Service Level Agreement (SLA) for Private Security Companies

Your customers are the bread and butter of your business. They help you to increase business profits, whether you're beginning your business or trying to expand it. Whenever you engage in a transaction with them, you're essentially entering into a contract. That's why you want to make sure that you are meeting and exceeding their expectations. But you also want to set the correct expectations for your customers as well, and a service level agreement, or SLA, is an effective way to get it done. You can also apply them effectively to your private security company, too. Discover what SLAs are all about and how you can use it to better service your customers. It's also a way for you to measure how successful your company is doing in comparison with others in your industry.

When it comes down to it, SLAs basically are contracts between service providers and their customers. This contractual agreement helps you to formally set the expectations of the service you provide to your customers, including the quality, nature and scope of the service. The performance of the service level you and your business provides can be measured against key performance indicators (KPIs), such as cost, responsiveness and quantity. Moreover, it sets the bar for the minimum level of service that your customer should expect from you and your staff.

While SLAs are commonly used among enterprises in the information technology (IT) industry, they can be used by businesses across a variety of industries, including the healthcare, food and security industries. In fact, private security companies use SLAs in a variety of ways to service businesses in several industries, such as the airline industry. For example, both Punta Gorda Airport and San Francisco International contract their security to private security firms either directly or via the TSA passenger for services that map out each firm's responsibilities, such as baggage and passenger screening based on their SLAs.

SLAs offers the benefit of a way to easily establish what your firm will and will not provide to its clients, whether it's video surveillance or guard tour control devices for their guard patrol control needs. It can also help you to centralize business processes for improved efficiency and is useful as a preventive measure, since it includes clearly defined procedures. Therefore, setting up an SLA between you and your customers requires some level of flexibility to respond to changes in the business environment, as well as following some best practices. Here are a few to consider:

• Consider industry standards to compare the level of security services you should provide.
  
• Discuss expectations with your client to determine what best suits them.
  
• Consider your team's capacity to determine the type of service you can deliver.
  
• Make it official with proper documentation and professional assistance, such as a legal team.
  
• Establish an escalation procedure.
  
• Measure, analyze and refine your SLA.
  

Offering a guard tour solution for your customers that meets their needs means that you have to set the correct expectations with the standard service level you intend to provide. Set realistic goals for your team to achieve, and engage in a conversation with your customers or clients to discuss their service level needs so you can set up your team for success. Keep in mind that the nature of SLAs can mean that there's potential to only meet the standard service level, and doing the minimum required does not provide your private security company with a competitive advantage. Align your SLA with your success goals to enhance the customer experience and better meet their needs.