The security sector: customer service is of “higher importance” due to COVID-19

This October Vimcar conducted a survey, asking hundreds of employees in the security sector to participate. They helped to understand the current relationship between the industry, their customers and fleets.

The security sector has not been immune to recent economic uncertainty. So, when asked about the economic pressures of COVID-19, 85% of respondents said they “now considered customer service to be of a higher importance”.

Off the back of this, Vimcar dug deeper into the dynamic between the sector’s customers and its fleets. It found an untapped potential with regards to the sector’s ability to improve its customer service, easily and cheaply.

The Results

Nearly half of the respondents said that the service they offered customers was entirely dependent on a fully-functioning fleet.

It is not surprising then that 63% of all the firms surveyed think that installing vehicle tracking would “improve customer service”.

And why fleet tracking? For businesses in the security sector, such as those responding to security alerts (or even just installing alarms in customer homes), fleet tracking offers Security Firms transformative fleet solutions.

These solutions include the ability to find the closest driver to a customer appointment, send notifications when the driver has arrived and proof they have arrived – even if the customer themselves are not there. 

Out of everything available, participants’ favourite fleet solution was the ability to provide customers with accurate driver ETAs. 

However, even though they recognised fleet tracking’s potential to improve customer-company relations, nearly 60% of participants said they did not yet have a tracking system in place.

This signifies a clear gap between the number of businesses in the security sector that are aware of the fact that fleet tracking would improve their customer service and those who are actually using fleet tracking. 

It’s important to highlight that this is at a time when customer service is apparently more important than ever.

Real businesses using fleet tracking in the UK

Earlier this year Vimcar, Germany’s leading fleet management software, launched their fleet tracking product, Fleet Geo, in the UK. 

One UK customer that is already using Fleet Geo is Brian Doherty, a Company Director based in Northern Ireland. He found Fleet Geo made a marked difference in their ability to serve customers: “When a customer calls and asks for a delivery, we are able to give them ETAs. We have hundreds of customers and it’s great to be able to see which van is closest to which customer: a real selling point.”

Hannah Wise, another Fleet Geo customer said, “reputation is really important to us and Fleet Geo really helps. Now, when we knock and nobody is home, we can prove to the customer that we were actually there.”

A more recent Vimcar customer is Allun Wright, the Company Founder of Wright’s K9 Security Services. They provide customers with high-threat protection and specially-trained canines. Allun’s fleet transports his precious canine cargo and sends out security personnel in emergency security situations.

Whilst seeing “where [his] fleet is at any given time” has helped improve customer service and internal operations, fleet tracking has given them numerous other solutions as well. 

Namely, having paid for the fuel and fleet vehicles himself, Allun wanted to put a stop to unpermitted vehicle use. For Allun, security comes first, especially when it comes to the security of his own fleet:

“We were dealing with vehicle misuse within our fleet. That’s now been solved!”, said Allun. “Fleet Geo allowed me to monitor drivers’ speeds and distances: I can see if there have been any discrepancies with employees logging in their working times.”

Fleet tracking: easy, affordable support

Fleet tracking has the ability to help users’ businesses in uncertain times, whether it be through improved customer service, fleet security or productivity. This is true of businesses in the security sector, or any other business whose fleet is as integral to the service they deliver to customers. 

Beyond customer service, the average Fleet Geo customer can cut fleet costs by up to 15% and save up to 60% on flee-related time

Vimcar recently took the step to help support small businesses throughout COVID by offering Fleet Geo for free until 2021.

Their award-winning fleet tracking product is designed around user-friendliness and can be self-installed in minutes. Vimcar hopes to soon close the gap between the number of businesses that could be helped by fleet tracking and those who have not yet installed vehicle tracking into their fleet.