Working in the parking world, we know that security companies have many clients with parking management problems. Yet, when we first speak with them, some will respond with “I’ve never been asked about parking, so there isn’t a need there.”
We're here to tell you: there is.
While many security companies do offer parking patrol & management as one of their core services, sometimes it feels like even more do not.
To some, the reason they don’t is because the barriers to become a mini-parking-operator are far too high. Expensive start-up and subscription costs that are designed for large scale parking operators, not to mention the expense of meters and other “required” hardware, mean that utilizing parking management software doesn't make financial sense - at least not for a security company without an enormous portfolio of stalls to manage, right off the hop.
The other main rebuttal is that a particular security company’s client base doesn’t need their parking managed – they’ve never heard the request. But just because you’ve never been asked to handle a client’s parking, that doesn’t mean that they don’t need it done.
Think about it: do you have any clients that fit the following mold?
- Shopping malls
- Office buildings
- Condo/apartment buildings
- Colleges & universities
- Large industrial campuses
- Airports
A requirement for security usually means a densely populated environment, right? Increased population density means more vehicles, and those vehicles need a place to park.
I’m also going to go out on a limb here, and say that you’ve been to at least one of those location types, and have had a frustrating experience with parking. That’s because developers usually maximize revenue-generating real estate, and skimp on the parking. This means that supply can’t keep up to the demand for stalls, parking gets abused, and clients are unhappy. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a parking problem!
So if it’s such a glaring issue, why haven’t your clients mentioned this?
- Most property or operations managers will assume that they need a big-time professional parking operator to handle their parking. Security and parking don’t always go together, in the end-user’s mind.
- They could already have one of those big companies servicing them, which sounds great until you compare the likely cost to what you'd be able to offer them. You're already patrolling their property - why not bundle everything together, especially if it's less expensive?
- If it’s a smaller lot, they might try to handle it themselves, using spreadsheets, signage, and a ticket-book they bought on Amazon. This eats up resources, and rarely solves their problem.
The reality is that parking problems are everywhere that people are. And, if you need security services and parking management, wouldn’t you prefer to do both in one fell swoop?
SecurePark is the tool that will help you get to that sweet spot, as an all-in-one provider for your clients, but no parking situation (or security company) is made the same. You can check out our demo videos to see SecurePark in action, but if you’re a security company that’s interested in adding “Parking Management Specialist” to your banner, I encourage you to reach out to us and tell us your story, and we'll help design a solution tailored to your clients' needs.
(Photo: Erwin Soo/Flickr)