Where is the most money lost in a validation? I know this is a question my customers ask themselves while making a decision on how to achieve validation.<\/p>\n

A) Is it the consultant?
\nB) Is it in the testing laboratory?
\nC) Is it the scope of the process?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll let you in on an insider secret\u2014the correct answer is \u201cnone of the above.\u201d You won\u2019t lose big in validations, or in any direct expense related to them. The biggest losses are what you don\u2019t earn because you failed to use the validation to sell more product. \u00ad<\/p>\n

Ask yourself this: Why did you get a validation? In essence, this question is asking you about your return on investment<\/a>. What is your purpose for getting the validation in the first place? The answers may vary, but somewhere along the line the notion of increasing or protecting sales has to be a part of the equation.<\/p>\n

Now, what if I told you to forget about that question? The answer no longer matters. If you have already completed or started an evaluation, you need to change the question. Here is what you should be asking yourself now: What can I do with this validation? Validations can be very valuable. They can be used to market and sell your product, to help position it with customers who would not have otherwise considered it. You can increase revenue beyond your initial return on investment calculations when you add incremental sales of product requiring validation.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at some concrete ways you can use your validation as a sales tool:<\/p>\n

\n
• Make sure you have a page on your website that explains your validations<\/li>\n
• Train your marketing staff to understand your validation and utilize it in your marketing activities<\/li>\n
• Train your sales staff to understand your validation and utilize it when they talk with prospects<\/li>\n
• Make sure your product literature properly references your validation<\/li>\n
• Make sure government RFPs that SHOULD require validations DO require them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Bonus thought: Use Google to search for a validation (say FIPS 140-2<\/a>) and your company name.\u00a0 Does any page on your own website come up in the search results?<\/p>\n

  Corsec has helped with more than 300 validations and certifications over the past 15 years. For help getting started with your next validation, contact us.<\/a><\/p>\n

   <\/p>\n

  Wondering how you can optimize the benefits of your validation? Join us Tuesday, May 21st for our webinar, “Maximizing Your Certification Investment<\/a>.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Where is the most money lost in a validation? I know this is a question my customers ask themselves while making a decision on how to achieve validation. A) Is it the consultant? B) Is it in the testing laboratory? C) Is it the scope of the process? I\u2019ll let you in on an insider secret\u2014the correct answer is \u201cnone of the above.\u201d You won\u2019t lose big in validations, or in any direct expense…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[82,83],"class_list":["post-1525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-certification-process","tag-certification-roi","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"\n