A Cyber CRO told me last month that THIS is what makes his best cyber sellers stand out from the rest: “They don’t pitch products”.
They reframe how everyone in the security team think about risk.
The top performers consistently close 7-figure deals using a discovery approach that also make them the only solution available because it transforms how they evaluate their identity vulnerabilities. What separates these elite TechSales isn’t technical expertise—it’s their ability to reshape how buyers define security success.
I had to learn more, so I asked to meet them, and here’s what I learned from these the rockstar TechSales. In essence, they ask questions that force meaningful self-reflection:
“How confident are you in your ability to detect compromised credentials across your cloud environments?”
Most security leaders pause here. They don’t have a precise answer—and that realization creates powerful momentum.
These top performers then deepen the conversation:
“What percentage of your cloud-based resources have overprivileged access rights that could be exploited?”
“If I told you that 40% of your employees have unnecessary access to sensitive data, how would that impact your security strategy?”
“In an ideal world, wouldn’t you want continuous monitoring of identity behaviors across all environments, with automated response to suspicious activities?”
Bharat Raigangar. Board Advisor, 1CxO, vCISO CyberSecurist & Mentor
The magic happens when they transition to the future state question:
“In an ideal world, wouldn’t you want continuous monitoring of identity behaviors across all environments, with automated response to suspicious activities?”
This discovery transforms the conversation:
1. Expose hidden vulnerabilities with estimation questions “What’s your current process for identifying shadow IT in your cloud infrastructure?” “How quickly can you detect when an authorized user accesses sensitive data for unauthorized purposes?”
2. Amplify potential consequences without using FUD.
3. Envision the optimal solution “Ideally, wouldn’t you want unified visibility across all authentication events?” “In a perfect security environment, how valuable would it be to automatically adjust access rights based on risk scores?”
4. Connect to decision criteria “How critical is identity security in your overall evaluation process?” “When comparing solutions, how important is integration between cloud security and identity management?”
