5 Ways to Boost Collaboration Between Security and Sales Team

According to Accenture, around 53% of organizations are factoring in cybersecurity as a crucial part of their business operations, seeing it as a competitive advantage rather than just a compliance measure. Considering that the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024, it’s no surprise that businesses are increasingly concerned with the security and GRC posture of potential vendors and partners.

In today’s risk-averse business landscape, sales teams must collaborate with security teams throughout the pre-sale due diligence process. Without seamless cross-team collaboration, security reviews can slow down the sales cycle. However, the goal isn’t just to expedite reviews.

With these actionable strategies, you can foster better collaboration between sales and security to position security as a key differentiator, establish trust with customers early on, and accelerate sales cycles to drive sustainable business growth.  

How to Streamline Processes Between Security and Sales

Establish Clear Communication Channels Early

It’s crucial to set up clear and consistent communication between sales and security teams. You can avoid potential bottlenecks by establishing regular touchpoints and streamlined workflows for cross-team communication and knowledge sharing. Using collaborative tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams will streamline conversations and ensure everyone remains aligned. Additionally, designating points of contact and outlining roles and responsibilities from the start will further clarify processes.

To facilitate information sharing, it’s important to build and maintain an up-to-date knowledge library accessible to all teams. This library should include features like access control, version history, and a robust search function to ensure that all team members can easily find the resources they need – when they need them. Regular updates across all teams are essential to keep this information current. Make sure you assign roles and responsibilities for who updates information, and schedule regular reviews of your knowledge library to catch outdated information or documentation.

Why it matters: Establishing communication early helps proactively address security concerns, ensuring smoother sales negotiations and fewer last-minute obstacles.

Align on Common Goals

The primary objective for sales teams is to close new business, and to do so quickly. For security teams, the main goal is to thoroughly vet any potential partners, vendors, or customers to mitigate risk as much as possible. Unfortunately for sales and security teams, these goals can often feel at odds with each other. Sales is focused on speed, while security is focused on accuracy and compliance.

Aligning these goals from the start can ensure both sides work cohesively. Because more businesses are paying close attention to security and GRC, thorough due diligence can help establish trust and build customer assurance from the start of the relationship.

Sales and security teams should establish joint objectives that strike a balance between security diligence and customer satisfaction. Strategy sessions can be a useful tool, giving both teams a better understanding of each other's priorities and helping them collaborate more effectively.

Why it matters: When both teams are aligned on their objectives, it reduces friction and allows them to work together more smoothly, ultimately improving outcomes for the business.

Develop a Streamlined Due Diligence Process

If security reviews aren’t efficient, they can cause significant delays in the sales cycle, potentially even jeopardizing new deals. However, streamlined security reviews communicate to your prospects that they can be confident in how you handle their data and sensitive information. Having a clear and structured pre-sale due diligence process ensures both sales and security teams know exactly what needs to be done in order to complete security reviews as quickly and completely as possible.

This process should be straightforward, actionable, and included in sales enablement training so that the sales team is prepared to handle common security concerns from prospects. Consider adding automations that empower both your sales and security teams to expedite security reviews. Automations could include self service options for customers, an AI-powered bot to answer common security-related questions from the sales team, or task automations to handoff more in-depth security requests to the security team.

Why it matters: A well-structured due diligence process prevents delays, ensuring that deal cycles are not unnecessarily prolonged.

Leverage Automation to Reduce Manual Work

Incorporating automated tools into your security review processes can streamline workflows and expedite time to completion. To start, using automated tools for initial security assessments, risk scoring, and reporting not only saves time but also ensures a consistent approach to evaluating potential risks. Self-serve capabilities allow customers to easily submit one off requests or ask questions, without team intervention. Automate task workflows so team members can quickly handle high-priority requests, and deflect unnecessary reviews with a secure trust center, accessible only to those who need it.

Encouraging your sales team to leverage these tools during the prospecting phase ensures they are prepared to address security concerns proactively. Additionally, integrating security automation tools directly into your CRM fosters seamless collaboration between departments, creating a unified approach to security.

Why it matters: Automation accelerates the due diligence process, reducing the manual workload and leaving more time for meaningful, value-driven conversations with clients.

Foster a Culture of Continuous Feedback

Establishing a feedback loop between teams after a deal is closed is crucial for improving the due diligence process in future engagements. Sales teams can provide valuable insights to security teams about common client concerns, enabling security to refine their approach. In turn, security teams can keep sales informed about emerging threats, ensuring they stay ahead of potential risks. Regular reporting and joint reviews between both teams help to identify challenges, adjust strategies, and refine processes to stay aligned with evolving business and security needs.

Why it matters: Continuous feedback fosters ongoing improvements and strengthens long-term collaboration, ensuring both teams are better prepared for future deals.

Streamline Security Reviews with SecurityPal

SecurityPal has the ability to transform security reviews from your biggest sales bottleneck into a key customer advantage. Demonstrating the strength of your security posture during pre-sale due diligence is more than just a compliance requirement — it’s a competitive edge. Integrating security and sales teams early in the customer journey builds trust and transparency, setting the right tone from the beginning of the relationship. Outsourcing repetitive tasks to certified experts can further streamline workflows, eliminating bottlenecks that often arise between security and sales, allowing teams to focus on more strategic efforts.

Download our ebook, Navigating Security Questionnaires, to learn more.