How to Manage Your Security Questionnaire Response Without Losing Your Mind
- Samantha Cowan
- Dec 30, 2025
- 13 min read
Updated: Jan 7
You just got an email from a prospect.
“Hi, thanks for the demo! Before we move forward, we need you to complete our security questionnaire. It’s just a few questions.”
You open the attachment.
It’s 150 questions.
Some of them don’t make sense. Some of them contradict each other. Some of them ask about controls you don’t have. Some of them ask about things you’ve never heard of.
You have three options:
Option 1: Spend 40 hours answering every question perfectly.
Option 2: Ignore it and hope the prospect forgets.
Option 3: Panic and hire a security consultant for $5,000.
There’s a better option.
This guide shows you how to respond to security questionnaires strategically. You’ll learn:
What security questionnaires actually measure
Which questions matter (and which don’t)
How to answer honestly without over-committing
How to handle questions you can’t answer
How to use questionnaires as a sales tool
How to build a reusable questionnaire response library
What Are Security Questionnaires?
Security questionnaires are documents that prospects send to vendors to assess their security posture.
Why do prospects send them?
They want to know if you’re secure before buying from you
They have compliance requirements (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, etc.)
They want to reduce vendor risk
They’re required by their board or insurance company
What do they ask about?
Access controls (who can access data?)
Data protection (how do you protect data?)
Incident response (what do you do if you get hacked?)
Business continuity (what happens if your servers go down?)
Vendor management (how do you manage your vendors?)
Compliance (are you SOC 2 certified? ISO 27001?)
Encryption (do you encrypt data?)
Monitoring (do you monitor for attacks?)
How long are they?
Short: 20–50 questions (takes 2–4 hours)
Medium: 50–100 questions (takes 4–8 hours)
Long: 100–200 questions (takes 8–40 hours)
Who sends them?
Enterprise customers - Healthcare customers (HIPAA) - Financial services customers - Government customers - Any customer with compliance requirements
The reality: If you want to sell to enterprise customers, you need to be able to respond to security questionnaires.
The Problem with Security Questionnaires
Security questionnaires are frustrating because:
1. They’re Often Poorly Written
Many questionnaires are:
Outdated (written 5 years ago)
Vague (what does “secure” mean?)
Contradictory (question 1 asks X, question 50 asks the opposite)
Irrelevant (asking about mainframe security when you’re a SaaS company)
Redundant (asking the same question 10 different ways)
Example of a poorly written question: “Do you have a comprehensive security program?”
What does “comprehensive” mean? What does “security program” include? This question is so vague that any answer is defensible.
2. They Ask About Things You Don’t Have
Many questionnaires ask about controls that don’t apply to your company.
Example: “Do you have a disaster recovery site in a different geographic region?”
If you’re a SaaS company using AWS, you don’t have a “disaster recovery site.” You have AWS regions. But the questionnaire was written for companies with physical data centers.
3. They Ask About Things You’ve Never Heard Of
Some questionnaires use jargon or outdated terminology.
Example: “Do you have a CISO (Chief Information Security Officer)?”
If you’re a 10-person startup, you don’t have a CISO. But you might have a founder who handles security. The questionnaire doesn’t account for this.
4. They Require Honest Answers About Gaps
The hardest part is answering honestly about things you don’t have.
Example: “Do you conduct penetration testing?”
If you don’t conduct penetration testing, you have to say “no.” But saying “no” might kill the deal.
5. One Security Questionnaire Response Can Take Forever
A 150-question questionnaire can take 20–40 hours to complete properly. That’s a week of work.
The result:
Many companies either:
Don’t respond (and lose the deal)
Respond dishonestly (and create legal liability)
Hire consultants to respond (and spend $5,000+)
Respond carelessly (and create confusion)
The Strategic Approach: The 80/20 Rule
Here’s the key insight: Not all questionnaire questions are created equal.
Some questions are critical. Some are nice-to-have. Some don’t matter at all.
