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Business Smarts: With
Mark Smith
As president of Smith Protective Services Inc., Mark Smith is in charge of one of the largest security companies in the nation.
Read on as Smith explains the keys to his company�s success�
To restate a familiar quotation � �Here today; here tomorrow.� That describes my company, Smith Protective Services, Inc., the oldest and largest privately held security company in the state of Texas � family owned and operated for over 100 years!
Our success comes from exercising sound, conservative business values coupled with entrepreneurial strategies, which throughout the years have enabled us to survive and thrive.
These include:
Stability in our management team
Many of our top managers and their staff have been with us for 10, 20, 30 years and more. Why do they stay with us and what keeps them motivated? I believe in large part it is due to one of our guiding management principles:
�If you are going to give somebody the responsibility, you have to give them the authority.�
I had tried micromanaging but found it to be a complete failure. It wasn�t long before I realized that the bottom line is results and if someone is straying a bit off the map, as long as they are getting the results, their different way of doing things can be accommodated.
Of course hiring the right people has a lot to do with it but at our offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, each regional branch manager has both the responsibility and the authority for all day-to-day operations. Decisions are made on the spot at the local level which ensures quick responses to customer needs and keeps staffing at �just in time� levels.
Focus on the customer
The stability in our management team has, in part, been responsible for the consistency in our customer base � many of our customers have been with us for decades. Furthermore, in an era in which the average turnover rate for security officers in Texas is at 300+ per cent, many of our security officers and supervisors have served the same customers for decades, fostering a trust and confidence that goes hand in hand with seeing that familiar face. After all, it�s a fact that you get business and that you lose business but if you can NOT lose business, then your company can grow. Customer trust has a lot to do with not losing that business.
Stability and trust retain customers. So does responsiveness. With 24-hour dispatch from each local office and more than 100 patrol officers in vehicles driving around the state, we can fill an order quickly in an emergency, often when none of our competitors can.
Centralized accounting and information systems
To allow the local offices to focus on the customer, our central office handles all accounting, finance and technology functions. Our branch offices are networked directly to the central office to take advantage of economies of scale and the expertise of highly qualified central office staff who manage the accounting and information systems.
Innovation
This has been one of the hallmarks of our success. Our proprietary scheduling software is one-of-a-kind in the private security industry. Our newest venture into digital video surveillance systems means that we are now able to offer �one stop shopping� for all our customers� security needs. However, our entry into digital surveillance systems was undertaken only after intense research and not until we felt the quality and reliability of technology had caught up to the expectations of our current and future customers.
Technology is constantly changing, getting better and getting cheaper but it�s vital to keep up with it or you�re going to lose customers. I suggest when you do decide to invest your money in technology you take the time to figure out what will work best for your business. Whether that means investing the time to do the research yourself or finding someone who knows how to speak �computer� to do it for you � in the long run the time and effort will be worth it.
Establishing a political voice
I am proud of my work and that of my colleagues at ASSIST to educate the state of Texas about the private security industry. It has taken many years and a lot of shoe leather walking the halls of the legislature, but it has been worth it. Our work has succeeded in professionalizing the industry while at the same time establishing a rational regulatory climate in which we can continue to do business.
Smith Protective Services has a reputation for providing the highest quality security services at competitive rates. We�ve earned it! However, the face of private security is changing as never before � the word �security� is everywhere these days and I don�t think that�s going to change any time soon. I see a future in which security officers will be more highly trained and command higher pay while at the same time customer security budgets will stay the same or shrink. Consequently, we will have to do more with fewer people and technology will play an increasingly larger role. With a company of our size, the right mix of local autonomy and centralized support will be essential to controlling costs and responding to constant changes in the marketplace while giving our customers what they require at a price they can afford. I think that�s what it�s all about.
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