To get the right advice and home security in place, at the right budget, means ensuring your security provider understands your needs,” says Charnel Hattingh, National Marketing and Communications Manager at Fidelity ADT.
But, how do homeowners gain that peace of mind from a security provider?
“The traditional approach is often to research the company and ask questions about things like company history, industry accreditation, training, use of technology and armed response times. While this is still very important, it is equally important for the security provider to understand the needs of his customer. Good security providers know the customer (or potential customer) understands his pain points the best and therefore allows them to do the talking.”
Hattingh says it is imperative the company ‘walks in your shoes’; understands your needs and can use these to guide you to the best security solution.
“As an example, people often end up with no form of perimeter protection because they can’t afford electric fencing. A good security advisor, from a reputable company, will certainly suggest garden security beams linked to armed response as a valuable alternative.
“Things like remote panic buttons and a rendezvous service, as another example, will be important to parents or children coming home late or leaving home early in the morning. The rendezvous service is when an armed response officer meets you at your gate to ensure your safe entry or exit, and they do a property check.”
Hattingh offers guidelines on what a security consultant should be asking you, as the homeowner, before putting forward a comprehensive security plan for your property.
10 questions your security company should ask you:
Are you aware of crime trends in your area? If you are not, the security consultant should have good knowledge of what is going on in your area and what the major concerns are for homeowners.
Have you had a full security evaluation of your property and home done? Homeowners should not discount the value of such an evaluation and it should be done by a professional from a reputable security company. Their trained eye will pick up vulnerabilities you may not have considered a risk before.
- What about your current security situation do you want to improve and why?
- What is the most important benefit you want from your home security?
- How many people in your household will benefit from improved security and what are their routines?
- What is your expectation of a security provider?
- Do you understand the difference between monitoring and monitoring linked to armed response?
- How important is price to you when it comes to security?
- Are you interested in belonging to a community security scheme?
- How important are aesthetics to you when it comes to security systems?
“Once the security company you are dealing with fully understands your needs, they can propose the best solution/s,” Hattingh says.
“Remember, security should never be based on price alone. The cheapest option could end up costing you dearly should you not get the help you need in an emergency.
“It is possible to get a comprehensive security solution which meets your expectations and your budget – if you are dealing with a reputable company which puts its customers’ needs before anything else,” concludes Hattingh.