The 80/20 rule: 20% of the questions determine 80% of the prospect’s decision.
Your job is to:
Identify the 20% of critical questions
Answer those questions really well
Answer the other 80% efficiently
What Are the Critical 20%?
The critical questions are the ones that:
Address the prospect’s biggest security concerns
Relate to their compliance requirements
Affect their risk assessment
Determine if you’re a fit for their organization
Examples of critical questions: - “Do you encrypt data in transit and at rest?” - “Do you have a security incident response plan?” - “Do you conduct background checks on employees?” - “Do you have a business continuity plan?” - “Are you SOC 2 Type II certified?” - “Do you have a data breach notification policy?” - “Do you conduct regular security assessments?” - “Do you have access controls and authentication?”
Examples of non-critical questions: - “What is your office address?” - “How many employees do you have?” - “What programming languages do you use?” - “Do you have a company logo?” - “What is your company’s mission statement?”
How to Respond: The Strategic Framework
Here’s a step-by-step framework for responding to security questionnaires:
Step 1: Understand the Questionnaire (30 minutes)
What to do:
Read through the entire questionnaire
Identify the source (is it a standard form like CAIQ? Or a custom form?)
Identify the prospect’s industry (healthcare? finance? tech?)
Identify the prospect’s compliance requirements (SOC 2? HIPAA? ISO 27001?)
Why this matters: Different industries care about different things - Healthcare prospects care about HIPAA. Finance prospects care about SOC 2. - Standard questionnaires (like CAIQ) are easier to respond to than custom ones
Example: If the prospect is a healthcare company, they’ll care most about: HIPAA compliance - Data encryption - Access controls - Incident response - Business continuity
If the prospect is a fintech company, they’ll care most about: SOC 2 certification - Data encryption - Fraud detection - Business continuity - Vendor management
Step 2: Categorize the Questions (30 minutes)
What to do:
Go through each question
Mark it as: Critical, Important, or Nice-to-Have
Group questions by topic (encryption, access controls, incident response, etc.)
How to categorize:
Critical questions: Address the prospect’s biggest concerns - Relate to their compliance requirements - Are asked multiple times in different ways - Affect the deal
Important questions: Address secondary concerns - Are industry-specific - Might affect the deal if answered poorly
Nice-to-Have questions: Don’t affect the deal - Are generic - Are outdated or irrelevant
Example:
Question | Category | Why |
“Are you SOC 2 Type II certified?” | Critical | Enterprise customers require this |
“Do you encrypt data in transit?” | Critical | All customers care about this |
“Do you have a CISO?” | Important | Enterprise customers want to know who owns security |
“What programming languages do you use?” | Nice-to-Have | Doesn’t affect security |
“Do you have a company logo?” | Nice-to-Have | Not security-related |
Step 3: Prepare Your Answers (2–4 hours)
For Critical Questions
Answer thoroughly and honestly - Provide evidence (certifications, policies, documentation) - Explain how you address the concern - Be specific (not vague)
Example: Question: “Do you encrypt data in transit and at rest?”
Bad answer: “Yes, we take security seriously.”
Good answer: “Yes. We encrypt all data in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher. We encrypt all data at rest using AES-256 encryption. All encryption keys are managed by AWS Key Management Service (KMS). We conduct regular security assessments to verify encryption is working correctly.”
For Important Questions
Answer honestly - Provide context if needed - Explain how you’re addressing gaps (if any)
Example: Question: “Do you conduct penetration testing?”
If you do: “Yes, we conduct annual third-party penetration testing. Our most recent assessment was [date], and the results are available upon request.”
If you don’t: “We don’t currently conduct third-party penetration testing, but we have a plan to implement this by [date]. In the meantime, we conduct regular internal security assessments and code reviews.”
For Nice-to-Have Questions
Answer briefly - Don’t overthink it - Move on
Example: Question: “What programming languages do you use?”
Answer: “We use Python, JavaScript, and Go.”
