and CISOs' Perception

Constructive Feedback to Sales Teams

Managing Sales Outreach

Importance of Building Relationships

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts