Building Client Trust in the Security Sector
The security industry is much like any other in these turbulent times. It’s an industry that’s built by strong relationships and reciprocal trust. And in recent months, much of that trust has been tested on both sides.
Many security firms have lost contracts as their clients have gone out of business. Others may have had to downgrade their provision to balance their security needs against their newly reduced budgets. It’s likely that the reputation you’ve spent years building means significantly less than it did in January. You may feel as though the value in your branding has been diminished.
If you’ve lost business in the last few years, you know that you need to engage new clients while consolidating your relationships with existing clients, so they’re never tempted to look elsewhere. Building trust is absolutely central to this. Here we’ll look at some ways in which security firms should be building trust.
Client Trust in the Security Sector: Stay in touch
You should always be communicating with existing customers and new prospects alike. Your social profiles and content marketing channels (like your own website’s blog, for instance) are a great platform on which to do this.
Introduce new members to your team and showcase their credentials. Tell people how you’re navigating these difficult times. Show them that you’re prepared for whatever the future brings.
Show sensitivity and accountability when it comes to firearms
Many of your clients, though they acknowledge them as necessary, may have a problematic relationship with firearms. If your on-site security provision requires you to use armed security guards, you need to offer end-to-end transparency and reassurance.
You should use an FFL locator to ensure that your weapons are responsibly sourced and that your licenses are up to date. You should invest in ongoing weapons training for team members and ensure that clients remain in the loop.
Embrace innovation
Clients don’t just want security solutions for their needs today. They expect you to be able to anticipate their needs tomorrow as well. As such, you can never afford to rest on your laurels. You have to strive to innovate in your field continually.
There are many different areas of security where innovation is no longer novel but necessary. Take data security, for instance, a field in which threats are continually changing and evolving. Cybercriminals are always finding ways to target small businesses like your clients with ransomware, DDoS, phishing, and other kinds of malicious attacks.
Your approach needs to be highly proactive and ever-evolving. The same goes for biometrics. New advances are being made all the time, improving facial and iris recognition, fingerprint recognition, and even recognizing the gait of individual team members. Biometric can make security operations more time-efficient and incorruptible.
Charge what you’re worth, not what you think clients can afford
Finally, in these financially challenging times for many, you could be forgiven for assuming that you should undercut your competitors on price. But this approach can create more problems than it solves. Your clients don’t want “cheap.” They want “reliable.” And they need you to be able to invest in an infrastructure that delivers excellence. And you can’t do that on bargain-basement prices!
