The Sales Tactics That Cost Cybersecurity Vendors Deals

Something needs to be said about how cybersecurity vendors sell their products.

The industry has a sales problem. It’s annoying, and it’s actively costing vendors business.

Customers are making purchasing decisions based not on product quality or features, but on which sales team is least painful to deal with. They’re choosing inferior solutions because the buying experience with the better product was so exhausting that they couldn’t face years of renewals with that sales team.

This isn’t a small problem. This is vendors shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly while wondering why their win rates are dropping.

Let’s talk about everything cybersecurity sales teams are doing wrong, and why customers are increasingly fed up with it.

The Pricing Nobody Believes

Every cybersecurity sales process starts with pricing that nobody takes seriously.

The vendor quotes $80,000 for their solution. The customer asks for a discount. Within minutes, it’s $70,000. Ask again, and suddenly they can do $65,000. By the end of the conversation, you’re at $55,000 and wondering what the actual price was supposed to be.

Here’s what this teaches customers: your pricing is completely made up.

If you can drop 30% in a single conversation, then the initial quote wasn’t based on value or cost. It was based on “let’s see how much they’ll pay.” Every number you throw out is just a negotiating position, not a real price.

This creates a terrible dynamic. Customers aren’t evaluating whether your solution is worth the investment. They’re trying to figure out how much money they’re leaving on the table if they stop negotiating now.

The Exhaustion Factor

Here’s what happens after these pricing conversations.

Instead of discussing whether the product solves the problem, teams spend hours debating negotiation strategy. “Should we push for another 10%? Do you think they’d go lower? What if we threaten to walk away?”

The evaluation shifts from “is this the right solution?” to “are we getting screwed on price?”

And sometimes customers give up and buy from whoever gave them straightforward pricing, even if that product isn’t quite as good, because they’re so tired of the games that they’ll accept a slightly inferior solution to avoid the hassle.

The vendor with the better product loses, not because of features or capabilities, but because their sales process was more painful than the value difference justified.

Corporate Jargon as a Smokescreen

Cybersecurity sales conversations are drowning in meaningless buzzwords.

“Our solution leverages AI-driven analytics to provide real-time visibility across your entire attack surface with seamless integration into your existing security ecosystem, empowering your SOC with actionable intelligence to proactively defend against advanced persistent threats through our next-generation platform.”

What does it actually do?

Nobody knows, because the salesperson just recited marketing copy without saying anything concrete.

Customers evaluating security products aren’t always technical people. They need real information:

• What specific problems does this solve?
• How does it technically work?
• What are the integration requirements?
• What are the performance implications?
• What are the limitations?

But sales teams are trained to avoid specifics. They speak in value propositions and abstract benefits, dancing around concrete details until they can hand off to someone technical.

The Information Stall

Sales reps also have a habit of refusing to answer straightforward questions.

“What’s the pricing model?”

“Well, that really depends on your specific use case and deployment architecture. Let me understand your requirements better so I can provide a customized proposal that reflects the value you’ll receive.”

Just answer the question.

Customers understand that enterprise software has variable pricing. But refusing to discuss even the basic pricing structure, per user, per device, per data volume, flat rate, until you’ve “qualified” them and delivered the full pitch wastes everyone’s time.

If the solution starts at $200K annually and the customer’s budget is $50K, everyone should know that in the first ten minutes, not after three meetings and a demo.

The Manager Approval Theater

Here’s the script that plays out in virtually every cybersecurity sales negotiation:

Sales rep: “Let me see what I can do for you. I’ll need to talk to my manager about this discount.”

[Dramatic pause while they supposedly message someone]

Sales rep: “Good news! I spoke with my manager, and we can do $72,000. That’s really pushing it on our end, but we really want to work with you.”

Nobody believes this performance.

Customers know the rep is authorized to offer a discount range. They know “checking with the manager” is theater designed to make it seem like they fought for a special deal. They know this “stretch” pricing is what everyone else gets, too.

This isn’t 1990. Customers aren’t impressed by the “let me talk to my manager” routine. They’re insulted that you think they’re falling for it.

The Escalation Ladder

Some vendors take this even further with multi-level escalations:

Week 1: The junior rep quotes pricing, can’t answer technical questions, and promises to bring in “senior resources.”

Week 2: The Solutions engineer understands the product but won’t discuss pricing, referring back to sales.

Week 3: The sales manager appears with “more authority” and offers pricing slightly better than the junior rep could.

Week 4: Regional director shows up with “executive-level pricing” if you’ll sign before quarter-end.

By now, customers have spent a month in meetings and still don’t have straight answers. They’re exhausted. They’re annoyed. And they’re wondering if this organizational dysfunction extends to product support.

What Actually Works: The Vendors Who Get It Right

Not all cybersecurity vendors operate this way. Some have figured out how to sell without alienating customers.

Here’s what the good ones do:

Transparent Pricing From the Start

The best vendors provide clear pricing information early in the conversation. Not necessarily the final number, but the pricing model and realistic ranges.

