I can tell you from experience that receiving a 30-day notice from a customer canceling your contract is enough to ruin your day…sometimes your week. I am sure that’s how Tony Castillo Jr., owner of Castillo Private Patrol, felt when he received his. After providing security for his customer for 15 years, he lost the $1.2 million contract to G4S, all because of security guard software.
Over the past two years I’ve had the opportunity to talk with hundreds of security guard companies about how they service their clients. Many of those conversations start out with the company describing how attentive they are to their clients and/or how well-trained their officers are. Of course there is nothing wrong with either of those, but these conversations always lead me to ask “What are you doing to make your customer’s job easier?” Because as their security expert, your customers are looking for you to introduce them to innovations that make their jobs easier and their properties more secure. So how are you accomplishing that for your customers? If you aren’t, you could be setting yourself up for a 30-day cancellation letter too.
A recent article in the Orange County Register, introduces readers to Tony Castillo Jr. owner of Castillo Private Patrol. The article details how Mr. Castillo lost a bid to provide security for The Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corporation to G4S. Mr. Castillo had been providing service to LARMAC for 15 years and thought that he was “…well overqualified…” to continue providing security service there. Although I am sure Mr. Castillo provided great service to LARMAC, unfortunately Mr. Castillo failed to appreciate the importance of making his customer’s job easier.
According to the executive director of LARMAC “The selection of G4S was primarily due to the administrative enhancements they provide and management efficiencies as a result of some innovative technologies that G4S provides…” If I am reading that correctly, G4S introduced LARMAC to the benefits of security guard software. Based on what I have seen, G4S has done a great job of building a very robust security guard software platform. This platform gives G4S a very distinct competitive advantage over other security guard companies that don’t have these capabilities. So why is security guard software such a game changer?
The Top 3 Advantages of Using Security Guard Software
- It Makes Your Officers Accountable – One of the top questions that security guard company customers ask is “How do you make sure your officers are doing their jobs at 2a.m.?” In the past, many companies would respond by talking about field supervisors and spot checks. But now with the advances made in security guard software, security guard companies and their customers can check on their officers in real-time without having to physically be there. Now security guard buyers can more easily hold their security guard vendors and their officers accountable for the services they provide. Which of your customers doesn’t want that?
- It Improves Your Operational Efficiency – By using security guard software, security guard companies can better ensure that: 1) The right officers are on post; 2) That they have the most up-to-date information; and 3) That limited resources are better utilized.
- Allows For Better Decision Making – Security officers create enormous amounts of information via the reports and logs that they generate daily. Prior to using security guard software summarizing and or quantifying this information was almost impossible. But with security guard software security companies and their customers can make more informed decisions regarding security related matters such as incidents, guard tours, and risk management.
Despite overwhelming evidence regarding the need for security guard software, many security guard companies continue to see it as something that is just “nice to have”. I am sure that Mr. Castillo thought the same thing. But if you’re interested in seeing what the latest in security guard software can do for your company Contact Us to schedule an online demo.
By Courtney Sparkman
