Too often in the IT security market, we paint dark clouds in the horizon, use scare tactics and quote other experts who are also trying to frighten customers to buy security solutions. But, I do have a good story about how to use your identity and access management (IAM) solution investment as a sales and marketing tool, and not just a security solution.  An IAM solution can truly be a great tool to increase your sales efficiency and here’s how…

There are a lot of service providers out there who start up small, and once business begins to pick up, they inevitably expand their operations. Another example of this expanding online presence would be retail chains, who have distinctive brands that they have developed. This development might have taken a long time, and the brands, if successful, are usually quite strong, people will know what you are talking about if you mention something like Best Buy, Walmart or Home Depot. Are these brands, and new business ventures taking full advantage of IAM?

IAM is not only about security, authenticating the end-user properly to an online resource. It’s also about knowing your customer. If you can properly manage your customer identities, you have a resource with fantastic upsell opportunities. But here, the traditional 2 row database table with username and password does not constitute “fantastic”. The traditional user repositories that are quite low on information content do not offer you the information you need to sharpen your sales efforts.

If you have a system that lets your own customers manage their identities, and authorize their own employees to conduct business in your online services, you have the up-to-date and accurate information of who is actually buying from you. This is something that your IAM solution can bring more value and assist your marketing and sales efforts. No more fumbling around or trying to figure out who to convince that you have a great new service for your customers. You have the exact information needed to contact the right persons. This can save a bunch of money in marketing efforts, and as we all know, it’s so much easier to sell to existing customers than acquire new ones. Which in this context means that you can free up resources to the ever important task of getting those new customers that are boosting your business even further.

IAM can go even further in this area. If you already have an IAM and a system to manage external identities, you can deploy a new service to the portfolio. Now, when your customer or partner logs into the (ID) management system, they can see a new resource being available. By clicking “activate” they can buy this new service. Or, you can do targeted marketing, guiding your customers to login into the management system and accepting (buying) the new service.

Ubisecure Business IAM solutions are not just about managing the identities and access of your customers, also using your IAM solution as a marketing & sales tool, service management tool, and deployment tool. The above example can be easily achieved thanks to the ability to easily integrate our IAM solution with your CRM system. You can now use your IAM solution as business tool. Learn more by reading our new white paper: Business IAM: Identity and Access Management Integration with Your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System.