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Selling security guard services is admittedly not the sexiest of jobs, but with the right attitude and motivation you can do well both professionally and financially.  In order to be great at security guard sales, or sales in general, it requires extensive reading and even more practice.  One of the first books that I read and refer back to fairly regularly is The 25 Most Common Sales Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Stephan Schiffman.  Stephan is a Certified Management Consultant who has trained and consulted with corporations such as IBM, Motorola, and Cigna.  He has trained over 500,000 professionals across 9,000+ companies.  Of the 25 most common mistakes outlined in his book, there are 10 that are essential to anyone involved in security guard sales.  I have taken the liberty of summarizing those 10 below.

Mastering Security Guard Sales
Security guard service is one of the most competitive industries that exists (if it isn’t it, sure does feel like it) and losing a sale can be the result of being a penny too high or making easily avoidable mistakes.  Here are 10 mistakes that you should be aware of.

Not Being Obsessed – Being great at sales requires dedication and total commitment to reaching your goal, to the point of obsession.  But keep in mind that being obsessed does not mean that you have to give up  your personal life.  What it does mean is that you have to make a commitment to yourself that drives your sales related activities daily.
Not Listening to the Prospect – Many times salespeople think that selling is more about talking than listening.  But when you get down to it, a good salesperson doesn’t so much sell as help his prospect solve a problem.  Zig Ziglar was quoted as saying “Stop selling.  Start helping.”
Not Empathizing with the Prospect – As a salesperson you must be capable of seeing things from your prospect’s perspective.  Remember that you are not going to be the most important thing on your prospect’s to-do list.  Develop respect for your prospect’s time and mindset.
Not Taking Notes – Taking notes will aid you both in listening to your prospect and helping you keep their needs and wants in mind.  By taking notes you show that you are organized, professional, and concerned with the prospect’s interest.  You may also find that prospects talk more when you are taking notes because it reinforces their desire to speak.  This in turn gives you more to write…a self perpetuating cycle.  Keep in mind that these notes will help you target your approach moving forward.
Failing to Follow Up – Failing to follow up gives your prospects an opportunity to forget about you and your company.  As a security guard sales professional you must stay top of mind with your prospects, otherwise your competition will be more than willing to take their attention.  Remember your prospect is not sitting around saying “Wow I can’t wait to meet with that salesperson again”, they move onto their next task.
Not Taking the Prospect’s Point of View – Although as a salesperson you are probably very aware of your company’s offerings, you must look at how those offerings benefit the prospect.  It’s a common mistake to talk about your training programs or hiring practices without translating those benefits into the customer’s language.  For example you might be tempted to say “Our officers use OfficerReports daily activity report software for submitting daily activity reports”.  You should go one step further and translate that into “Ms. Prospect you will never have to wait on a report, because they are always accessible on the web”.  
Not Taking Pride in Your Work –  You must stand behind your company and services with pride.  If you don’t believe in your company, then the prospect surely won’t.  Chances are they have received bad service from other firms, so taking pride in your services will help assuage any apprehension.  If you don’t take pride in your service and organization, you will not be successful.
Trying to Convince, Rather than Convey – As part of a security guard sales team you must realize that selling is not about getting other people to see your point of view.  Rather, it is about conveying to the prospect how and why you can help solve their security related issues.
Taking Rejection Personally – As a professional responsible for security guard sales, you can not see rejection as a personal affront.  Rejection is just part of the overall sales cycle, every “no” that you get puts you 1 step closer to a “yes”, perseverance pays off in abundance.  
“I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature”. -John D. Rockefeller

Underestimating the Importance of Prospecting – Of all the habits that your security guard sales team can develop, commitment to prospecting is most likely to ensure sales success.  According to Grant Cardone the problem with closing a sale is that you always lose your best prospect.  You must be laser focused on ALWAYS keep something in your pipeline, otherwise you will come to regret it.
This list is not a cure-all and will not provide you with an instant turn-around for poor security guard sales.  But using this list in combination with the right focus and motivation will provide a great place to start a turn-around.

If you are responsible for security guard sales, what would you add to this list?  Is there anything that you disagree with?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Growth is on the mind of every security guard company owner — but a being bigger company isn’t always being a better company. Smaller companies enjoy several advantages in the security guard industry, but they have to know how to leverage them.  And when you do grow, you have to do it in a way that you don’t overextend your resources. “Everyone wants growth, but revenue growth for the sake of revenue growth is not good,” says Keith Oringer of Security ProAdvisors, especially if you want to be one of the best security companies in your market.

With that being said, let’s talk about the three advantages that smaller security companies enjoy, along with some tips on how to use them to out-maneuver your larger competitors.

Clients Want To Be More Than A Number
No matter your clients’ size, industry, or niche they want a personal touch with their service, Oringer explains.

With larger security guard companies, when a client has a question or problem they often have to speak to a branch manager or regional manager — “an employee, not the owner,” he states. As a result, they may be dealing with someone who doesn’t necessarily feel invested in the work. “For larger companies, your company is only as good as the manager who picks up the phone.”

As the owner of a smaller company, being directly accessible by your clients may feel too distracting at times, but it’s still an advantage. “Your customers want to have access to the business owner,” Oringer says. “They want to be able to pick up the phone and know that the person that they are talking to is vested in the company and its service.”

