Targeting CISOs for Enterprise Security

Company Overview

Vertex Security Group is a London-based cybersecurity firm providing managed detection and response (MDR), penetration testing, security operations center (SOC) services, and compliance consulting to mid-market and enterprise organizations. With 160 security professionals and SOC facilities in London and Singapore, Vertex serves over 200 clients across financial services, critical infrastructure, and technology sectors.

Their differentiator is their 24/7 SOC staffed by former government cybersecurity professionals, offering threat detection and response capabilities typically only available to the largest enterprises.

The Challenge

The cybersecurity market is intensely competitive, with hundreds of vendors vying for the attention of an increasingly overwhelmed audience: CISOs and security leaders. These executives are bombarded with vendor pitches, making it nearly impossible to break through the noise with traditional outreach.

Vertex's sales team was achieving only a 0.8% response rate on cold outreach, and their cost per qualified meeting had risen to GBP 2,400. Additionally, they were expanding into APAC and needed to build pipeline in a region where they had no brand recognition.

The Solution

Vertex deployed Funnelyn with a security-leader-focused strategy:

• **Security Threat Intent Signals**: Instead of tracking generic "cybersecurity" searches, Funnelyn monitored for specific threat-response signals: "ransomware protection," "SOC as a service," "managed detection and response," "penetration testing vendor," and "security compliance audit." These signals indicated companies with active, urgent security needs.
• **CISO and Security Leader Mapping**: For each intent-qualified company, Funnelyn identified CISOs, VP of Security, and IT Security Directors, providing verified contact data and information about their professional background and areas of focus.
• **Threat Intelligence Outreach**: Outreach sequences led with relevant threat intelligence, including industry-specific threat reports, recent breach analyses, and security benchmark data, demonstrating Vertex's expertise before any sales conversation.
• **APAC Expansion Track**: A dedicated campaign targeted enterprises in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia that were showing security evaluation intent signals, building pipeline for Vertex's new Singapore SOC.

Results

Over 8 months, Vertex achieved significant improvements in their security sales pipeline:

• **280 qualified opportunities generated** across UK and APAC markets
• **GBP 6.2M in qualified pipeline**, a 3.4x increase over the prior period
• **Cost per qualified meeting dropped 68%**, from GBP 2,400 to GBP 768
• **Response rate improved from 0.8% to 5.2%** with threat-intelligence-led outreach
• **APAC pipeline reached GBP 1.8M**, establishing a strong foundation for the Singapore expansion
• **42 new enterprise clients signed**, with an average contract value of GBP 85K annually

> "CISOs are the hardest audience to reach in B2B sales. They are skeptical, time-poor, and drowning in vendor noise. The only way to earn their attention is to lead with genuine value: relevant threat intelligence, not a sales pitch. Funnelyn identified which companies had active security concerns and gave us the context to approach their security leaders with information they actually wanted. That shift from selling to advising changed our entire pipeline dynamic." -- David Blackwell, Managing Director, Vertex Security Group

Key Takeaways

• **Lead with threat intelligence, not product pitches.** CISOs respond to actionable security insights, not feature lists. Providing genuine value in the first touch builds trust immediately.
• **Specific threat signals outperform generic intent.** "Ransomware protection" reveals more urgency and specificity than "cybersecurity solution," resulting in higher-quality leads.
• **Security leaders' professional backgrounds matter.** Understanding whether a CISO came from a technical, compliance, or risk management background enables tailored messaging that resonates with their specific priorities.
• **SOC expansion validates with pipeline data.** Vertex used APAC pipeline data from Funnelyn to justify the investment in their Singapore SOC, reducing the risk of the expansion decision.