Using the Privacy Notices as a Sales Tool
June 14, 2018
Bob Johnson, CEO, NAID
May 25th was the effective date for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As the most progressive data protection regulation on the planet, it is obviously a great sales and market tool for secure destruction and RIM service providers in the region.
That being said, because of the GDPR’s scope, it also provides sales opportunities for service providers outside the EU. That’s what this article is about.
Whether it’s existing customers or prospective customers, service providers should always be on the lookout for meaningful opportunities to demonstrate their expertise and value. It’s one thing to randomly reach out with a “How are you doing?” or “Are you ready to switch to us yet?” It’s quite a different thing to reach out with useful information; especially when that information is timely.
Over the past few weeks, my inbox has been filled with updated privacy policy notices. I’m guessing yours has too. And, so have your customers’.
This is all because of the GDPR effective date, and all these emails arriving in your clients’ and prospects’ inboxes, give you’re the perfect excuse for reaching out to them… in order to get more business.
The pitch might go something like this to a regularly scheduled customer…
Hey Donna,
You probably noticed an inordinate number of privacy policy updates in your inbox recently.
It’s all because a new data protection regulation in Europe called the GDPR that’s actually affecting companies everywhere, even businesses with no operations outside the country. Since we’re already providing your data destruction, we feel an obligation to review what we’re doing for you guys and explain what’s new just to make sure you’re covered. You probably are fine, but if some tweaks are needed, we can help.
Obviously, Donna is an existing customer. That’s a good thing, right? But then why do it? Glad you asked.
- Even if Donna isn’t interested in exploring what you propose (most customers will not), at least you have demonstrated your ability and willingness to help. In three months when Donna’s colleague asks what they are doing to respond to the GDPR, she’ll remember you brought it up.
- Experience has proven that any time you can get a customer to take a closer look at what they are destroying – all the media from wherever it is being generated – the amount of material goes up.
And, remember, Donna was a regularly scheduled customer. Think about all those purge customers for which you should be doing routine service.
Hey Mike,
You probably noticed an inordinate number of privacy policy updates in your inbox recently.
It’s all because a new data protection regulation in Europe called the GDPR that’s actually affecting companies everywhere, even businesses with no operations outside the country. Since we’re already providing your annual purges, in light of these changes, we really should look at your daily destruction needs.
Hopefully, you contact management software is chalked full of prospective clients. Some of them are using a competitor, others aren’t doing anything.
Dave,
You probably noticed an inordinate number of privacy policy updates in your inbox recently.
It’s all because a new data protection regulation in Europe called the GDPR that’s actually affecting companies everywhere, even businesses with no operations outside the country. While we haven’t provided you guys with destruction services up to now, this might be a good time for us to review how we can help. We’re already doing this for hundreds of other local businesses.
Will linking an outreach strategy to the flood of privacy notices (and the GDPR) lead to new business? Yes, sure, but that is not entirely the point. It is not meant to be a silver bullet. More to the point, these privacy notices are a common “top-of-mind” experience with which you can associate your services. It makes your service more credible. Often, as mentioned, it might be months later that the opportunity materializes.
Of course, the sooner you can act, the better. Reaching out in six weeks to link what you offer to the rash of privacy notices won’t be nearly as effective