South Africa’s business and residential security industry is one of the country’s fastest growing sectors, with the total number of these firms increasing by 44% since 2010. This dramatic rise indicates how important this sector is in keeping the public safe – especially in the face of increasing crime rates. But with new businesses entering the market daily, private security firms need to find innovative ways to thrive in an increasingly competitive market. One major area where they can do this is digital communication.
Why Streamlining Digital Comms Matters
According to Deloitte’s State of the Consumer tracker, South African consumers have become more home bound since 2020. This means that businesses of all types need to meet customers where they are (i.e., in the comfort of their own homes) to get their messages across. Digital communication is the obvious choice for doing this.
And since private security firms actively protect customers, homes, and businesses, they’re strategically placed to communicate useful, relevant, or even crucial security-related information that can help build stronger customer relationships and make the public feel safe. But what steps should these businesses take to make the most of this opportunity?
Getting More from Your Digital Efforts
Here’s a list of five steps business and residential security firms can take to make their digital communication more effective.
1. Send All Your Comms from One Platform
Modern communication platforms host multiple digital touchpoints like email, SMS, voice broadcasting, and web push notifications on one central platform. This ability can help your team coordinate coherent messaging across all channels and simplifies both internal and external messaging.
2. Track the Effectiveness of Your Messaging
If you’re not currently tracking the effectiveness of your digital comms, then you’re missing out on a major opportunity to improve efficiency. Detailed engagement tracking can show you what’s resonating with your audience. In addition, some comms platforms, like Everlytic, offer A/B split testing to help you identify which messaging works best.
3. Process & Use Customer Data Compliantly
Keeping close tabs on client data is a necessity under POPIA, and not doing so could have serious consequences for business and residential security firms. Digital platforms with advanced data management tools can help these businesses to efficiently process and use customer data compliantly.
4. Focus on Reliable Account Collection & Sending
Since many security firms deal with thousands of home and commercial customers, it’s crucial to have a consistent process for collecting on outstanding accounts. You can manage account-related communications with high-volume transactional messaging that’s well suited for sharing:
- Invoices, statements, and payslips
- Password resets
- One-time passwords (OTPs)
- Alerts and notifications
Besides making life easier for customers, transactional messaging also creates a clear digital trail that can be referenced in legal disputes.
5. Speak to Both Home & Commercial Customers
Another key opportunity for streamlining comms is message automation since it helps you create dedicated customer journeys for both home and commercial customers – triggering pre-prepared messaging when subscribers take specific actions like subscriptions, responses, or profile updates.
Next Steps for Security Firms in SA
Business and residential security firms in South Africa can make clear gains by streamlining both internal and external comms, and winning ground here can make businesses more competitive in the long run. These companies are playing an increasingly important role – and they actively collect relevant information that can help keep customers safe.
By applying the steps in this article, security firms can build stronger relationships with existing customers and attract more business going forward.