Step 4: Create a Response Document (1–2 hours)
What to do:
Copy the questionnaire
Add your answers below each question
Add explanations and evidence where needed
Format it professionally
Proofread it
Pro tip: Use a template. Create a master response document with your standard answers. Then customize it for each prospect.
Step 5: Review and Refine (1 hour)
What to do:
Read through your answers
Check for consistency (did you answer the same question the same way twice?)
Check for accuracy (are your answers correct?)
Check for tone (are you confident without being arrogant?)
Check for completeness (did you answer every question?)
Common mistakes to avoid: Contradicting yourself (answering the same question differently in different places) - Being too vague (“we have security controls” without explaining what they are) - Being too specific (revealing information that could be a security risk) - Overselling (claiming capabilities you don’t have) - Underselling (being too modest about your security)
How to Handle Difficult Questions
Some questions are hard to answer. Here’s how to handle them:
Question: “Are you SOC 2 Type II certified?”
If you are: “Yes, we are SOC 2 Type II certified. Our most recent audit was [date]. We’re happy to share our SOC 2 report under an NDA.”
If you’re not (but planning to be): “We’re not currently SOC 2 Type II certified, but we’re planning to pursue certification by [date]. In the meantime, we have [list alternative controls: encryption, access controls, incident response plan, etc.].”
If you’re not (and not planning to be): “We’re not SOC 2 Type II certified because [explain why: we’re early-stage, we don’t have the volume to justify the cost, etc.]. However, we have implemented the key SOC 2 controls: [list them].”
Question: “Do you conduct penetration testing?”
If you do: “Yes, we conduct annual third-party penetration testing. Our most recent assessment was [date]. We remediate all critical and high-severity findings within [timeframe].”
If you don’t (but planning to): “We don’t currently conduct third-party penetration testing, but we have a plan to implement this by [date]. In the meantime, we conduct regular internal security assessments and code reviews.”
If you don’t (and not planning to): “We don’t conduct formal penetration testing because [explain why]. However, we have implemented the key controls that penetration testing would verify: [list them: encryption, access controls, monitoring, etc.].”
Question: “Do you have a CISO?”
If you do: “Yes, our CISO is [name]. They have [X] years of experience in [industry].”
If you don’t (but have a security person): “We don’t have a dedicated CISO, but [name] is responsible for security. They have [X] years of experience in [industry].”
If you don’t (and it’s just the founder): “We don’t have a dedicated CISO, but security is a top priority for our founder and CEO. As we scale, we plan to hire a dedicated security leader.”
Question: “Do you have a disaster recovery plan?”
If you do: “Yes, we have a documented disaster recovery plan. Our RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is [X] hours, and our RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is [X] hours. We test our DR plan [frequency].”
If you don’t (but use cloud backups): “We don’t have a formal disaster recovery plan, but we use [cloud provider] for redundancy and automatic backups. Our data is replicated across multiple geographic regions.”
If you don’t (and need to build one): “We’re currently building a formal disaster recovery plan. In the meantime, we have [list interim measures: regular backups, cloud redundancy, etc.].”
The Honest Answer Principle
Here’s the most important principle: Always answer honestly.
Don’t lie or exaggerate. It will come back to haunt you.
Why?
If you claim you have a control you don’t have, and you get hacked, you’re liable
If you claim you have a certification you don’t have, you’re committing fraud
If you claim you meet a compliance requirement you don’t meet, you’re creating legal liability
Prospects will verify your claims (they’ll ask for evidence, conduct audits, etc.)
The honest approach: Answer truthfully about what you have - Explain what you’re doing to address gaps - Show that security is a priority - Demonstrate a roadmap for improvement
Example:
Bad (dishonest): “Yes, we conduct annual penetration testing.” (You don’t.)
Good (honest): “We don’t currently conduct third-party penetration testing, but we have a plan to implement this by Q2 2026. In the meantime, we conduct regular internal security assessments and code reviews.”
