By Terry L Choate, Jr – CEO/President of Blue-U Defense
IT’S NOT YOUR PRODUCT, SERVICE, OR PRICE. IT’S SAFETY AND SECURITY!
In an American Psychological Association study, millennials ranked “stress caused by concerns for their personal safety and security” a top workplace issue. That was 7 years ago! Today, safety and security are even higher priorities… for everyone! The fact is, however, that it shouldn’t take a study to understand this because safety and security are top priorities of every human-being starting immediately from the time that we are old enough to understand threats, hurt, pain, danger, and death and how they impact us.
Have you ever heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need’s?
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. … From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.
Safety (security) needs is directly above physiological needs, or, the very basics of life – air, food, water, shelter, clothing.
Everyone wants to be safe and secure – always! It is a core need that creates fear in today’s world. It’s how seriously we take it and the consistency of how seriously we take that really matters, however. Think about it – you likely assume safety and security; or place the responsibility on others; and it’s not until a newsworthy tragedy strikes that it bumps your concern to a point where you actually think about it and consider doing more. From here forward, we have to leave that way of running our personal and business safety and security to our competitors because in order to be better, we have to take it seriously all of the time. We have to do more all of the time.
So, from a business perspective, wouldn’t it make sense to focus significant effort on fulfilling, at minimum, one of these needs in some way, shape, or form and, ideally, all of them? All of decisions that we make as a business regarding products, services, policies, budgets, investment should start with considering the impact they will have on one or more of these five needs. Again, they are the core needs of life. So, if we can appeal to these needs more successfully than our competitors, and market it effectively, we should experience growth at the expense of our competitors, right? Or at least until they catch on but you know that first is typically always best.
Although all of the needs are important, our business is real safety and security so I am going to focus on safety needs and what a focus on them can mean for your business. Not what looks and sounds good on paper, rather, what really works. The safety and security we are talking about is different than what your competitors are doing. The safety and security we are talking about mean true safety and security and, if marketed as such, will create significant competitive advantages.
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN TWO BUSINESSES COMPETING FOR THE SAME CLIENT
WHAT ARE YOUR COMPETITORS DOING? OR, NOT DOING?
First, your competitors are dealing with safety and security based purely on compliance and meeting regulation and, as a result, your competitors are not really keeping people safe because compliance and regulation do not equate to real safety and security. Compliance and regulation equate to minimal expense and effort; just enough to make sure that we don’t get fined or sanctioned. You see, your competitors likely don’t want to spend a dime or minute more on safety and security than what they are required to spend. Your competitors don’t think for a second about whether or not their employees and clients are really safe, or not. Your competitors likely assume safety and security. Why? Because they don’t really believe that anything will ever happen. What keeps your competitors awake at night? Everything but safety and security! In your competitors organization when an employee sees another violating a policy, procedure, rule or regulation, they don’t think it’s their business and let management handled it. In your competitors organization their employees likely don’t even know their policies, procedures, rules and regulations.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING, IN CONTRAST?
You truly care about safety and security. You are investing time and money in training (both clients and employees), technology, policies and procedures. You are doing far more than “minimum required” for compliance and/or regulation. You are creating a culture that supports true safety and security and engages all employees to be a part of that culture. In your organization, employees police each other because they realize that if one person does something that they are not supposed to do, or conversely doesn’t do something that they are supposed to do, it jeopardizes the safety and security of every other person within that organization. In other words, when one sees another violating a policy, procedure, rule or regulation, they deal with it because, in your organization, your employee and clients know your policies and procedure, rules and regulations. In your organization, it is immediately clear that your clients, employees, residents, and students safety and security is a top priority.
Do you see the importance of the difference between you, and them? The key is that those that you are trying to attract know these differences. Safety and security has to be a top priority and it needs to be marketed as the significant competitive advantage that it is.
Think about this:
You are a potential client of a nursing home, or student of a university. You have narrowed your choices to three candidates and, in virtually every category except one, they are completely equal. That one category of difference is elevated safety and security processes, training, technology, etc. That organization tells you that it is a bit more difficult to visit their facility, enter it, check in, move about, etc. than either of the other two; there is safety and security training that is required in order to be a resident, student, or visitor of your organization but….it’s all because you care about your safety and security, the safety and security of your loved-ones, your children, visitors, etc. Which of the three would you choose to do business with? I think its complete obvious.
Today, we will happily sacrifice convenience for safety and security!
Here’s the deal:
From the moment a potential client or employee engages with your business it should be completely clear that you care about not only their safety and security but the safety and security of their families; it should be completely clear that you don’t only care about their safety and security while they are at work, but while they are away from work as well.
So, where safety and security are typically considered non-revenue-generating expenses, you can, and should, look at it differently and make it a significant competitive advantage.