5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Security Business Relationships

Trackforce

February 16, 2015 · 9 min read

Security business owner meeting with a client to strengthen the relationship

In today’s fast-paced technological age, it can be easy to forget what truly drives any security business toward success.

Not regular meetings. Not more sales. Not better officers or better training. Not new management systems. Not even great technology (as hard as that is for us to say). None of that.

Nope. The secret behind the success of any great business: relationships.

So as a busy security operator, with everything on your to-do list, how do you find time to create and develop relationships that last? If relationships are really that important, how should you prioritize your time among other pressing issues like hiring, scheduling, business development and customer service?

Key takeaways

Relationships need a plan.
Map every client touch point and schedule check-ins so weeks don’t pass without contact.
Attention is a differentiator.
Five focused minutes with a client does more than an hour of distracted conversation.
Invest in the client’s goals.
Learning what matters to their business turns a vendor relationship into a partnership.
Own mistakes quickly and with facts.
A prompt apology backed by a clear account of what happened protects trust when things go wrong.
Transparency gives relationships substance.
With TrackTik, clients can see tours, incidents and service activity for themselves, so trust rests on evidence instead of promises.

Security Business Relationships 101

To be effective and efficient in creating and building business relationships, keep one golden rule in mind: business relationships really aren’t that different from your personal relationships. After all, they are all with human beings.

1. Have a Plan

You know how it is. Relationships take work. And if you’re not intentional about investing in your relationships, days and weeks will fly by before you know it. Having a plan in place will help you block out the time needed to connect with your prospects and customers.

Take some time to write out how you would like to be followed up with as a customer. Do you prefer a “just checking in” email? A phone call? Or even a letter? Make note of all the touch points where a customer interacts with your business and do your best to build in a few extra steps to strengthen the relationship. These questions every security company should be asking its customers make those conversations more productive.

A Simple Client Touch-Point Plan

Touch point	When	Purpose
New account check-in	Weekly for the first 30 days	Catch early concerns before they become complaints
Activity summary	Monthly	Share tours completed, incidents and follow-ups
Incident follow-up	Within 24 hours of a significant incident	Confirm the facts, the response and next steps
Business review	Quarterly	Review trends, goals and changes at the site
Renewal conversation	90 days before renewal	Discuss results and plan the next term together

The quarterly review is often the most valuable touch point of all. Here’s how to run quarterly business reviews that drive referrals.

2. Provide Your Undivided Attention

As a security operator, you juggle countless roles just to keep the business moving. You do an amazing job and you don’t get enough credit. But here’s a little secret: your customer doesn’t want to know how busy you are or how little time you have for them.

Think about it this way. When you happen to pass a few friends at the store, you don’t go out of your way to tell them how busy you’ve been hanging out with other friends, right? It’s the same in business.

When you make time to talk with your customers and prospects, do your best to give them your undivided attention, even if it’s just for five minutes. A little bit goes a long way when it comes to relationships. For more ideas, see these simple ways to show your client you care.

“Every company in the world knows how their customers are important, yet, as customers, how important do we feel when dealing with these companies? With all the talk about customer service, with all the blather about customer centric companies, making people feel important is still the easiest and cheapest way to differentiate your business from the competition.”
Barry Maher

3. Make the Relationship Reciprocal

As a B2B business, you have the opportunity to take an interest in your customer’s initiatives as well. Take the time to learn about their business and, if possible, reciprocate by using their product or service.

Of course, this can be a rare opportunity in the security industry, but you don’t have to buy from your customer to take a genuine interest in the goals they are pursuing. Take the time to learn what makes them tick and check in with them periodically. Over time, this is how you become a trusted advisor to your customers.

4. Own Up

No matter how great your management systems, training or guards are, things are bound to go wrong from time to time. Unfortunately, unhappy customers are part of being in business. No matter how hard you try to get things right, sometimes it’s just out of your control.

A critical part of building strong relationships is owning up to failures and mistakes, even if they aren’t 100% your fault. A simple apology will help defuse the situation and make room to continue the relationship in the future. Becoming defensive and abrasive will only make things worse.

A Four-Step Response When Something Goes Wrong

Acknowledge it quickly. Contact the client before they have to contact you.
Share the facts. A time-stamped incident report with photos and GPS data replaces guesswork with a clear account.
Explain the fix. Describe what will change, such as retraining, a new checkpoint or an updated post order.
Follow up. Check in again after the fix is in place to confirm the issue is resolved.

For a deeper playbook, read how to recover when you let your client down.

5. If You Build It, They Will Come

As surprising as it may seem, even with all the social media and gadgets we have to “connect,” people are still starved for genuine connection. Beyond their need for security services is a need for a partner that has their back, someone they can trust. This gives you an opportunity to build more than just a business relationship.

Dan Martell, a serial entrepreneur who sold three multimillion-dollar tech companies before age 35, says, “Your network is your net worth.” Your clients and community connections are also among the top referral sources in the security industry.

If you focus on building quality relationships in your community, they will act as an insurance policy on your business and career.

How TrackTik Strengthens Client Relationships

Technology can’t replace a relationship, but it can give one substance. Clients trust what they can verify, and TrackTik, the security workforce management platform from Trackforce, makes your service visible:

Proof of patrols. Checkpoint scans with GPS and time stamps from the TrackTik guard tour system show clients the work is being done.
Faster, clearer communication. Incident reports reach clients as they are filed, with photo and video evidence attached.
Better business reviews. Dashboards and trend reports from TrackTik business intelligence give every quarterly review real data to discuss.
Anytime visibility. The Client Portal lets clients check on their sites without waiting for a call back.

Learn more about how to improve client relations with guard management software.

Warning Signs a Client Relationship Is Slipping

Relationships rarely end without warning. Watch for these signals and act on them early:

You only hear from the client when there is a complaint
Replies to your emails and calls are getting slower
Business reviews keep getting postponed or cancelled
A new decision maker has joined and you haven’t met them yet
The client is asking for more detailed reporting than before
You hear the account may be going out for bid

If two or more of these sound familiar, schedule a conversation now. These strategies to improve your client retention rates can help you get the relationship back on track.

Ready to give every client relationship a foundation of proof? Book a TrackTik demo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Security contracts are built on trust. Clients hand you responsibility for their people, property and reputation, so the strength of the relationship often decides renewals as much as price does. Strong relationships also lead to referrals, which are among the most valuable sources of new business in the security industry.

A good baseline is weekly check-ins for the first 30 days of a new account, a monthly activity summary, a follow-up within 24 hours of any significant incident and a quarterly business review. Adjust the rhythm to each client, but never let a month pass without meaningful contact.

Acknowledge the problem quickly, share the facts, explain what will change and follow up once the fix is in place. Evidence matters here: a time-stamped TrackTik incident report with photos and GPS data gives the client a clear, factual account instead of competing stories.

Cover service activity, incident trends, any changes at the site and the client’s goals for the next quarter. Bring data rather than impressions. Dashboards from TrackTik business intelligence make it easy to show tour completion, incident patterns and response times in a format clients understand.

Technology can’t replace personal attention, but it makes the relationship more transparent. When clients can see verified patrols, incident reports and trends for themselves, conversations shift from “are you doing the work?” to “how can we improve?” The TrackTik guard tour system and Client Portal are built for exactly that.

TrackTik connects field operations to client reporting. Checkpoint-verified tours, time-stamped incident reports and dashboards shared through the Client Portal give clients ongoing proof of the service they receive, which makes renewals easier and referrals more likely. Book a TrackTik demo to see how it works.