Engaging with the end user

One of my favourite business sayings is: "Keep it personnel, keep the business". For me, this speaks volumes as to what service is all about. In a nutshell, it's concerned with the service provider engineering a position whereby it's close to the customer base, being genuinely concerned about its clients' needs and bending over backwards to do everything possible that will lead to an excellent service delivery at all times.

At Kings Security, our business has grown from £1.5 million four years ago to £8.5 million today. We're forecasting a £10 million business next year. In all honesty, there's nothing particularly special about our products. At least, there's nothing there that most other security installers couldn't easily supply. The difference, I believe, comes in the form of what can best be described as a 'culture of service'.

That 'culture of service' isn't only a business aspiration at director level. It has to permeate right down to the grass roots of the organisation. Down, that is, to every single installer, service engineer and administrator.

When a business outsources any service, it will require (and demand) one simple thing – peace of mind. This actually covers many variables. A guarantee that the security installer will turn up on site when they say they will. A guarantee that the project will be finished on time and, finally, a confidence that post-installation service will actually deliver what was claimed in the sales pitch. And, of course, that all of the security equipment procured will do what it's supposed to do!

In light of all this, how might installers improve upon their service offering? The first rule of engagement is to appreciate the time-critical nature of first fix, second fix and commissioning. No alarm equals no insurance equals no sales. For example, one of the larger High Street supermarket chain's outlets can easily average a daily take of around £100,000. Even a one-day delay on any promise made by the installer and the penalty clauses would wipe out the contractor's margin.

More importantly, perhaps, it also means that your customer contact will have serious questions to answer within his or her own organisation. The installer might even be lucky to ever have the opportunity to quote for a job with that end user again.

Some of the statements that follow might be deemed to be 'old hat', but that doesn't make them any less true. For example, historical research tells us that over 90% of dissatisfied customers will never again buy from a company that offends them in any way, and that a given customer will tell at least ten other people about their bad experiences with the supplier. Research also suggests that over 95% of unhappy customers never complain. In truth, they simply disappear.

Remember, too, that as many as 13% of disgruntled clients may share their experiences with more than 20 people. Last but not least, 70% of an average company's sales are derived from present customers. This being the case, it must be stressed that few service providers can afford to alienate the client base.

We need to move customers’ perceptions away from viewing security as a ‘necessary commodity spend’ – in order to satisfy insurance-driven demands – to it being perceived as an essential investment. The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the s

Is regulation long overdue?
The answer to this question is easy. Yes, regulation is long overdue. Indeed, the industry has massive strides to take in this direction. We need to eliminate the cowboy fraternity. Those businesses who do us all a disservice. If we are to be truly professional then installers simply must be regulated.

There's a massive educational task ahead of us in the private sector. We need to move customers' perceptions away from viewing security as a 'necessary commodity spend' – in order to satisfy insurance-driven demands – to it being perceived as an essential investment. One that protects both assets and people. Installers who are in business simply to break even and make a living are fuelling a situation which harms us all.

On the back of this, you'll not be surprised to learn that another of my favourite sayings is: "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."

A recent development trying desperately to find a foothold in UK plc is the practise of e-tendering. I've no problems at all with e-commerce. In fact, I wish more practitioners in the industry would actively embrace new technologies. However, I do have a fundamental problem with what I believe to be the development of on-line Dutch auctions, a scenario where security services supplier is played off against security services supplier in order to beat down costs.

My reasoning for this is simple. On the face of it the rationale for the customer is plain to see. In other words, rock bottom prices. Sadly this masks the true situation. A situation whereby quality and service as both concepts and reality are factored out of the purchasing equation. Often, the very companies that are 'buying business at cost' are those which are struggling, cannot provide service support and which, more often than not, are those that are not here tomorrow!

For the first time in memory, we're now beginning to see NACOSS-registered companies going into liquidation. Something almost unheard of in the past 20 years. With no guaranteed safety net of being able to sell out to the Big Boys anymore, we must run our businesses to build our businesses rather than merely to sustain the maintenance base.

Technology to the rescue
Technology is developing at breakneck speed. The upside is that security budgets are starting to move and/or come under the influence of IT Departments. Historically, of course, company funds have always been much more readily available to IT than security teams.