No matter how small or large your security company is, you likely have similar long-term goals in mind – namely, to generate further growth for your business. Of course, scaling your company is no simple task. Many businesses scale before they’re ready, with severe financial consequences. Others fail to identify growth opportunities altogether. Still others have the potential to scale, but lack the resources or information that will help them do so effectively. If growing your security company is a priority, then the benefits of data analytics cannot be ignored.
Not every piece of analytics data may seem to have a direct impact on your growth efforts. However, understanding client security trends and your own financial data and then using this information to increase efficiency and improve client ROI will ultimately give you the tools you need to scale successfully.
Here’s a closer look at three benefits of data analytics that will help you scale your security company.
Risk mitigation
One of the biggest factors affecting scalability is your ability to mitigate and manage risk — both for your clients and your company’s financial situation. Report data allows your team to better identify incident trends at client facilities, making it much easier to develop strategies to prevent future security issues.
For example, an analysis of incident trends could reveal that you need to alter guard staffing to prevent problems at a particular site. While this will naturally be beneficial to the client, it also increases your likelihood of successful scaling by increasing client satisfaction and retention rates. By increasing the efficiency of your guard scheduling efforts, office staff will subsequently make better use of their hours so they can spend more time focused on other tasks that will help you grow your company.
Client partnerships
Data analytics also enable more collaborative partnerships with your clients, a move that will further improve retention rates. Showcasing information that has been gathered during guard patrols in intuitive reports demonstrates initiative and transparency. It makes it easier to work together with your clients to develop more effective solutions that better fulfill their security goals.
In some instances, a client’s implementation of these recommendations could result in additional profit for your company, building financial stability for future scaling efforts.
The most important benefit of these data-based partnerships, however, is that they build a powerful reputation for your company. Remember, satisfied clients often provide referrals and status-boosting reviews. Additionally, it becomes much easier to devote additional resources to finding new clients when you have a loyal client base already in place. Better yet, the data analytics you’ve used to improve security measures for current clients can also serve as a persuasive tool when pitching new clients — the added value you offer through data reporting and analytics could be enough for a potential client to choose you over a competitor.
Data-driven decision making
Perhaps the most important benefit of data analytics is that it allows your team to fully assess the potential risks and benefits of your scaling efforts. After all, your data can do much more than help you identify ways to improve service for your clients. An overview of the number of clients you have, the total revenue received from these clients, current staff levels, and overhead expenses helps to paint a much clearer picture of your company’s financial situation.
With this information in hand, it becomes much easier to analyze key issues related to growth, such as how many new guards you would need to hire when beginning work with a new client. You may even be able to identify areas where you can cut costs.
Comparing the costs of scaling with the revenue you would receive from a new client can help you better determine whether a particular growth strategy would deliver a sound return on investment. By using data to drive your growth decisions, you can avoid costly mistakes and increase profitability.
