One thing I’ve learned in the investigation and security industries, and particularly in my companies, is that the business you are operating and selling is a promise. An officer will be at that gate at six. Someone will answer at 3 a.m. The report will be accurate and it will be on time. If I report it, it happened and was documented just as I observed and investigated it. Everything else is an opinion, a suggestion, a uniform and an invoice.
I have been at this for 40 years, and the only thing I have carried through all of it is my reputation. Contracts end. Buildings change hands. The people who hired you move on to other companies, and they take one thing with them, which is whether I did what I said I would do. I know me and I know what I’ve done, what I’ve said I would do and did.
There are plenty of things people can say about me. Nobody can say I am not true to my word.
That standard, at times, has cost me money, and that is the point. I’m ok with that! It means telling a client the truth about a problem before they find out on their own. It means discounting or even not charging for something that I didn’t feel right about. It means turning down work when we cannot staff it properly, rather than taking the contract and figuring it out later. Anyone can keep a promise when it is convenient.
Our investigators and officers know where they stand with us, and that is why they stay. Our clients know that when we say we will handle it, it is handled. The two are connected. You cannot ask an officer to keep his word to a client while the company is breaking its word to him. That’s where I know I can sleep well at night (even if it’s only 4-5 hours on average!)
Accountability is the other half. When we get something wrong, and we do, the call comes from us. Not an excuse, not a story about the officer who called off. What happened, what we did about it, and what we changed so it does not happen again. That call is uncomfortable every single time. It is also the reason clients stay with us for decades.
Reputation is not what you say about yourself. It is what the person on the other end of the phone expects before you pick up. My clients hold me to a high standard, but it’s never higher than the standards and expectations I hold of myself and those who work for me.
Over 40 years in the business, and twenty-five years in the security business, the one thing still standing is my reputation. It’s all each of has in life.
If you want an investigation or security company whose word holds, call our 24/7 dispatch line at 586.755.3847 or email me at pmartinelli@alimarsecurity.com.