The private security industry includes a variety of different services, and with that comes a wide variety of security costs.
The services were available varied from providing a static guard or installing CCTV to a private detective or a full armed close protection team. Very often the security costs are not publicly disclosed or provided. There are often good reasons for this and yet sometimes reasons that don’t really stack up.
What factors influence security costs being published?
There are many factors that influence security fees. These include not wanting competitors to know what they charge for fear of being undercut. Others may want to encourage potential clients to contact them so they can negotiate. Some are unclear themselves what they charge and will make it up on the spot whilst others may feel uncomfortable publicising their costs as they are expensive. Others fear that by doing so they may scare off potential clients.
What makes security costs differ so much?
Risk is certainly a factor in the fees for instance deploying to a high-risk location will incur a high premium than operating in a safer environment. The profile of the person being protected can have an impact, partly due to risk, but also on the requirement to travel or the hours worked. The quality of the training and experience required will have a direct impact as will the quality of the product or service.
On a personal level I nothing frustrates me more than visiting a website researching a service to find that there is no mention of the costs. I tend to leave that site and go looking for another that details the costs or at least gives some indication.
What makes Defuse different when it comes to fees?
At Defuse we strive to be be open and transparent and try to take the ‘secrecy’ out of security. We are happy to discuss our fees and refer to them on our facebook page.
What we cannot do is provide a price list.
Bespoke services incur premium security costs.
All of our services are bespoke and vary depending on the circumstances. What we have done on our site is to outline what are services fees and why. (www.defuseglobal.com)
We have been asked if we can reduce our fees in exchange for referrals to ‘their friends’. The simple answer is no, we can’t. We provide an exceptional level of service provided by globally recognised experts. That level of expertise comes at a cost. The expertise has been gained over decades of experience and is highly sought after. Many of our consultants have worked on the world’s most significant criminal and/or counter terrorist investigations this century. They know their stuff and their expertise have been tested, operationally and legally. The consequences of getting it wrong are very often life threatening. In simple terms they cannot afford to make mistakes.
Scope and complexity impacts fees
Another factor that does affect the fees is the scope and complexity. We don’t provide off the shelf services or products. We match our service to our client’s needs and therefore each client gets a bespoke service. An especially complex case may require us to task that to one of our special consultants. That will incur higher security costs. Equally, it may be the time required that impacts the fee or the urgency that is required. It may be the details required, such as a requirement to search not just the internet and mainstream social media platforms, but the ‘dark web’ too. We may be asked to just provide a report with no analysis, or to prepare a case file for law enforcement. Each of these factors impacts the fee and that is why we don’t provide a price list. All of this is done manually to ensure the very best service. Accuracy is a key component and cannot be assumed.
Retaining services can reduce fees
Another factor for Defuse is that some of our clients choose to retain our services. With that retention comes an agreement that the cost of additional services differs. They therefore agree to pay us a monthly retention fee plus a reduced fee for each service they require or an additional monthly fee to include certain services to be included.
Ensure the costs is value for money
Can you get it cheaper? Almost certainly, however it is simply won’t be as good. It is a bit like the football transfer season. An international player who is guaranteed to give you a certain level of service costs more than another from a lower league, with less experience and is likely to be less reliable, especially when the pressure is on. Like many things in life, you get what you pay for. That said, can you find others than charge more than us? Absolutely!
The services Defuse offers with the associated minimum costs can be found on our website: www.defuseglobal.com
