In security, people talk about “pipeline” as if everything happens before the signature. It doesn’t. The real leverage sits with the people who already trust you.
They mention you in budget calls.
They drop your name in peer groups.
They forward a dashboard to justify their own decisions.
That is marketing you never paid for.
But advocacy isn’t luck. It is maintenance.
If you vanish after onboarding, you are forgotten. If you stay present in the right way, customers sell for you without thinking.
The key is story.
Not the long kind. The usable kind. If you give a CISO a line that fits neatly into their next board deck, you will be repeated.
“DNS is your safety net when identity fails” will travel farther than any feature list. People borrow ideas that make them sound sharper. That is how influence spreads.
Then there is rhythm.
Not noise, rhythm. A short monthly note that shows a blocked threat in plain language. A clean summary before an audit. A roadmap glimpse that arrives before they ask.
These small, predictable touches build memory. When people remember you in calm moments, they defend you in crisis moments.
Proof matters too.
Not glossy PDFs. Real artefacts. A screenshot of an improved detection path. A short explanation of a tuning fix. A before and after from onboarding. Buyers carry these forward. They become internal ammunition.
One clear artefact can do more than a ten page pitch deck.
And you need proximity.
Not a giant customer community that feels like a marketing stunt. A small circle. Five or ten names. Invite them early. Ask for reactions. Show something half built.
The people who shape your product in private will talk about you in public. Participation creates ownership. Ownership creates advocacy.
Think of post sales like tuning a signal.
Too loud and you irritate people.
Too quiet and you disappear.
Get the frequency right and customers do your distribution for you.
If you want a second sales team, you already have it.
You just need to keep the signal alive.
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