Sales is a dynamic profession where multiple approaches and tools yield the best results. Your CRM, analytics, email & social media management tools are indispensable. And they all hinge on password-protected accounts. Depending on your team's approach to cybersecurity, such a password can be an effective safeguard or a key thieves will gladly use to get into your information vault.
Password managers are convenient and highly effective tools for sales teams that ensure you leave nothing about access to your accounts to chance. Not convinced? You will be once you see how many benefits they bring.
A Strong, All-Encompassing Password Policy
Your sales team collects troves of sensitive data like payment information, sales figures, personally identifiable information, and more. A single data breach is enough for hackers to steal and sell this data on the dark web, and weak passwords are among the most common and efficient means of gaining illicit access.
Managers generate long passwords filled with upper & lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols by default. Depending on the length, it can take years to crack such a password. Conversely, you can automate the generation and assignment of unlimited passwords in minutes.
No More Outdated or Reused Passwords
When you’ve got dozens of business & private accounts to log into, chances are you’ll resort to weak or reused passwords. Managers not only issue new robust passwords, but they can also identify old ones that don't pass muster and replace them. Connecting via a browser or uploading a database is enough to complete the process.
Up-to-date Breach Alerts
Just because your team starts using a password manager doesn’t mean their past won't come back to haunt them. For example, data breaches can retrieve millions of emails and login credentials, some of which you might not have set for managing.
Some password managers keep track of the most noteworthy data breaches and will inform you if an email entered into their database was part of one. That way, you can change the password or abandon the email for business purposes to be on the safe side.
Support for Multi-Factor Authentication
Generated passwords might be almost impossible to hack, but someone could still steal your device or master password. MFA is a failsafe that gives you a chance to recover control. With the added layer of security provided by VPNs, MFA becomes even more robust, offering enhanced protection for your accounts.
It protects accounts by requiring you to enter another code or connect a secure USB stick when logging in. Without that second step, the account remains inaccessible even if someone knows its password.
They Keep Other Data Safe Too
Storing login details is only one thing password managers are good at. Better ones come with a vault feature that lets you store other sensitive data too.
For example, you can enter company credit card info once and have the manager fill it in automatically each time the team needs to make a purchase. They may also store documents, combinations to doors & safes, or any other delicate info your team needs access to.
Passwords Accessible from Anywhere
Modern password managers are cloud-based services. That means their vaults store your data securely on cloud servers accessible via different means. It doesn’t matter if you’re working on a sales pitch from home or need to access last quarter’s info from an office PC. You don’t even need to install an app since most features are accessible via browser.
End-to-end Encryption
One of the advantages of storing your passwords in a cloud is the added protection encryption brings. Any password you add is stored on the manager’s servers in encrypted form. It’s a set of seemingly random characters that make no sense unless you have the encryption key. Best of all, the manager’s provider doesn’t know the contents of your vault either.
Password Sharing
Sharing passwords is usually a recipe for disaster. However, managers make the process secure and convenient. Having a business account means one user can send a password to another via the manager. They don't have to use messaging or other unreliable means. You can set such a password to expire after a while and replace it with a new one instantly.
Event Logs
There's always the chance you'll forget you gave access or shared a password. Managers use event logs to track each time someone uses a password. This lets you quickly establish a timeline and identify potential security risks.
Different Access Levels
Not everyone in your sales team needs access to everything. Smaller groups might be working on different projects and only need access to select resources to do their job properly. Setting up tiered privileges lets you control who gets access to which accounts and when.
Convenience
Using a password manager saves everyone a lot of time. You don't have to remember or type passwords in manually anymore and can have Autofill do it instead. This frees up more time for everyone to work on sales-related activities while having peace of mind regarding their account security.
