Advertising for security companies

Security services are bought to prevent something that may never happen. The buyer cannot observe the value, so they buy on evidence of reliability.

The baseline documentation

Licensing requirements vary by jurisdiction and are usually mandatory. Publishing them is not optional in a competitive tender and is frequently done poorly.

What to document visibly: licences held with numbers, vetting standard applied to staff, insurance cover with sums, training programme and refresher frequency, and any sector accreditation.

Staff turnover is the differentiator

The sector's structural weakness is high turnover, which produces unfamiliar officers, inconsistent standards and client frustration.

If your retention is genuinely better, it is the strongest claim available. State the figure, and state what you do that produces it: pay above the minimum, guaranteed hours, training, progression.

The two markets

Small and mid-sized business is the segment where marketing has most effect, because the decision is made by one person and is not run through procurement.

Technology changes the offer

Remote monitoring, video verification and mobile patrol reduce the cost of covering a site and are increasingly what clients want to hear about.

A proposal offering a combination, so monitored technology with a response patrol rather than continuous manned presence, frequently costs the client less and produces better margin. Explaining that trade-off clearly is a selling advantage.

Incident response is the proof

Whatever else is promised, the client wants to know what happens when the alarm sounds at three in the morning.

Publish the process, the response times, the escalation route and who the client will speak to. Then report against it.

The tender process

For larger contracts, tendering is the route. That requires: pre-qualification documentation kept current, references who will answer the phone, and a written method statement that addresses the specific site rather than a generic template.

Most tenders are lost on the method statement being obviously generic.

Recruitment

The industry competes for staff with logistics and retail at similar pay. Recruitment marketing that is honest about the work, states the pay and the hours, and offers training is more effective than volume advertising.