If your security guard company has been around for more than 30 days, you probably know how competitive the security guard industry is. In fact, most of the security guard companies that I talk with typically have one thing in common, they are being undercut by low-cost competitors.
I considered writing a blog about ways to differentiate your security guard company from the “bottom feeders”, but I recently read an article that outlined some great strategies. So rather than write my own, I thought that I would just share some of the highlights from that article. Although the original article “9 Ways to Stand Out Among Lower Cost Competitors (Without Lowering Prices)” is applicable to any industry, three of the strategies were especially true for security guard companies. Those three strategies were:
1. Provide Value and Customer Service
You know and I know, that when your competition is undercutting you by 20% – 30% the service that they provide is going to be seriously lacking in some areas. Most of the time the quality of their officers, their customer service, and quality assurance will be what suffers most. So tout your ability to prevent problems, catch problems before they happen, and respond to any issues that do arise.2. Stress Your Core Differentiator
It has been my experience that companies often times fail to TRULY differentiate themselves from their low-cost competitors. If you follow this blog you’ve probably heard me say on several occasions “If your differentiator is that you train your officers better or only hire the best candidates, your words are falling on deaf ears.” That’s because your low-cost competition is telling your customers the EXACT same thing. As a result, you have to develop differentiators in the form of products and services that your low-cost competitors don’t or can’t offer. Examples of these types of differentiators might include the use of security guard company software like OfficerReports.com, or providing industry specific training like hole watch/fire watch for your officers.3. Stay Firm on Price and Offer More than Low-Cost Competitors
When a customer, or potential customer, says that your billing rate it too high, it’s not actually the price they are objecting to…it’s the value that they don’t like. In these situations lowering your billing rate is probably the wrong thing to do. Rather, stay firm on your billing rate and focus on the additional value that you are providing. I touched on some of these value adds in my blog What Is Value Added For Security Guard Company Clients? Additionally, if you are offering value adds be sure that you are clearly articulating your value proposition in a way that resonates with your customers and potential customers. These are just the three strategies that I thought were most relevant to OfficerReports.com’s customers and other security guard companies. The other strategies include:- Be Explicit
- Raise Your Prices
- Don’t Play the Game
- Only Engage if You Must
- Separate Yourself as the Premium Offer
- Uphold the Value of Your Brand
