Hello, and welcome to our 200th episode of the EPST podcast. There are two topics for discussion in today’s episode, they are the future of secure transportation, and marketing the service of secure transportation, and determining your value.
So let’s dive in, starting with marketing secure transportation and determining your value.
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Marketing secure transportation and determining your value
Most practitioners market safety and security while traveling in a vehicle, often emphasizing security. But there is a commodity that is important to the Executive and should be addressed in a Secure Transportation marketing plan. The commodity that can be offered is time and productivity.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said about time – “It’s the only thing you can’t buy. I mean, I can buy anything I want basically, but I can’t buy time.”
How can you turn Warren Buffett’s comments into a marketing strategy? We suggest you use the same marketing and business model used by private aviation.
The foundation of companies that supply private jet services is saving executive time. They are not marketing or selling airplanes – they are selling time.
Nonproductive time vs. Productive Time
As a Secure Transportation service, you are not saving time like a jet service would, as much as you are changing nonproductive time into productive time.
The private jet industry goes to great lengths to translate time saved into dollars. They can tell the Executive what the return on investment will be for every flight they take.
They create a document verifying and explaining the numbers; in essence, they create a Return on Investment (ROI) document.
As a Secure Transportation Provider, you need to do the same.
What is their Return on Investment or ROI for using your service?
Creating a Return on Investment (ROI) Document for Secure Transportation
The foundation of a Secure Transportation ROI plan is changing the loss of productivity that an Executive suffers – driving themselves – into efficient and productive time.
Secure Transportation can turn CEO nonproductive time into the one commodity that CEOs treasure the most – productive time – and you are the vehicle that creates productive time (pun intended), with the value-added benefits that other driving services cannot offer.
Corporate security people understand the need for safety and security while in a vehicle, but the Executive understands the need for productivity. If you can supply the client with the financial breakdown of how much your services translate into money you are saving them – you are speaking the CEO’s language.
The question becomes, how do you accomplish that?
Two metrics are needed to develop the Secure Transportation ROI – how much time the Executive is in the vehicle and the executive’s salary.
There are two documents that can get you those numbers and help you develop your Return on Investment and do so in a manner that the principal can relate. You will need the 2021 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard and the International Security Driver Association’s ROI for Secure Transportation Document to put together your ROI.
We have links to both documents in the show notes along with a YouTube tutorial.
The 2021 INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard provides three years of mobility data within the world’s most congested cities. The data of interest to Security Drivers and Secure Transportation Providers is the – travel delay comparisons.
From INRIX, you will find the time. For example, if an executive drives themselves in London, they will lose 148 hours a year of productive time sitting in traffic.
If the Executive is in New York and drives themselves to work, they will lose 108 hours a year of productive time sitting in traffic. INRIX can supply the amount of time lost due to traffic congestion in cities worldwide.
In both scenarios, if the Executive had a driver, the 140 and 108 hours would turn that unproductive time into productive time. When time is translated into dollars, the ROI is impressive.
For example, if the principal is a Fortune 100 executive, for every hour a Security Driver or Secure Transportation provider supplies the driving versus driving themselves produces $3,072.75 ROI for the company.
Producing these numbers will require research. But it supplies invaluable data.
In 2022 we will produce a Secure Transportation Marketing Paper to assist our members with their marketing efforts. The paper will provide information sources and marketing strategies, metrics, and data that can help create a Secure Transportation marketing plan.
Links
ROI of a Security Driver Video
Now let’s talk about the Future of Secure Transportation
For those responsible for their principals’ safe and secure transportation, 2022 will create unprecedented challenges brought on by the computer chip shortage, the increased use of connected vehicles, and the changing landscape of the automotive industry and the EP/Secure Transportation profession.
For those that provide Executive Protection and Secure Transportation, understanding what the future will bring is expected by the market they serve. That is true in any profession.
The following are 11 predictions that will impact Secure Transportation services.
Electric Vehicles
There is no question that Electric Vehicles (EV’s) are coming to the EP and Secure Transportation profession. It is not if it is when executive transportation will be done in EV’s. It may not be 2022, but it is coming. We suggest Security drivers and Secure Transportation providers understand the effects of EV’s on Secure Transportation.
Cyber Security
If you are a supplier of secure transportation services, we suggest you address the issue of vehicle connectivity and educate yourself on the risk it presents to your principal or client. Predictions are that in 2022 vehicle cybersecurity incidents will increase at an alarming rate.
Autonomous Vehicles
As a Security Driver or provider of Secure Transportation, your client or principal expects you to stay current and know the ever-increasing technologies available in executive vehicles. Level three vehicles are being introduced into some parts of the world. The various levels of Autonomous vehicles and their effect on the driving task are some of those pieces of knowledge you need to have.
Cost and Availability of Executive Vehicles
In 2021, the computer chip shortage has severely affected the availability and cost of the types of vehicles used for secure transportation. That will continue in 2022 and maybe into 2023. With very few vehicles available, the cost of new vehicles is now 10 to 15% over the sticker price.
Rental Vehicle Shortage
There is currently a shortage of the Secure Transportation types of rental vehicles. Predictions are that these shortages could go into 2023.
Covid-19
The problems created by the Pandemic will be with the Secure Transportation community as we move into 2022. If you plan on supplying secure Transportation, you need to get a handle on what it takes to meet the market’s needs. We suggest all those involved in Secure Transportation take a look at the COVID-19 page on our website.
Carjackings
In late 2021, the number of carjacking incidents reported by the Department of Justice is about 49,000 per year. Law Enforcement data predicts that these numbers will increase in 2022. In some locations in the U.S., the number of Carjackings is becoming an epidemic – it can happen to anyone anywhere and anytime.
Telematics
The new infrastructure bill will require all vehicles equipped with telematics devices. From a security standpoint, we don’t see it being a good idea.
Training Standards, a Move to Certification
There is a need for standardization in the Executive Protection profession; there are two organizations moving forward to develop ANSI certifications.
Change in Protective Driver Training
Some of the basic escape maneuvers are affected by the use of ADAS systems – trainers will have to address these issues.
Increase in the need for qualified Security Drivers and EP Practitioners
Going into 2022, the job data collected by the International Security Driver Association has indicated a substantial increase in the demand for qualified practitioners.
This is our last episode in 2021, don’t worry, we’ll be back again next year with another episode of the Executive Protection and Secure Transportation podcast.
