Five top reasons you need Cyber Essentials to win more Business

Is Cyber Essentials accreditation a tool to win more sales? Qi believes it is.

Strengthen trust and win more business with Cyber Essentials

As an accredited supplier, you demonstrate that your organisation follows proven, government based cyber – security standards, making you a safer, more dependable partner. Many companies now require Cyber Essentials for their supply chain, especially when handling sensitive data or working on public-sector projects. By achieving this accreditation, you stand out from competitors, reduce risk for your clients, and show a genuine commitment to protecting their information. It is a powerful trust badge that opens doors to new contracts and boots your credibility across every stage of the supply chain.

Take a look at this case study as an example

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Access to contracts otherwise off-limits

Win more contracts and strengthen supply chain confidence with Cyber Essentials accreditation.

In the manufacturers and end customers increasingly require accredited suppliers to protect their digital supply chains from disruption and IP theft. By achieving this government- backed certification, you demonstrate strong cyber-security controls, reduce the chance of downtime caused by cyber incidents, and reassure customers that you will not introduce risk into their operations. It is a clear competitive advantage that helps you stand out in tenders, secure long-term partnerships, and unlock opportunities with manufacturers who only work with complaint suppliers

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The competitive edge wins the deal

When two suppliers look similar, buyers use trust signals to decide.

• Cyber Essentials provides an independent, recognised certification that instantly boots credibility.
• It is a competitive differentiator without needing the buyer to evaluate your entire security set up.
• With Cyber Essentials you will stand out against non-accredited competitors

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Winning more Business (and this is our point)

Being Cyber Essentials accredited helps you win more business- especially as part of a supply chain- because it demonstrates a verified baseline of cyber-security. Many organisations now require or strongly prefer suppliers with this accreditation. In a world where margins are key and tight to boot, having Cyber Essentials accreditation can give you that competitive edge to win the business.

UK government contracts involving the handling of sensitive information or certain types of personal data require Cyber Essentials as a minimum standard.

An increasing number of supply chains- especially in defence, finance, and critical industries- have adopted the same requirement for Cyber Essentials.

If you do not have it, you cannot even bid.

Cyber Essentials accreditation proves professionalism and strengthens supply chain security

Buyers want to reduce the chance of cyber- attacks that could disrupt their operations. Cyber Essentials proves that you have strong controls in place, such as:

• Secure configuration
• Access control
• Malware protection
• Patch management
• Firewalls

This reassures customers that working with you will not introduce unnecessary cyber risk and contributes to making you a low-risk supplier.

Low risk suppliers will win more business!

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You show you take data protection seriously

Customers want assurance that their data will be handled securely.

Cyber Essentials:

• Helps demonstrate GDPR compliance
• Reduces the likelihood of breaches
• Builds confidence with clients that may not have technical expertise
• This increases trust, which strongly influences purchasing decisions.

(Cyber Essentials also provides a great cornerstone if you are aiming for SIO 27001 accreditation at some future time)

You become part of a strengthened and trusted supply chain.

Businesses are increasingly aware that cyber- criminals exploit weak links.

Being accredited means:

• You are less likely to be that weak link
• Larger companies are more comfortable partnering with you
• You support their own compliance needs
• Strong supply chains prefer working only with compliant partners

Reducing insurance costs with Cyber Essentials

Some insures offer cyber insurance discounts or better terms if you have Cyber Essentials

This can make you cheaper and less risky to insure, which is attractive to clients analysing total cost of risk across their supply chain.

Cyber Essentials: winning new sales and incidentally improving your Cyber security!

Our previous articles on Cyber Essentials and improving your Cyber Health explain the benefits of Cyber Essentials from a sense and security point of view. We launched the QiVA (AI pen testing product) to support customers in signposting areas of infrastructure which were weak and thus more vulnerable to a successful Cyber-attack.

But we are an IT company and so find it hard to understand why businesses do not want to invest in their security. Most of our customers are manufacturers, assemblers, and distributors so the priorities can lie elsewhere: investing in replacement equipment, updating CAD software, and just getting orders in, fulfilled, invoiced, and paid for. We understand that. 

Hopefully, this article explains the other side of the coin, where security improvements are in fact the bi product of Cyber Essentials with the primary focus being winning more sales because your business is favourably positioned in your supply chains and against your competitors. 

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Thought for the day

Becoming Cyber Essentials accredited is a process that starts with an assessment of your infrastructure. Qi will take you on the journey and work with you to minimise weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Qi will fully manage the accreditation process every year and provide you with the support and additional tools to make you sure renewing is straightforward. 

It is a process, and requires preparation. It is unlikely that your business would be able to decide to move ahead with Cyber Essentials one week and become accredited the next. The time it takes to get your infrastructure ready – is time you cannot be involved in a valuable supply chain which will bring your more business!