September 20, 2018, 6:10 PM
7 Minutes Read
What’s stopping you from implementing guard management software?
If you’re like a lot of the owners I talk to, your #1 reason is probably cost.
Well, what if I told you that it actually costs more to maintain the status quo than it does to work with a company like Silvertrac?
You might be thinking: “Easy for you to say, you’re the Silvertrac guy,” and I understand why you would be skeptical. Let’s run the numbers so I can show you what I mean.
How much do you make on one property?
To calculate how much not using guard management software costs, let’s work with a hypothetical example. We’ll call them Typical Security Services. Typical is a local security company currently operating on ten properties.
To calculate how much one of Typical’s properties is worth in monthly profit, we used our handy ROI calculator. Typical’s lowest price-per-hour for their accounts is $20. The average profit margin for a company their size is 16%, according to Robert H. Perry. So, for a 168, their monthly gross profit is at least $2,250.
How much does it cost to retain an account?
Let’s take a look at one of Typical’s 168s, we’ll call them Stoneview Tower.
As long as Typical delivers the services laid out in their contract, they’ll make at least $2,250 per month in profit on the Stoneview account.
However, as we all know, delivering the services laid out in the contract is easier said than done. The property manager at Stoneview has made it clear that if they catch Typical slacking, they’re moving on to the next guy.
In order to retain the Stoneview account, The managers at Typical need to (1) conduct adequate supervision and (2) provide detailed reports.
The Cost of Manual Supervision
Typical uses a manual supervision model. To make sure their officers are in full uniform, not sleeping on the job, completing their guard tours, etc., Typical has three supervisors on duty at all times conducting randomized post inspections, and nine supervisors in total on the payroll.
Let’s say each of these supervisors are being paid around $2,000 per month. Then let’s factor in the cost of their vehicles (plus insurance, maintenance, taxes, etc.) — let’s call that $500 per month per car. That’s $19,500 total cost for supervision per month.
This cost is shared across all of Typical’s properties, so let’s divide it by ten. That comes out $1,950 per month for supervising Stoneview.
Some security companies have tried to offset the cost of supervision by having supervisors complete routine patrol activities like lockups while they’re making inspections. However, this tends to mean that their quality assurance checks won’t be as thorough or accurate as they ought to be. That’s not going to fly with a client like Stoneview.
The Cost of Manual Reporting
In addition to the supervisors’ wages and vehicle costs, retaining a client like Stoneview Tower also involves costs for reporting. Stoneview demands detailed daily activity reports, and they want to be kept aware of any urgent incidents. They also expect a security summary report at the end of each month.
Compiling these reports takes a supervisor or administrator a couple of hours every day. In addition, supervisors or dispatchers have to take time out of their days to send emails to the property manager at Stoneview when urgent issues come up. Let’s estimate on the low side and call that about $600 per month in manual reporting costs.
"Silvertrac is night and day compared to the traditional pen and paper reporting system, which does not allow for such critical documentation components as time and date stamped photos and checkpoint scan times, location, date, etc. The biggest benefit of Silvertrac is being notified of security, maintenance, and parking issues in real-time. This allows for our client’s to respond in a timely fashion to any urgent issues."
- Arthur W., Operations Director of Security and Investigations
So, how much does NOT using guard management software cost?
To retain their Stoneview Tower account and keep their $2,250 per month profits rolling in, Typical is spending about $2,550 per month on average. That’s not exactly a great deal.
Guard management software like Silvertrac gives supervisors the ability to guarantee their officers are completing their duties as assigned without going on site. After implementing Silvertrac, our customers can usually reduce the number of supervisors on duty by about 60% — so Typical could be operating with one supervisor instead of three.
Plus, Silvertrac allows security companies to compile and deliver daily activity and security summary reports automatically. You can even set the software to automatically send texts or emails to certain stakeholders when urgent incident reports are filed. Say goodbye to those reporting administration costs.
With a solution like Silvertrac, Typical could actively retain the Stoneview Tower contract while keeping as much as $1,450 of their profits every month.
Suddenly the cost of guard management software doesn’t seem so high.
