Information technology plays a fundamental role in the operations of any modern business. While the confidentiality and integrity of your organisation's information have to be protected, a business still needs to have this information readily available in order to be able to function from day to day. If you are an information security practitioner, you need to be able to sell complex and often technical solutions to boards and management teams.

Persuading the board to invest in information security measures requires sales skills. As an information security professional, you are a scientific and technical specialist; and yet you need to get your message across to people whose primary interests lie elsewhere, in turnover and overall performance. In other words, you need to develop sales and marketing skills.

This pocket guide will help you with the essential sales skills that persuade company directors to commit money and resources to your information security initiatives. It will help you to:

• Understand basic sales techniques
• Understand how to present yourself
• Find out how to earn management's trust
• Learn how to craft a successful proposal

This guide offers you invaluable tips on how to write a proposal that will communicate your ideas effectively to senior executives.