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ESTABLISHING BACKGROUND AND REPUTATION
A Dun & Bradstreet report should be obtained on any contract security service under consideration with the exception of the well known national firms, such as CPP Pinkertons, Wells Fargo/Burns International, Wackenhut Corporation, Advance Security, Allied and a few others.
If the prospective contractor is a smaller, privately held local firm, it may be desirable to request a recent profit & loss statement to verify the company's solvency.
Reputation can be established by obtaining and checking with references.
Some high end security companies have been known to provide prospects with letters of introduction to the senior security officers at facilities where their service is in effect and encourage prospects to visit these sites at any time of the day or evening, or over the weekends, to get a first hand impression of the type of quality provided.
Often by taking advantage of such an introduction letter, the prospect has the opportunity to ask real world questions to these officers and draw a realistic prediction of the kind of service the contract agency would provide if awarded a contract. The sales pitches and marketing efforts by contract service owners, supervisors and sales representatives usually sound much the same and its often hard to separate the reality from the exaggerations. For instance, while two bidders may both claim to provide applicable training, one might do so, while the other might provide absolutely no training. Having an opportunity to view existing accounts and talk with the personnel assigned gives the prospect the opportunity to accurately predict what can be expected of the service, and better evaluate the credibility of the claims made by sales representatives.
Obviously, in these cases, the contract services' clients must authorize these visits and officers cannot be expected to provide details of the operations which might compromise the security at the existing clients' facilities. However, the clients of these high end services usually are happy to authorize such visits and a few minutes discussion with officers can prove very beneficial in evaluating the prospective contractor.
Contacting the state agency regulating the industry, in states where the industry is regulated, is usually another logical step in the selection process.
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In ascertaining the general reputation of the firm, it is also advisable to contact the police department in the locality where the security firm has its offices. In some venues, however, local police moonlight in the security field in competition with legitimate providers. In some of these cases, evaluations by public sector officers may be less than candid.
Contacts with the Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce are also recommended in areas where these organizations are active.
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