You’ve heard about the recent cyber attacks. Everyone has. Now, everyone is questioning his or her own cyber security status. Take a look at today’s trending business Cyber Security terms, provided by FirstRain.
As we think over what we can do to make ourselves more secure, vendors in the space are thinking about market opportunities. Playing on current consumer awareness, Aerohive Networks announced their new solution that they claim could have prevented the recent events. Even start-ups are getting noticed by addressing the trend. Circle, a mobile payment application, was quick to reassure consumers on the safety of mobile commerce.
More than just an awareness opportunity, top companies are tackling major business opportunities in the industry, as indicated by FirstRain’s exploration map below. IBM’s recent news release announced that their security division is releasing a cyber security offering to protect banking customers. With finance being the main concern, Visa and Intel announced a collaboration agreement to create better payment security for connected devices, ranging from personal computers to wearable technologies. The companies assign the rising Cyber Security opportunities to the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) market. Echoing this, Microsoft plans to release a security program for its own IoT service, Azure.
Other signs that the Cyber Security Industry is the hot market of the moment include the spike in acquisitions made by major corporations of cyber security companies. Recently, Samsung Electronics announced it will be acquiring start-up enterprise software company, Tachyon Mobility to “build up their cyber security businesses with acquisitions.”
With Cyber Security heating up, this might lead to the security breakthrough, so to speak, that we need. Author and CIO, Tim Elkins states that “security isn’t an IT problem; it’s a business problem.” If so, IT might just start to receive the attention, budget, and opportunity to transform the industry. However, regardless if you are a vendor or a buyer, in tech or retail, following movements in Cyber Security is essential to business success. In other words, always be prepared because it just makes good sense.
This blog is part of an Industry & Market Series – analyzing what FirstRain users are tracking at the moment in order to gain advantage for the moment.
We’ve heard of Hunters and Farmers. However, a recent webinar from Top Sales World, “Account Based Selling: Stop Selling & Start Guiding”, claims the Fisherman is the true MVP of selling. But who is the Fisherman?
An old, overlooked friend, the Fisherman is described by a 1990s article in relation to recruiting as a patient hirer with diverse requirements. The current seller definition follows the same tone. According to the Optis Group, the fishing salesperson is calm, realistic, and collaborative. For many, this sounds far from the aggressive Don Draper they think of. However, it seems increasingly likely that the Fisherman is the same person responsible for your top sales.
A survey was conducted on top salespeople in order to identify their core persona in terms of attributes that explain drive, motivations, and actions. I attended the survey’s accompanying webinar, “The Persona of Top Sales Professionals” by Velocify. Though this was intentionally not a personality test but rather a look into their perception of the world, for the purpose of testing my Fisherman hypotheses, I answered a short Myers Briggs test according to the survey’s top results and descriptions. Think of this as my Rosetta stone for comparing the Fisherman ideal to the current top sales performers’ persona.
The top answers by top salespeople indicate an ESTJ personality type. According to the Account Based Selling webinar, the Fisherman guides, not pushes, leads through the sales pipeline with support, advice, and appropriate interjection. Similar to Fishermen, ESTJs are described as those that provide “clear advice and guidance” while leading the way down difficult routes.
Dedicated planners, ESTJs value preparation and follow-through. This aligns nicely with the idea that knowledge and relevancy is key to Account Based Selling. Jonathan Farrington, host of the Account Based Selling webinar, proposes that to achieve relevancy, and therefore effective selling, knowledge must go beyond just product knowledge to encompass industry, sector, competitive, company, business, and self-knowledge. This concept carries over into the survey results with the group answering “knowledge is powerful” as essential to sales was the group found to have the highest quota attainment at 170%.
With solid comparisons found between Fishermen and the persona of current top salespeople, the metaphor may in fact be a useful tool for hirers of salespeople or current salespeople looking to adjust their own selling approach to modern consumers.
According to the webinars referenced:
