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5 Ways to turn SOC 2 compliance into a growth strategy
Your company may be considering getting its SOC 2 as a way to prove your security and compliance practices to potential customers — or maybe, you already have your SOC 2 and are not sure what do next. At Vanta, we encourage our customers to treat their SOC 2 compliance as a key element to their sales and marketing strategy. In this post we’ll explore the top five ways to turn this achievement into a growth strategy.
1. Fold your company’s SOC 2 compliance into your sales pitch. A SOC 2 provides a standardized framework to prove your company’s strong security posture, and can often be a competitive differentiator. Find opportunities for your sales team to share your SOC 2 status with prospects in initial qualification calls or in other sales collateral that your team uses early in your sales process.
2. Share your SOC 2 as you learn that a security review is required. Perhaps you got your SOC 2 to close a particular deal with a key client; now you can make the most of that investment by leveraging it in other sales conversations as well. Providing a SOC 2 often negates the need for lengthy and time-intensive security questionnaires, helping you close the deal sooner and proactively demonstrating your commitment to security.
3. Announce your SOC 2 on your blog and social media. Achieving a security certification is a major milestone for your company — take a moment to share your SOC 2 story with your prospects and your network on social media, in a blog post, and via your PR team if you have one.
4. Add a SOC 2 badge to your website. Your SOC 2 certification is an investment in security that your prospects will want to know about. Make sure your SOC 2 compliance has a strong presence on your website: show it off and share the news with SOC 2 badges from the AICPA and Vanta.
5. Add a Security Status page to your website. Companies like SafeBase make it easy to demonstrate the current state of your security program and provide secure access to compliance information - so you know who's requesting access to your SOC 2 report and can automate NDA processing. Vanta customers get one year of SafeBase for free.
Bonus: Apply time saved with SOC 2 back into your business.
- Getting a SOC 2 can help preserve your engineering team’s time — ensuring that they’ll spend fewer hours participating in the security review stage of the sales cycle, and more time focused on your company’s goals.
- Sending your SOC 2 report early can increase the velocity of deal cycles and gives you a good chance of heading off time-consuming vendor questionnaires
- You’re likely to find that going through a SOC 2 audit can help your company build in forward-looking processes that streamline your security and compliance operations — saving time for your whole team and improving your overall security posture.
Want to learn more about how a SOC 2 can help your company close larger customers in less time? Request a demo or reach out to sales@vanta.com.
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PCI Compliance Selection Guide
Determine Your PCI Compliance Level
If your organization processes, stores, or transmits cardholder data, you must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a global mandate created by major credit card companies. Compliance is mandatory for any business that accepts credit card payments.
When establishing strategies for implementing and maintaining PCI compliance, your organization needs to understand what constitutes a Merchant or Service Provider, and whether a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) or Report on Compliance (ROC) is most applicable to your business.
Answer a few short questions and we’ll help identify your compliance level.
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Does your business offer services to customers who are interested in your level of PCI compliance?
Identify your PCI SAQ or ROC level
The PCI Security Standards Council has established the below criteria for Merchant and Service Provider validation. Use these descriptions to help determine the SAQ or ROC that best applies to your organization.
Good news! Vanta supports all of the following compliance levels:
SAQ A
A SAQ A is required for Merchants that do not require the physical presence of a credit card (like an eCommerce, mail, or telephone purchase). This means that the Merchant’s business has fully outsourced all cardholder data processing to PCI DSS compliant third party Service Providers, with no electronic storage, processing, or transmission of any cardholder data on the Merchant’s system or premises.
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SAQ A-EP
A SAQ A-EP is similar to a SAQ A, but is a requirement for Merchants that don't receive cardholder data, but control how cardholder data is redirected to a PCI DSS validated third-party payment processor.
Learn more about eCommerce PCI
SAQ D
for service providers
A SAQ D includes over 200 requirements and covers the entirety of PCI DSS compliance. If you are a Service Provider, a SAQ D is the only SAQ you’re eligible to complete.
Use our PCI checklist
ROC
Level 1 for service providers
A Report on Compliance (ROC) is an annual assessment that determines your organization’s ability to protect cardholder data. If you’re a Merchant that processes over six million transactions annually or a Service Provider that processes more than 300,000 transactions annually, your organization is responsible for both a ROC and an Attestation of Compliance (AOC).
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Questions?
Learn more about how Vanta can help. You can also find information on PCI compliance levels at the PCI Security Standards Council website or by contacting your payment processing partner.
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