Back to BlogThe 5 Most Annoying Things About Buying Cybersecurity Tools
The B2B sales cycle is long and complex, with buyers using an average of 10 channels* to interact with suppliers and taking months to evaluate and complete a purchase.
Cybersecurity purchases, in particular, are high-stakes—and therefore, can be high-stress. Teams want to find the right tools quickly so they keep systems secure without breaking the bank. When cybersecurity buyers are on the hunt, they look for:
- Easy access to product information and reviews
- An opportunity to self-serve (without a pushy salesperson in the mix)
- Post-purchase product support
Unfortunately, many cybersecurity companies haven’t gotten the memo about what today’s buyers really want. The result? In the pursuit of meeting sales KPIs, they accidentally annoy the heck out of prospects!
Buying cybersecurity tools has become as annoying as coin-operated parking meters (Who carries change anymore?), videos that take forever to buffer on your phone, and wrestling with sheets that just won’t stay put on the corners of your mattress. That’s right—we’re talking all-time annoying.
At Blumira, we aim to do better. In our quest to be anti-annoying cybersecurity sellers, we compiled a list of the five most annoying things about buying cybersecurity tools. They are good for a laugh, but rest assured you won’t catch us applying these antics to our sales process.
1. Marketing materials with too much fluff and FUD
Cybersecurity is complex enough—considering all of the different attack vectors, vulnerabilities within your environment, and threat actors out there. It’s no wonder that cybersecurity burnout is high—85% of cybersecurity pros say they anticipate leaving their job because of burn out. When cybersecurity experts burn out and leave their posts, positions may be filled with less experienced employees, and buying decisions can fall on those with limited cybersecurity expertise.
That’s why clarity is so important when searching for a cybersecurity tool to keep your systems safe. You want simple, direct information about what a tool can do and how it will positively affect your organization.
You’ve probably seen cybersecurity companies push out marketing content with the exact opposite approach: using jargon-filled fluff to obscure factual information about the details of their product features. And too often, the marketing materials evoke fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to scare buyers into purchasing a product. By throwing out scary stats about the prevalence of attacks—or massive numbers related to lost revenue and business implosion—these companies prey on a buyer’s worst fears.
At Blumira, we avoid FUD. We aim to educate and support buyers with real information, simple FAQs, tangible advice, and a clear list of product features so you know what you are getting with Blumira and why it matters to you.
2. Pitch Vipers
We’re all busy meeting important KPIs, reporting to stakeholders, and doing more with shrinking budgets—all while trying to maintain our sanity and take care of to-dos in our personal lives. With so much going on, we don’t have the desire or patience to speak to a “plaidsplainer.”
In fact, the sales experience has become so painful that, according to Gartner, 75% of B2B buyers say they prefer a rep-free sales experience altogether.
There are many reasons that buyers, in general, find salespeople annoying. They mainly stem from the fact that the goals of a seller and a buyer are often misaligned. Sellers make commission, so are incentivized on price, but buyers look for competitive pricing to fit within a restricted budget. Sellers reap rewards for booking meetings with prospects, but buyers have limited time. Sellers reach their goal when they ink a deal, but buyers need post-sale support to get up and running with a new tool or solution.
The result? Some of a seller’s typical actions—pressure to commit, follow-up emails, going MIA after the sale—annoy the buyer.
At Blumira, we don’t believe that our goals are at odds with those of our prospects and customers. We’re here to work with you to find a solution that meets your needs, which means our sales process is about sharing insights and finding a solution—not striking a deal that’s only beneficial on one side.
We aim to book useful discovery calls (when necessary and helpful!) and also offer several self-service education tools—like an on-demand recorded demo—to augment your product discovery journey sans a salesperson altogether.
3. Not being able to try before you buy
Too many cybersecurity vendors make you commit to an expensive integration or contract without allowing you to get your hands dirty with the product. Without an opportunity to try before you buy, you can’t ensure you’re getting a tool that will impact your organization.
At Blumira, we offer a free tier that allows you to get started with our product and test it out for yourself. Our free tier allows unlimited users and provides unlimited data so you can protect up to three of your most vital cloud applications.
And we know that the existence of a free tier isn’t enough on its own. To get the most out of our free edition, setup, configuration, and usability must be simple. You can quickly get up and running with our free tier in minutes through a guided setup process. We’re here to help you play in the sandbox—not get stuck in a jungle gym.
4. Not being able to find genuine product reviews
Unbiased reviews from real users are the best way to understand the ins and outs, and pros and cons, of a tool you’ll potentially buy. Not being able to find honest product reviews on sites like G2 and Capterra is a major annoyance that can slow down your ability to comprehensively vet and evaluate a tool against competitors.
When sellers help you find unbiased reviews during your discovery journey, it significantly improves your evaluation process. At Blumira, we go for bonus points in this department. In addition to active profiles on trusted review sites, we have an arsenal of case studies on our website. Our goal is to help you paint a picture of what you’ll get with Blumira by reviewing real stories from customers in the same industry or who have faced similar problems to the ones you’re looking to tackle.
5. A support team that is MIA
One of the most annoying things about buying cybersecurity tools happens after you make the official purchase: when a company suddenly goes MIA after payment. It’s like getting ghosted after a first date with someone you thought was “the one.”
It’s very annoying to lose contact with a cybersecurity vendor during or after the implementation process when you have questions or loose ends that prevent you from getting your systems up and running. This can delay any business impact you hoped the tool would provide.
At Blumira, we offer a comprehensive library of support documents to assist users and have a support team at the ready to help our customers get the most out of our tool—at all times. We won’t pull a disappearing act on you.
A better buying experience
Procuring cybersecurity tools doesn’t have to be a drag—or make your IT teams want to run for the hills. By calling out the annoying antics in our industry, we get one step closer to finding synergy between buyers and sellers and creating a better experience for everyone involved.
At Blumira, we want potential buyers to have comprehensive information at their fingertips so they can make an informed decision about what is best for their organization. With a free tier, alongside readily available product information, demos, reviews, case studies, and support materials, we’re making the cybersecurity buying process better one partnership at a time.
Do any of these annoyances resonate with you? Take the not-so-annoying approach with Blumira. Give our free tier a try and see if Blumira is right for you.