TIP 1: As you grow, continue to dedicate some of your time to providing the personal touch clients crave.

The Best Security Companies Are More Nimble
Think of how your organization reacts to a client demand, question, or problem — chances are you jump into action pretty quickly.

Smaller companies have fewer layers, so when a customer service request comes in, it goes right to the people who can solve it. At larger companies those issues can often get bogged down in different levels — or even get lost.

When you grow, keep an eye on the processes you use to serve your customers, Oringer recommends. If you add technology, ensure it fits the way you work; if you add employees, empower them to get things done, or keep the lines clear to those who can.

TIP 2: The best security companies always make sure that growth leads to better service and not bloat.

Fast Growth Can Lead To A Bust
When it’s time to grow, it is important to do it carefully, Oringer cautions. For example, you may be tempted to try to underbid to gain clients, but that could strangle your business down the road. When you want to add clients, be sure you can answer these three questions:

What will my cash flow look like? “In this business, you have to fund payroll every week,” Oringer says. “When you add a client and start work, you could be funding payroll for four weeks before they pay you. That’s a challenge.”
What is my liability? High-risk accounts may pay more, but they’re high-risk for a reason: You may have to add services like armed guards. This could stretch your resources too thin.
What is my profit? “You’ve got to balance your margins,” Oringer advises. As you serve more clients, don’t let cost creep eat away at the money you need to keep growing. Revisit your pricing structure periodically to ensure you’re covering everything — including your profit margin.
In addition to regularly answering the three questions above, Oringer recommends having the right technology in place for scheduling, reporting, payroll, and other processes to keep tabs on your business. That way when it’s time to grow, you’re ready, and all of these factors will help determine the value of your company.

TIP 3: All business isn’t good business, so balance your growth with consistent delivery of services.

Do you feel that your company provided better service when you were smaller?  How does your company stack up against the best security companies in your market? Please feel free to leave your comments below.

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Recently I’ve read several articles from various sources that underlined the need for security guard companies to start measuring their services differently.  Security guard service is not just about the guards, it is about demonstrating the value that those guards provide for your customers.

I have talked to many managers who have expressed some level of frustration that their clients don’t fully appreciate what they do.  Consequently, if  clients don’t appreciate the work that is being done, it is extremely hard to assign a fair value for those services.  In today’s data driven world security guard companies need to focus on providing their customers with metrics that help demonstrate that value.  So how do you show value to customers?

Examples of Demonstrating Value
Here are several examples of security organizations capturing and sharing information with their clients that demonstrate the value of their services.

Example 1
In a recent post in a LinkedIn discussion group, Bill Nesbitt wrote this about the security manager of a large manufacturing firm:

“…His CEO had recently called him into his office, where he was told that he was going to be required to make significant cuts to his operating budget. His boss said, “Why don’t you get back to me in a week with your recommendations.” The Security Director promptly went to his computer and developed an itemized list of the proactive actions his security officers had taken over the past three years. The list included things such as: 125 doors found unlocked and secured; removed trespassers and homeless people from the property 35 times; escorted female employees to their cars 184 times. The list had somewhere around 50 items that documented the affirmative actions of his security force. He didn’t wait for a week to get back to the CEO. He returned in less than an hour.

He laid the list on the CEO’s desk, and stated: “Which of these things do you want me to stop doing?” Essentially his boss smiled, and said “get out of here,” and no cuts were made that year.”

Example 2
The Isanti County News recently published an article that again demonstrates the power of providing metrics for security officer activities.  In the article the security force was able to outline their accomplishments over the course of just several months.  The security force checked in 43,453 people turned away 3 people with guns.  They also turned away 1,438 knives, 121 hazardous tools, 67 cans of pepper spray, 43 scissors, and 4 Tasers.  After seeing those numbers the client went on to say that “I never thought this many people visit the government center.”  If you are not capturing and reporting the activities that your officers are providing, you are missing huge opportunities to demonstrate the value of your service.

Example 3
In another article that featured Giddens Security Corporation, the writer details how Giddens was responsible for greeting 465,637 visitors and snagging 10,360 potentially dangerous items.  Those items included knives scissors, pepper spray and guns.  Again the power that those metrics provide are invaluable to building your company’s brand and showing the value that your services provide.

Metrics That Show Value
In order to demonstrate the value that your company provides, you will need to capture information in a manner that allows for easy access and calculation.  Paper based reporting systems are not flexible or efficient enough to facilitate this type of reporting.  Security Guard Reporting systems like OfficerReports.com provide their users with a more efficient way of reporting on security officer activities.  Here is a short list of metrics that you should be providing to your clients on a regular basis.

Number of incident, types, and trends
Numbers of lights found not working
Doors found unlocked or unsecured
Employees being escorted
Fire extinguishers checked
Number of vehicles logged
Number of visitors checked in
Maintenance issues found
Fire hazards found
Recovered value of stolen items
Slips, trips, falls, and near misses
Tour stops completed
With these metrics in hand you can easily convey to your clients  the value that your security officers are providing for them.  Although being humble is an admirable trait, humility is not good for your business.  Tell your current clients and prospective clients all about what you do and how you deliver value.