Step 1: Define the problem before you call anyone
The single biggest predictor of a bad security contract is a vague scope. “We need a guard” invites a vendor to sell you a guard — not to solve your problem. Before you make the first call, write down four things:
- What happened, or what are you worried will happen? Break-ins, copper theft, loitering, a lease requirement, a fire watch order, an employee termination. The trigger shapes everything.
- What are you protecting? A building, a laydown yard, a lobby, tenants, a parking structure. Walk the property and note the access points and blind spots.
- When is the exposure? If your incidents cluster overnight and on weekends, don’t buy daytime coverage because it feels tidier.
- What does success look like? Fewer incidents, documented rounds for an insurer, a visible presence for tenants — be able to say it in one sentence.
With that page of notes, you can evaluate proposals instead of just comparing prices. You may also discover you don’t need a standing officer at all — mobile patrol or monitored cameras cover some problems for far less.
Step 2: Ask every vendor the same questions
Run the same script with each company so the answers are comparable. These are the questions that separate a security program from a staffing agency with flashlights:
Licensing and insurance
Ask for certificates of insurance and proof of licensing — not a verbal “yes, we’re fully covered.” A legitimate company produces documents without friction and can name you as certificate holder. Hesitation here ends the conversation.
Who actually employs the officers?
Some firms win contracts and quietly subcontract the posts to other companies. That inserts a layer between you and the person at your gate: different training, different supervision, diluted accountability. Ask directly: “Will the officers at my site be your W-2 employees?”
The supervision model
“How do you know your officer is awake, on post, and doing the job at 3 a.m.?” A real answer names mechanisms: electronic checkpoint scans, GPS-verified patrols, unannounced field inspections by a supervisor, dispatch check-ins. A weak answer is “we have great people.”
Reporting
Ask to see a sample shift report and a sample incident report — redacted is fine. You’re checking whether documentation is a built habit or an afterthought, because when something goes wrong, that paperwork is what you’ll hand your insurer or attorney.
What sits behind the officer
One officer alone is fragile. Ask what happens when they call in sick, when they need backup, when something escalates. You want a staffed dispatch operation and a bench — not a company owner’s cell phone.
Step 3: Know the red flags
- A quote without questions. Anyone who prices your site without asking about access points, hours, and incident history is selling hours, not coverage.
- No mention of post orders. If the vendor never brings up written, site-specific instructions for the officer, the officer will be improvising at your property. See how a proper start-up works.
- Vague supervision. “Supervisors check in regularly” with no verification mechanism means nobody is checking.
- A price that only works on sub-market wages. The billed rate has to cover wage, insurance, training, and supervision. A rate far below the pack means the wage is far below the market — and the officers who accept it turn over constantly. Our pricing guide breaks down where the money goes.
- Contract terms that punish you for their failure. Long lock-ins with no performance language are a sign the vendor retains clients with paperwork instead of service.
Step 4: Make the quotes comparable
A proper quote is structured per officer, per hour, with the schedule laid out and the inclusions itemized: site assessment, post orders, supervision, checkpoint verification, reporting, dispatch. If one quote includes all of that and another is just a number, they are not the same product at different prices — they are different products. Ask the bare-number vendor to itemize; the conversation is usually revealing. Also confirm holiday billing, shift minimums, and whether armed and unarmed rates are quoted separately.
Step 5: Run a clean transition
Whether you’re starting fresh or replacing an incumbent, the first two weeks decide how the next two years go. A competent company will drive this checklist — but hold them to it:
- Site walkthrough with your point of contact before day one — access points, alarm panels, keys, parking, hazards
- Written post orders drafted, reviewed by you, and signed off before the first shift
- Keys, fobs, codes, and gate remotes transferred with a documented inventory
- Escalation chain confirmed: who the officer calls, in what order, for what situations
- Checkpoint locations installed and patrol routes tested
- First-week supervisor visits scheduled, plus a two-week review call to adjust the post orders
If you’re replacing another company, compress the overlap: schedule the incumbent’s last shift and the new company’s first so the property is never dark, and change codes the incumbent held.
Ready to run the script on us?
We’d rather answer hard questions before the contract than excuses after it. Send the basics of your property and we’ll come back with a written coverage plan, itemized pricing, and the documentation to back it up.