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For MSSPs, industry events can build brand recognition, demonstrate expertise, strengthen relationships and give security providers a better understanding of the marketplace.
But simply schmoozing at an event or buying a booth does not guarantee anyone will remember your company. Counterintuitively, becoming memorable — whether to one person or an entire audience — starts with listening, not talking.
“Events like MSSP Alert Live are where you have to show up and listen,” said Michael Crean, senior vice president of managed services at SonicWall. “Listen to your peers. Listen to your vendors. Take those learnings back with you and then listen to your customers.”
Crean said those conversations are especially important as managed security becomes a larger part of the IT channel. “Managed security is not just a side conversation anymore. It’s the conversation,” he said. “If you’re not in the room, you’re making assumptions about where the market is going instead of hearing it from the people driving it.”
Cameron Chavers, field CTO at Cyber Watch Systems, echoed that sentiment. He said that conferences allow security providers to skip the introductions and get directly into the issues that matter. “You’re not spending half the conversation explaining what an MSSP does or why managed security matters,” he said.
Industry events present MSSPs with a golden opportunity to meet referral partners, vendors and industry experts that might be able to help them down the line. “Cybersecurity is still a trust business. Face-to-face conversations can accomplish in 30 minutes what might otherwise take months of emails and calls,” he said.
Show up with something real to say
Michael Crean
Industry events are crowded with security providers promoting similar services, technologies and capabilities. Differentiation is not just about positioning your business or service offering as unique. It is also about developing a distinct viewpoint and persona in the IT channel and sharing it with confidence.
Kevin Tadevosyan, CEO of CyberDuo, said that specificity is one of the easiest ways to stand apart.
“The people who disappear describe their company. The people who get remembered say one concrete thing the listener did not already know,” Tadevosyan said.
“A number from their own SOC data, a mistake they made and fixed, a position they can defend. Nobody remembers ‘we are a security-first MSP with a 24/7 SOC.’ They remember the person who explained exactly how a client’s MFA was bypassed and what changed afterward,” he concluded.
When MSSPs attend educational sessions, it is important to take notes, ask questions and challenge assumptions. Conferences can act as a forge, refining your point of view and, in turn, the value you provide clients.
For example, this year’s MSSP Alert Live event is built around topics including AI in the SOC, scaling revenue and retention, working more effectively with technology partners and learning from the industry’s most innovative and fastest-growing MSSPs. Attendees can use those sessions not only to gather information, but also to see how industry leaders frame problems and articulate solutions.
Get your expertise on the stage
Kevin Tadevosyan
Crean advises IT leaders to embrace speaking opportunities as a way to demonstrate expertise instead of simply claiming it.
“Do it or don’t,” he said. “There is no ‘someday I’ll submit a session.’ Start with something you’ve actually lived through, a real mistake or a real win, not a generic best-practices deck.”
Chavers agreed that public speaking is important, but advised MSSPs not to get too hung up on perfection in delivery or even message. In an increasingly virtual world, being real is memorable, and lived experience matters more than polish.
“People remember practitioners,” he said. “They remember someone who says, ‘Here’s what we tried, here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t and here’s what we’d do differently.’ Don’t start with, ‘I want to speak at a conference.’ Start with, ‘What have we learned that could help somebody else?’”
After you speak, be generous with your time. Connect with attendees on LinkedIn. Answer follow-up questions. At events, success is often measured by leads collected. But quality and depth are often superior to quantity. “I’d rather leave with 10 meaningful relationships than 500 names in a spreadsheet,” Chavers said.
Turn one event into months of content
Cameron Chavers
When an MSSP leader attends a health care conference, for example, it’s an opportunity to understand that industry on a personal level, including where its security pain points are and how they affect people’s day-to-day work. Crean recommends paying close attention to the language that prospective clients use when asking questions. Listen for urgency, then structure the content you produce accordingly.
“What are customers asking? What are partners struggling with? And what surprised you? Those are your stories,” he said.
Tadevosyan puts it even more bluntly. “Every question that comes up twice is a piece of content your buyers already want,” he said.
Chavers said one panel discussion at a conference can fuel weeks of marketing. “There’s probably enough material in that presentation for several LinkedIn posts, short videos, an article, customer emails, sales enablement material and potentially a webinar afterward,” he said.
Build a presence, not just an event strategy
Building industry awareness does not require being the loudest company in the room. But it does require consistent effort to build visibility and provide value.
Before the conference, thought leaders tell customers and peers where they will be. At the event, they speak, ask questions, listen and build relationships. Afterward, they share what they learned and continue the conversations that started there.
That is part of the value of MSSP Alert Live on Nov. 17-18, an event built specifically for MSSPs and other channel security professionals. Because the conference is virtual, MSSP leaders and other channel security professionals can hear directly from peers, technology partners and industry experts without the travel, cost and time away from the business that often come with an in-person conference.
As Chavers put it, the goal is for the brand to become associated with “experienced cybersecurity practitioners who understand the customer’s side of the table — not just another company trying to sell them a security product.”
The booth may come down at the end of the conference. The relationships, expertise and stories can keep building the brand long afterward.
Jonathan Browning is executive director of content and engagement for The ChannelPro Network. He has been a leader in the IT channel for close to a decade. He’s an avid fan and early adopter of technology. He believes that the managed services industry is the most important driver of economic growth and human innovation in today’s world.
Images: Gorodenkoff – stock.adobe.com, Michael Crean; Cameron Chavers; Kevin Tadevosyan