The good answer shows:
Honesty (you admit you don’t have it)
Commitment (you have a plan)
Maturity (you have interim controls)
Roadmap (you’re improving)
Building a Reusable Questionnaire Library
The first questionnaire takes 8–10 hours. The second takes 4–6 hours. By the 10th, you’re down to 1–2 hours.
Why? Because you’re reusing answers.
How to Build a Library:
Step 1: Create a Master Response Document
Create a document with your standard answers to common questions:
ENCRYPTION
Q: Do you encrypt data in transit and at rest?
A: Yes. We encrypt all data in transit using TLS 1.2 or higher. We encrypt all data at rest using AES-256 encryption. All encryption keys are managed by AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
ACCESS CONTROLS
Q: Do you have access controls and authentication?
A: Yes. We use role-based access control (RBAC). All employees must authenticate using [method]. We conduct quarterly access reviews to ensure access is appropriate.
INCIDENT RESPONSE
Q: Do you have an incident response plan?
A: Yes. We have a documented incident response plan. Our average time to detect and respond to security incidents is [X] hours. We notify affected customers within [X] hours of a breach.
Step 2: Organize by Topic
Group your answers by topic: - Encryption - Access Controls - Incident Response - Business Continuity - Vendor Management - Compliance - Monitoring - Data Protection
Step 3: Customize for Each Prospect
When you get a new questionnaire:
Copy your master responses
Customize them for the prospect’s industry/requirements
Add prospect-specific details
Proofread and send
Step 4: Update Your Library
After each questionnaire:
Add new questions to your library
Update answers based on feedback
Improve your responses based on what worked
The Timeline
Here’s a realistic timeline for responding to a security questionnaire:
First Questionnaire (New)
Understand the questionnaire: 30 minutes
Categorize questions: 30 minutes
Prepare answers: 4–6 hours
Create response document: 1–2 hours
Review and refine: 1 hour
Total: 8–10 hours
Second Questionnaire (Similar)
Understand the questionnaire: 30 minutes
Categorize questions: 30 minutes
Adapt your master responses: 2–3 hours
Create response document: 30 minutes
Review and refine: 30 minutes
Total: 4–5 hours
Tenth Questionnaire (Similar)
Understand the questionnaire: 15 minutes
Adapt your master responses: 30 minutes
Create response document: 15 minutes
Review and refine: 15 minutes
Total: 1–1.5 hours
The Cost Comparison
Option 1: Do It Yourself
First questionnaire: 10 hours × $100/hour (your time) = $1,000
Second questionnaire: 5 hours × $100/hour = $500
Tenth questionnaire: 1.5 hours × $100/hour = $150
Total for 10 questionnaires: $5,650
Option 2: Hire a Consultant
Per questionnaire: $2,000–$5,000
10 questionnaires: $20,000–$50,000
Total: $20,000–$50,000
Option 3: Use a Service (like Vanta or Drata)
Monthly subscription: $500–$2,000
Automated questionnaire responses
Continuous compliance monitoring
Total for 1 year: $6,000–$24,000
The DIY approach is cheapest, but takes time. The service approach is more expensive, but saves time and keeps you compliant.
Pro Tips
Tip 1: Ask for the Questionnaire Early
Don’t wait until the end of the sales process. Ask for the questionnaire during the first call.
Why? Because if you’re not a fit, you want to know early. And if you are a fit, you can start responding early.
What to say: “We’re excited about this opportunity. To move things forward, can you send us your security questionnaire? We want to make sure we’re a good fit for your security requirements.”
Tip 2: Ask for Help
If you’re stuck on a question, ask the prospect for clarification.
What to say: “We want to make sure we answer this question accurately. Can you clarify what you mean by [question]? Are you asking about [specific thing]?”
This shows:
You take security seriously
You want to give accurate answers
You’re collaborative
Tip 3: Offer to Discuss
Don’t just send back a document. Offer to discuss your answers.