“We price per user, typically $60-90 annually, depending on volume and contract length. For your size, you’re probably looking at $40-50K total.”

Now there’s a real conversation about value versus cost, not a guessing game about what the vendor might accept.

Technical Competence in Sales

Some vendors ensure their sales teams actually understand the product well enough to answer substantive questions.

When customers ask, “How does this integrate with our existing SIEM?” they get real answers, not “let me schedule a technical deep-dive with our solutions engineer.”

This respects customer time and expertise. Security professionals evaluating security products don’t need marketing pitches; they need information.

Empowered Sales Representatives

Good vendors give their reps actual authority to negotiate within reasonable ranges without theatrical manager approvals.

“I can offer $48K for one year or $42K for three years. That’s within my approval range. Anything beyond that requires manager involvement, but those are the standard options.”

Direct. Honest. Respectful of everyone’s time.

Honesty About Product Fit

The best vendors actually try to determine if their product is right for the customer’s needs, and they’re willing to say when it’s not.

“Based on what you’ve described, I’m not sure we’re the best fit for this use case. You might want to look at [competitor] because they handle [specific requirement] better than we do.”

This seems counterintuitive, but it builds enormous trust. When vendors are honest about limitations, customers believe them about strengths.

And customers remember that honesty. When that vendor releases something that is a good fit, they’ll take the call.

Why This Matters More in Cybersecurity

These sales tactics are annoying in any industry, but they’re particularly damaging in cybersecurity.

Trust Is the Product

Security purchases aren’t just about software features. Customers are trusting vendors with access to their most sensitive systems and data.

If they can’t trust a vendor to be honest about pricing, why would they trust them with root access to their infrastructure? If the vendor manipulates them during the sales process, what happens when they’re a locked-in customer?

The sales experience is the first extended look at a vendor’s company culture. If it’s manipulative and dishonest, customers assume that reflects how the vendor operates across the board.

Long-Term Relationships Matter

Security tools aren’t one-time purchases. They’re commitments to ongoing relationships, renewals, support, upgrades, and integration.

If the initial sales process is painful, what will renewals look like? Will the vendor try to increase pricing by 40% and act like they’re doing customers a favor by “only” raising it 25%?

Customers are evaluating whether they want to deal with a vendor for the next several years. If the sales experience is terrible, the answer is no, even if the product is technically superior.

Reputation Spreads Quickly

The cybersecurity community is smaller and more connected than vendors realize. Security professionals talk to each other. They share vendor experiences in Slack channels, at conferences, and in professional groups.

When vendors burn customers with manipulative sales tactics, those customers don’t just choose competitors. They tell their peers. The vendor’s reputation takes a hit that extends far beyond the individual lost deal.

What Vendors Should Change

For cybersecurity vendors who want to win business through better sales practices:

• Be transparent about pricing. Provide clear ranges and pricing models early. Stop making customers guess.
• Empower sales teams. Give them technical knowledge and negotiation authority. Stop the obvious manager approval theater.
• Focus on fit, not just closing. Help customers figure out if the solution is right for them, even if that sometimes means recommending competitors.
• Acknowledge limitations. Every product has weaknesses. Admitting them builds credibility for the strengths.
• Make buying pleasant. Customers should finish calls feeling informed and respected, not manipulated and exhausted.

The Real Cost

Vendors are losing deals they should win.

Their products are good, sometimes better than the competition. But their sales processes are so painful that customers choose slightly inferior solutions to avoid dealing with that sales team for years of renewals and support.

That’s the actual cost of these sales tactics. Not just lost deals, but lost customers who would have been good long-term fits and potential advocates.

The vendors who figure this out, treat customers like intelligent professionals, and have honest conversations will win. Not because their products are necessarily better, but because buying from them doesn’t feel like a battle.

The Bottom Line

Cybersecurity vendors have a sales problem: the pricing games, the corporate jargon, the manager approval theater. None of it works the way vendors think it does. It doesn’t maximize deal value or make customers feel good about their purchase.

It just drives customers to competitors.

Security professionals have budgets and the authority to make decisions. When vendors treat them like marks to be manipulated instead of experts to be informed, they lose, even when they have the better product.

The vendors who win are the ones who have straightforward conversations, respect customer intelligence, and focus on solving problems rather than playing games.

Everything else is just making customers want to buy from someone else.

MainNerve: Straightforward Security Partnerships

MainNerve doesn’t play sales games. We provide clear information about penetration testing services, answer questions directly, and help organizations determine if we’re the right fit for their needs.

No multiple meetings. No corporate jargon and no pricing theater. Just honest conversations about security needs and how we can help.

Want to work with a security partner who respects your time and intelligence? Contact MainNerve to discuss penetration testing. We’ll explain what we do, what it costs, and whether we’re a good fit, without the sales tactics that make you choose the competition.

Because security partnerships should start with trust, not manipulation.