Driving Executive Cybersecurity Dialogue Across Key Markets

5 min read

Trend Micro wanted to find an effective way to connect with busy and in-demand CISOs and Cybersecurity leaders in their target markets.

About Trend Micro

As the global pioneer in cybersecurity, we have many different solutions. Underneath all of those solutions is  our world-leading threat intelligence, which is really a unique selling point, because many companies provide security technologies, but technologies work only as well as the intelligence that is guiding the operation of  those products. We are the global market leader when it comes to threat research and vulnerability research.

“Trend Micro Vision One™ cybersecurity platform brings together endpoint security, email security, network  security, cloud security, and OT and IT security. It breaks down the silos and provides one consolidated solution to manage your overall security.” - Kimmo Vesajoki, Country Manager, Finland & Baltics

How Trend Micro works with Aurora Live

Scheduled introductory virtual meetings with pre-selected decision-makers within Trend Micro’s target group

Invited Trend Micro’s sales professionals to networking events attended by members of their target group

The results

• Trend Micro has attended over 100 meetings

• The overall quality of meetings and prospects has been satisfactory and high-quality

• Trend Micro has booked a good number of follow-up meetings with decision-makers

• Provided them with opportunities to network with cybersecurity leaders in a more casual setting

• Provided an environment to improve business relationship with old and new prospects

The Solution

As a cybersecurity vendor, we focus on contacts who are responsible for cybersecurity. Typically, the title would be CISO, and in some cases, different IT security operations and cloud roles are also of interest.  typically, the CISO reports to the CIO or the CFO, depending on the organizational structure.

Cloud architects and DevOps managers are also relevant target groups for us. From the traditional IT buying center, I would say that the relevance is not so big anymore. We would be talking to security operations or security analysts rather than IT managers. Their purchasing power has diminished greatly over the last few years. So nowadays, the CISO is the best bet and then they can direct us to cloud architects or security  operations team leads.

With regard to the customer segments, we operate both in the private and public sectors. The basic rule of thumb is that the more critical the infrastructure is to secure, the more likely they are to be our customers. Examples of critical infrastructure in the private sector would be banking and finance, communications, and e energy. In the public sector, it would be the government, especially the defense sector.

Breaking Through the First Connection

The Challenge of Introductions

The biggest challenge is to get the introduction done. When we get into a meeting with a customer, then it‘s  easy to justify the use of time and the meetings are, without a doubt, always beneficial for the customer, as well as for us. The biggest challenge is to be able to contact somebody that you don‘t necessarily know beforehand and that receives many contact requests every day.

Value of Pre-Booked Virtual Meetings

The most important thing is that because of your operational model, you are capable of booking 1-to-1 virtual meetings and 15 minutes is enough to tell our story, who we are, and why we have requested this meeting and tend to agree on a follow-up. I think that the biggest value is the possibility of getting those meetings booked.

Quality of Prospects and Meetings

I think that the quality has been very good. The better the screening of the contact person list is, the better  the quality of the meeting. If we make sure that we meet those people who are relevant to us and are in our target group, the meeting is automatically going to yield good results. A good number of introductory meetings have resulted in follow-up meetings. 

Lead Follow-Up and Nurturing

We set up the contact person in our systems and ask them for permission to inform them of our upcoming  events and activities. I think it‘s valuable that we understand the organizational structure of our customers or  prospects. When we’re talking with a CIO or CISO, we are always mapping out their IT organization to find  out who is responsible for what. Last but most important is the follow-up meeting where we can then go  deeper into the topic that is most interesting for them and start nurturing the lead into a sales opportunity.

Experience at In-Person Events

It was very positive. The right people are there, the event usually has a very good program and is connected with elements like dining, so everybody is having a good time. I tend to stay until the very end because the best part is typically after the program ends in the networking part. It‘s a good way to meet old  acquaintances and reiterate your message and meet new people. Oftentimes you get into groups of people that have both your existing customers and new prospects, and that is very fruitful. At your events, I also managed to network with decision-makers I spoke with at the meetings and met decision-makers that I have been unsuccessful in reaching in the past. We would not be a repeat customer if we were not happy and  satisfied with the service that you‘re offering, not only in Finland but also in other countries.

“Trend Micro is heavily utilizing Aurora Live because your concept works well. You are capable of providing  really good quality meetings and then top it off with physical events. It‘s a very good recipe for success."

Key Takeaways & Next Steps

Why Trend Micro Chose Aurora Live: