Hiring Security Guard in Atlanta - Seasonal Needs

Seasonal Security Services in Atlanta

Published on December 13, 2012 by: Wayne Manning

When the year end holiday season arrives there is always a need for seasonal security guards and staff. This is particularly true for shopping malls and freestanding stores where parking lot security, theft and robbery concerns are real threats. Every business has a unique set of needs ranging from in-store security to control shoplifting to premises security to thwart parking lot robberies or assaults, car jacking and other common crimes.

Types of Seasonal Security Services

Holiday Retail Security

During the Christmas shopping season your retail store could turn into a five-finger-discount playground if you do not take the proper precautions to protect your inventory. Many store owners shy away from hiring security guards during the holiday season. They erroneously believe that their temporary part-time help will help keep an eye on things while the seasoned sales people stay busy at the registers. You should not be one of them. Chances are, the very same people that you hire for the two busiest months of the shopping year might be helping their partners in crime walk straight out of the door with hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in unpaid merchandise.

Holiday Security Guards Help to Deter Employee-Aided Theft

Author Robert Klara has written an Adweek article on employee-aided thefts account for a whopping 35 percent of retail store holiday losses. Both uniformed and plain clothes security guards can help thwart these attempts. They accomplish this by taking note of the mannerisms of your employees throughout their shifts. If one or more of your employees has friends hanging out at the store longer than to just say hello, the security guard will watch the friends closely to see if any attempts are made to bring the friends in the back of the store, and out the back door with your goods. The guards will also watch out for employees who repeatedly wait on the same customers who ultimately do not ever purchase anything. Both uniformed and plain clothes security guards are also well-versed in additional signals that alert them of employee-aided theft intention and execution.

Holiday Security Can Also Deter Random or Planned Shoplifting Acts

Uniformed holiday security professionals can easily intimidate amateur shoplifters desperate to impress their friends and family members with gifts rthat they cannot afford. However, plain clothes guards are thoroughly trained to inspect the mannerisms of each and every customer in your store, without their presence ever being known. If you own a larger store, it is a good idea to have one or more of your holiday security guards watching your cameras, and one or more on the sales floor at all times. If you own a smaller store, one behind-the-scenes and one mingling sales floor guard should greatly deter a significant number of would-be shoplifters.

Holiday Security Makes Your Customers Feel Safer

It is not just shopkeepers such as yourself that get more than a little uneasy during the holidays. Your customers are also aware that thieves lurk around malls and retail stores in the attempt to pick-pocket, grab whatever they can out of unattended purses, and even hold them at gunpoint when they leave the store with multiple bags. You can be one step ahead of your competitors if you take the time to hire a uniformed guard or two to put your customers minds at ease while they are in your store. Although you might not immediately reap the rewards, this simple act of customer protection could transform a lot of your new customers into loyal, repeat holiday shoppers.