MODULE 2

Performance

LESSON 2.2

Defining Industry Targets

Industry Targets for This Designation

Understanding your customers’ needs is essential when selling an IT-based security solution. This knowledge allows you to offer tailored solutions, build trust, communicate effectively, enhance customer satisfaction, and gain a competitive advantage. 

Key Focus When Targeting Your New Solution 

1. Tailored Solutions: 

• Why it matters: Every organisation has unique security challenges and requirements. By understanding these specific needs, you can offer solutions that are precisely tailored to address their unique vulnerabilities and goals.

• Benefit: This increases the likelihood of your solution being effective and valued, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

2. Competitive Advantage: 

• Why it matters: Understanding your customers better than your competitors can give you a significant edge in the market. 

• Benefit: You can anticipate their needs and offer innovative solutions that set you apart, making your offering more attractive and difficult to replicate. 

START HERE

Define Your Target Industries & Customers 

This lesson will help you to examine and define your industry-based solution strategy – based on the outcome you are selling to them, in this case Security.  

Let’s break this down, and step through each – one at a time. 

While you will want to sell to everyone, from a sales and marketing perspective you must be more specific to differentiate yourself, as doing this will greatly improve your odds of winning those new customers. 

If you’re thinking platforms already, pump those brakes…  

Your first goal is to understand what issues need to be addressed, before you can determine the technology needed to make this happen. And before you can determine the issues correctly, you need to know who those industries are! 

If not, you’re trying to make each customer fit a possible pre-determined outcome, rather than fitting the required outcome to each customer’s needs. 

When developing a new solution, identify industries where your solution is indispensable. This approach helps secure early successes, boosting team confidence as the solution is deployed. You can target other types of customers later. 

Industry regulations and government legislation are the strongest enforcers of mandatory security measures. 

To help, the Australian Government's half-yearly ‘Notifiable Data Breach’ report is always a great place to start from a security perspective; and it’s also very helpful in highlighting the realities of the issues they face – based on real world data. 

Their latest report lists the following industries as being those that currently need the biggest help: Healthcare, Finance, Insurance, Retail and Government. 

These candidates are ideal for a value-focused security solution and are more likely to engage in an initial conversation with you than decline it.  

BUILDING A TARGET INDUSTRY

EXAMPLE

Understand What The Healthcare Industry Expects 

The following is a list of the Top 10 priorities ANZ Healthcare providers deem the most important in securing their organisations from a partner requirement perspective. 

You can download the full assessment here:  Download 2.2 – Determine Healthcare Requirements {add link} 

Please note: This document also outlines perspectives and contexts from a customer perspective and an outcome delivered perspective. 

WHAT IS THIS INFORMATION TELLING US?

The priorities listed becomes our base set of requirements, and in our next lesson will also be used to determine the base SKUs required to deliver the correct outcome. 

This is also useful for when we create our marketing collateral – as we are selling a valuable outcome not a licence or subscription. This is vital as it will improve your revenue and most importantly – your profitability. (More in Lesson 4) 

Interestingly, when you review different industries, the outcomes are extremely varied, justifying the importance of a) assessing by industry and b) matching SKU to need. 

The important aspect here, is that the requirements themselves determine the customers’ requirements, rather than traditional perceptions or price-driven expectations – on providers or customers behalf. 

Next Lesson: 

We will examine the technical specifications and components needed to create the solution package you plan to market. Although you may have an initial perspective, it's important to ensure that the solution considers multiple options, but ultimately meets all expectations.