I have watched national security vendors come into Michigan for 25 years, or should I say, come and go. They arrive with a polished proposal in a 2 inch binder, usually a higher bill rate, and a promise of resources, training and experience. Newsflash! We all pull from the same workforce except those of us who are more selective in hiring, have law enforcement relationships, and teach two characteristics….trust and communication! Oh yeah…we also treat our Officers with respect and teach them to respect others. Quick story…we took over a national banking client in 2012, who was using one of the largest guard companies in the world! They came to us for a bid for one simple reason…they wanted someone to respond to their needs immediately and not wait for an account manager to return their call. We are still servicing them 14 years later.
Here is what a local security company does that a national one cannot. When something happens at your site at 2 a.m., you reach a person who can get a message out immediately. Our 24/7 dispatch sends a note immediately to our Supervisor on duty, who addresses the need or issue within minutes. That sounds small until the night you need it.
Trust in this business is not a slogan (though most guard companies use it as one). It is a record of doing what you said you would do, repeated until people stop worrying about it. Our clients trust us because when we say an officer will be there at six, an officer is there at six. When something goes wrong, we call them before they call us.
Our officers trust us for the same reason. They are paid weekly, every week, without excuses. When they raise a problem at a post, somebody answers. Our supervisors are on site, not on a conference call. Officers stay with us for about five years on average, and in this industry that number is close to unheard of for so many reasons. An officer who trusts the company he works for shows up on time and tells you the truth about what happened on his shift. An officer who does not trust his company tells you what he thinks you want to hear.
Communication is the mechanism behind both. Our officers file reports from the field the moment something happens, with photos and a time stamp, and it comes straight to our supervisors and to me. I read them every day and I read every report. When a report needs work, the officer is contacted about it that day while the details are still fresh. When a client needs to know something, that report goes out by email, proofread, the same day. No paper files sitting in a car until shift change.
Law enforcement relationships matter here too. Police respond to our sites constantly. Over 40 years in this business, our people have learned what officers need when they arrive: a clear account of what happened, in order, with times and names and no guesswork. We do not pretend to be police. We know exactly where our authority ends and I personally have zero tolerance for any security officer who acts like or alleges to be in law enforcement while on duty in the private sector. That line, respected consistently, is what earns you a professional relationship with the departments in your area.
None of this is really complicated at all as it is just answering the phone, paying people on time, writing things down correctly, and telling the truth when something goes wrong. It is also the reason we have held clients for decades while national vendors cycle through this market. If you are comparing a local security company against a national one, ask both the same question. When I call you at 2 a.m., who picks up, and what can that person actually do? You will know within a sentence which answer you believe.
Alimar Security has protected Detroit, Grand Rapids, northern Indiana and Southeast Michigan businesses since 2001. Call our 24/7 dispatch line at 586.755.3847 or email me at pmartinelli@alimarsecurity.com.