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Mara Willemin is a seasoned GTM leader and sales professional who is passionate about building and scaling purpose-driven companies. Today, she is the Head of Growth with Trustpage where she helps organizations easily build trust with prospects and partners. Additionally, Mara is a certified Neurosculpting Facilitator with the Neurosculpting Institute.

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There is more data in the world than ever before. In the post-pandemic era, with the rise of remote work and increasingly digital lifestyles, it is nearly impossible to move through a day without sharing a smidge of personal information on the web. Whether we're accessing our favorite work collaboration tools from home, placing an order for takeout, or sharing our favorite Peloton workout, one thing is clear: every company is now a software company, relying on that data you are so willingly sharing.

As we do and share more online, the targets for cybercriminals go up. Cybercrime is set to cost us over with annual costs expected to grow 15% year over year. Our ability to properly counteract these crimes looks fragile at best. Weekly we hear breaking news breaches from companies like T-Mobile and Twitch - creating more pressure to build trusted, secure platforms.

While legislators have taken more collective measures to safeguard our data with regulations like GDPR or CCPA, there's a growing conversation around the role and responsibility individual companies have in keeping their customers' data safe. What used to be primarily enterprise-grade concern, is now important to every company handling data of any kind - aka everyone - down to your .

So, where can companies start? Here are a few ways to start creating a trust-focused culture at any organization:

Make company-wide security training fun

Data security is everyone's responsibility. Employees at your company don't need to be security experts, but they do need to understand how their work plays a role in protecting your company's assets and your customers' data. Whether you're educating your team on what tools are safe to integrate with your systems, or covering essential topics like ransomware, managing passwords, email attacks, or working remotely, mandatory security training should be fun and memorable.

on key features when choosing a security awareness training vendor.

Educate your employees on how to be trust-educated buyers

There's nothing worse than spending weeks (or months) with a vendor only to realize you can't work with them because they don't meet your company's security requirements. Whether a first-time purchaser or a sophisticated buyer, all employees should be well-educated on what your trust requirements are for outside vendors. This will enable them to be proactive in conversations and address security requirements as early as the first call. Leading with trust in the buying process also helps hold vendors accountable for doing the same.

Learn to sell with trust as a differentiator

Traditionally, most salespeople shy away from talking about security because it's seen as a roadblock to getting a deal done. But, by leading with trust and introducing the conversation early, you create confidence in customers and can close deals faster. Security doesn't have to be a hurdle, it can work in your favor and be utilized as a competitive advantage.

Build a dynamic Trust Center for all stakeholders to easily understand your trust policies

It should be easy for prospects and customers to understand if they can work with you. By building a Trust Center to host all security policies, postures, documentation, reports, and certifications, you can unlock product adoption faster by making security self-serve from end-to-end.

For tips on how to make this easy and automated, visit

Overall, data security is everyone's responsibility. The more educated we are on how to create a culture of trust across our organizations, the more we require our vendors, customers, and investors to do the same. It's time to align profits to security and create a world built on trust.