Property and facility managers don’t only hire security guard companies for men in uniforms. They are hiring security experts to improve security and keep their property and facilities safe. And besides having concerns about guards not doing what they are supposed to, clients have concerns and questions regarding the overall security of their property.

So, when someone is hiring your security guard company, they may be asking you questions such as:

“Where should I place some new security cameras”?

Or “Do I have adequate lighting out in the parking lot?”

Oftentimes, the most senior security officer from your team at their site gets these questions. However, these staff members often lack in-depth industry knowledge, which makes them unable to provide a qualified answer to questions such as this.

And you actually don’t want this person to answer anyway. Because, if the advice of this person turned out to be harmful to the client, you could be exposed to a liability lawsuit.

So, do you want to risk losing client confidence in your ability to offer the full spectrum of security services by only limiting yourself as a provider of men in uniform, or do you want to expand your capabilities?

As part of your business strategy, you can consider offering consulting services. You can send a certified, qualified consultant to the site, who will wear the flags of your company and work closely with the client on all the non-guarding security needs.

Some examples of services you can consider offering are:
  • Installation of security equipment and management of system integration.
  • On-demand, semi-annual, or annual security assessment.
  • Report on security-related everything in the property.
  • Suitability assessments – when your clients are looking for leasing or purchasing a new property, you can offer them the services of a security expert assessing the risks of the new place.
  • Design input – if your clients are building or developing a property, you can offer them an expert who would find out the security issues at the design stage and will recommend crime-preventive, security-conscious design features.

Having a consultant can also help deflect some of the blame related to security breaches – it may be the incompetence of a guard that caused that breach, but there may be other factors that a consultant could recognize that would smooth out your relationship with the client and save your public image.

A few issues that a consultant may be able to identify are:
  • A security system that is inadequate
  • Inappropriate and outdated security procedure
  • Hardware or equipment that is vulnerable and weak
  • Unfitting regular facility operations such as additional duties that take the guard away from main functions

Businesses hire security guard companies to keep their properties and facilities safe. And to be able to offer them such expert service, it is important for security guard companies to do assessments and audits.