How to Win DLP Buy-In and Influence Stakeholders

• The second installment of this series is all about winning over stakeholders and securing DLP buy-in that lasts.
• Arm yourself with clear responses to the most common DLP objections, so you’re ready for any hesitations leadership (or end users) throw your way.
• The right DLP solution will make value easy to prove with capabilities like seamless integrations and policy enforcement controls.

Getting wins rolling with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) can be easy with the right playbook, but if you can’t influence leadership to greenlight it, your program is dead in the water. And with GenAI accelerating the spread of sensitive data across cloud apps, emails and endpoints, exposure risks (and costs) are growing fast. 

Yet, DLP often gets pushed to the back burner. It’s viewed as too complex, too costly or assumed to be covered by cloud service providers. Is it though? Whether those viewpoints are true or not, that hesitation leaves an opening for attackers ready to target you with some heavy fire. 

When it’s time to walk into the room with your CTO, CISO or legal team, you need more than good intentions and vague risk warnings. You need to speak their language - money, scalability and continuity. This is your guide to doing just that, so you can secure the support that matters to get your DLP program moving forward. 

What your stakeholders need to hear to say “yes”

Every stakeholder sees DLP through a different lens. To win buy-in, you’ll need to shift your perspective to match theirs and frame your case around their priorities. 

Here’s how to land the pitch with the big guys: 

• Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Position DLP as a scalable, low-friction layer into your existing stack. No time-consuming rip-and-replace here. Just streamlined, smarter controls.
• Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or Risk Leader. Anchor the pitch in risk appetite. Show them how DLP delivers measurable, policy-based control across data streams and keeps you in the loop for threats before they become incidents.
• Compliance, privacy or legal. Lead with defensibility. DLP helps meet legal, regulatory and audit obligations with ease while protecting against costly penalties.
• Department heads and LoB leaders. Emphasize business continuity. DLP prevents disruptions so teams can stay productive without exposing data, wherever it lives.
• Communications teams. Partner with comms early to reduce confusion and build trust across teams. 

Once everyone is aligned, momentum builds and that’s when buy-in sticks. But not everyone might be as easily convinced. 

Pushback happens. Here’s how to shut it down. 

Like with most big changes in a business, you’ll hit some resistance. But if you prepare with our expert-reviewed scripts, you won’t be caught off guard (and you might even win over a naysayer or two). 
Keep these responses in your back pocket for an airtight pitch: 

“We don't have clear ownership for DLP.” 

Response: Alright, let’s split it: Tech runs the tools and compliance sets the rules. Or, we could put DLP under whichever team is closest to our mission: security, compliance or risk. 

“It’s too expensive.”

Response: Yeah but a breach averages $4.88 million now and leaked intellectual property (IP) is $173 per record. DLP’s way cheaper than dealing with that or a $20 million GDPR fine. 

“It’s too complex—we don’t know where to start.”

Response: No problem, let’s start small. One dataset, one use case. We’ll nail the quick wins first, then scale up. (Those quick wins will also encourage leadership to keep green-lighting your DLP efforts.)

“Our cloud/SaaS tools already protect our data”

Response: Sure, but out-of-the-box settings don’t cover data in motion across apps. A good DLP solution enables one consistent policy that protects all data, everywhere.   

“We need to focus on innovation, not protection.” 

Response: Hard to do if GenAI models leak or poison our data. A solid DLP monitors prompts and outputs, so data interacting with our AI tools stay safe. And you can stay focused on innovating.  

Getting approval from leadership will set the plan in motion, but if your users aren’t aligned with the rollout, even the best plan might unravel. 

Get your users on board, not in the way

For your program to succeed, you’ll need buy-in from your end users too. That starts with clear, honest communication. 

Here are some ways you can help them build trust in the program:   

• Start by explaining the “why” behind DLP policies. That way, users know the policies are for protecting the organization, not policing them as individuals.
• Open two-way communication channels. Feedback loops will help you catch any issues early, before users try to create workarounds.
• Embed DLP awareness into your culture. Lunch-and-learns, newsletter tips or internal webinars can keep users up to date on security best practices. 

Without buy-in, they may create unintentional risks or, worse, actively work around new controls.

Don’t take your eyes off the prize 

Let’s be clear, buy-in doesn’t end at launch. These are big wins, but you’ll still need to prove a program’s value long-term.

That starts with tracking and reporting the right metrics, like response times and KRIs, tailored to the stakeholders who signed off in the first place. Ongoing reporting helps justify continued investment and ensures executives stay on the right side of data security. Look out for our next blog in the series, which will point you to the metrics that matter.

Stand out and keep support thriving with Symantec DLP

Analysts agree: Symantec is a DLP leader for a reason. With unified data security policies across endpoints, cloud and email, your team can start smart and scale fast. Built-in risk scoring, seamless integrations and simplified workflows—plus lower total cost—make it an easy sell to leadership. 

It’s no surprise solutions like Symantec DLP helped Broadcom be named one of America’s best cybersecurity companies in 2025. Our DLP has received accolades from IDC Marketplace and Radicati Group as “Top Players” time and again. We go well beyond securing your data and turn protection into measurable progress that matters. 

Confidently make your case on the value of DLP by reading and sharing this whitepaper. Stay tuned for our next installment on the metrics that will keep your program running.