What to say: “We’ve completed your security questionnaire. We’d love to schedule a 30-minute call to walk through our answers and address any questions. Does [time] work for you?”
This gives you a chance to:
Explain your security posture in person
Address concerns
Build trust
Move the deal forward
Tip 4: Use It as a Sales Tool
A well-completed questionnaire is a sales tool. It shows: - You take security seriously - You’re mature and professional - You’re a good vendor - You’re trustworthy
Use it to:
Build confidence in your company
Differentiate from competitors
Move deals forward
Close enterprise customers
Tip 5: Keep It Updated
Your security questionnaire responses should reflect your current state.
Update your responses when:
You get a new certification (SOC 2, ISO 27001, etc.)
You implement a new control
You improve a process
Your company grows
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Lying or Exaggerating
Don’t claim you have controls you don’t have. It will come back to haunt you.
Mistake 2: Being Too Vague
Don’t say “we have security controls.” Be specific: “we use AES-256 encryption, TLS 1.2, and role-based access control.”
Mistake 3: Overselling
Don’t claim you’re SOC 2 certified if you’re not. Don’t claim you have a CISO if you don’t.
Mistake 4: Underselling
Don’t be too modest. If you have strong security, say so. If you have a roadmap for improvement, explain it.
Mistake 5: Ignoring the Questionnaire
Don’t ignore the questionnaire and hope the prospect forgets. Respond promptly and professionally.
Mistake 6: Sending a Sloppy Response
Don’t send a response with typos, inconsistencies, or missing answers. Proofread it.
Mistake 7: Not Following Up
Don’t send the response and disappear. Follow up to see if they have questions.
What to Do If You Don’t Have a Control
It’s okay if you don’t have every control. Here’s how to handle it:
Step 1: Be Honest
Say you don’t have the control. Don’t lie.
Step 2: Explain Why
Explain why you don’t have it. Is it because:
You’re early-stage?
It doesn’t apply to your business model?
You’re planning to implement it?
You have an alternative control?
Step 3: Show Your Roadmap
Explain how you’re addressing the gap. Do you have a plan to implement it? By when?
Step 4: Highlight Alternative Controls
If you don’t have the exact control they’re asking about, explain what you do have that addresses the same risk.
Example:
Question: “Do you conduct annual penetration testing?”
Your answer: “We don’t currently conduct third-party penetration testing, but we have a plan to implement this by Q2 2026. In the meantime, we conduct:
Monthly internal security assessments
Quarterly code reviews
Continuous vulnerability scanning
Regular security training for our team
These controls help us identify and address security vulnerabilities before they become problems.”
Your Questionnaire Response Checklist
Understand the questionnaire (industry, compliance requirements)
Categorize questions (critical, important, nice-to-have)
Prepare answers for critical questions
Create a response document
Review for consistency and accuracy
Proofread
Ask for clarification on unclear questions
Offer to discuss your answers
Follow up after sending
Update your library for next time
Ready to Master Security Questionnaires?
At Lodestone Security Group, we help companies respond to security questionnaires strategically. We’ll:
✅ Assess your current security posture
✅ Identify gaps and create a roadmap
✅ Build a reusable questionnaire response library
✅ Help you respond to specific questionnaires
✅ Prepare you for enterprise sales
Let’s talk. We’ll spend 30 minutes understanding your security posture and your sales challenges—then give you a roadmap for responding to questionnaires confidently.
Key Takeaways
✅ Not all questionnaire questions matter. Focus on the 20% that determine 80% of the decision.
✅ Answer honestly. Lying creates liability. Honesty builds trust.
✅ Be specific. Don’t say “we have security controls.” Say “we use AES-256 encryption and TLS 1.2.”
✅ Build a library. The first questionnaire takes 10 hours. The tenth takes 1 hour.
✅ Use it as a sales tool. A well-completed questionnaire builds confidence and moves deals forward.
✅ Offer to discuss. Don’t just send a document. Have a conversation.
Master security questionnaires. Close enterprise deals. Scale your business.
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