Surveillance Systems Benefit Customer Service

Customer service is the #1 factor in a customer’s decision to return as a regular customer. Poor customer service costs companies in North America an estimated $ 35.4 billion in lost business each year. Surveys show that poor customer service is the leading complaint, even ahead of prices, cited by customers who stop buying a company’s products or services.
Providing good customer service and maintain customer loyalty typically depends on how well employees wait on customers, take product orders, work the phones, offer technical assistance and nurture business relationships.
96% of dissatisfied customers do not complain directly to management. Additionally studies have shown that just 1 unhappy customer will tell approximately 9 other people and 13% of them will tell at least 20 other people.
Bottom Line – 90% of customers who experience poor service will not complain and will not return. Too bad more and more businesses are losing their focus on customer service in light of the fact that the American public loves good service
Many stores claim that 68% of customers who quit coming to the their store, quit due to the attitude of their employees.
Video technology with audio can be used in customer service training and will increase employee awareness.

Surveillance for Fraudulent Transactions in your Business

Merchants find themselves dealing with fraud on many levels including checks, credit cards, and the ever growing popularity of gift cards. Here are a few examples of fraudulent transactions.
Credit Cards:
• Merchandise purchased with lost, stolen , or counterfeit credit cards
• Merchandise purchased using debit card fraud
• Fraud artists observe consumers when PIN is entered
Checks:
• Merchandise purchased with bad, stolen or counterfeit checks
• Merchandise easily produced by photocopier or PC with colour printer
Gift Cards:
• Dishonest employees can “launder” gift cards, steal them outright, or switch or convert cards
• Customer walks away with 0-value card while the employee pockets the card with the monetary value
• Gift cards given in exchange for returned merchandise have helped perpetrate chargeback fraudSolution to Prevent Fraudulent Transactions: CCTV cameras at checkouts with employee training to inform staff of known methods of fraud and illegal card use.

Monitor & Prevent Vendor Theft & Shortage

Surveillance Systems for Vendor Theft & Shortage
A major source of inventory shrinkage occurs when vendors short deliveries or steal merchandise during the course of delivering and stocking their company’s products. Whether this shortage is accidental or intentional, the impact can be significant.
Vendor fraud is one of the easiest ways someone is able to steal from a business without being detected as they become “trusted” suppliers with willingness to stock shelves as a “courtesy”
Truth is that when the vendor stocks the shelves, it becomes difficult to distinguish between the existing stock and that which has supposedly just been delivered.
North American Business losses from vendor theft & shortage amounts to $ 107 billion or 5.5% of total shrinkage however the National Association of Convenience Stores estimates that vendors account for between 15% and 20% of inventory shrinkage.
4 Common types of fraud:
1. Short Deliveries – vendor is not delivering the correct inventory on shipping invoice
2. Delivery Reload – Delivery person removes merchandise from recipient once delivery is completed
3. Inventory Swapping- Vendor steals directly from the stockroom. They replace good merchandise with bad or outdated merchandise
4. Over Charging – Vendor steals by directly taking cash from the store. If payment is done on site , the delivery person may alter an invoice.

Solution to Monitor and Prevent Theft & Shortage: Implementation of video surveillance with attention to monitoring stockroom delivery areas and back door. Combined with employee training and specific receiving policy.

Security Cameras and Surveillance Systems to Help Prevent Burglaries & Vandalism
Vandalism/Damage to business property or vehicles is expensive, time consuming and aggravating
Vandalism and damage to customers property or vehicles drives business away to “Safer” competitors.
Burglaires- After hours or Break in/theft
• Comprises 3% of North American business crime cost approx. $ 14.7 billion per yearRobberies-Armed demand for cash
• Fuelled by every growing drug problem
• Motivated by the ability to get quick cash
• Overloaded criminal justice system
• Robber’s only fear is of being caughtFact: Security is no longer a luxury to many businesses. With theft costing North American employers billions of dollars per year and assaults/threats of violence at work numbering in the hundreds of thousands of cases a year, security has emerged as a key concern.

Security Cameras and Surveillance Systems help Monitor and Prevent Theft & ShopliftingShoplifting is the second largest source of inventory shortage according to the National Retail Security Survey. The one area alone accounts for 34% of retail business Annual Shrinkage and Loss.
• Shoplifting amount to 34% of annual inventory shrinkage
• Less than 1 in 50 shoplifters are every caught
• Estimated at $ 10.5 billion per year just from retail business in North America
• Shoplifting losses have increased steadily each year
• Increases may be due to growing presence of organized retail crime ringsFact: #1 Reason Given for Shoplifting: It Was Easy, No Risk!
Solution to Monitor & Prevent Theft and Shoplifting: People will not steal if they know in advance they are being watched. With implementation of security cameras and public notification including strategically located video monitors, warning signs, and notices, customer realize they cannot steal with getting caught.
Businesses know the importance of protecting their inventory. They cannot afford to give up their profit to thieves. Dishonest employees and shoplifters go to the path of least resistance and will target retail locations that have not invested in technology to prevent theft.

Surveillance for Workman’s Compensation
Workers compensation is the oldest social insurance program. It is a no-fault system, meaning that injured employees need not prove the injury was someone else’s fault in order to receive workers compensation benefits. In fact many injury claims are falsified or exaggerated.
Carelessness, recklessness, and a general disregard for safety, rules, and procedures are accountable for more than 50% of the workers claims in North America. With surveillance systems, businesses can help protect their employees and themselves.
• On an average day in North America, 17,000 workers are injured. Costing the economy more than $110 billion per year
• A total of 5.2 million injuries were reported in private industry workplaces and 2.6 million of them required time away from work to recuperate.
• Workers compensation insurance premium average 2% -3% of payroll
• Workplace injury and illness stemming from substance abuse cost more than $ 100 billion per year
• 70% of illegal drug users are employed
• Alcohol related problems cause more than 500 million lost work days per year
• Drug and drinking related problems are one of the leading causes for workplace violence
Solution for Monitoring Workers Safety: The implementation of a custom designed digital video surveillance system:
Promotes adherence to safety policies and procedures and can be used to monitor and insure that all polices are followed to avoid injuries. Provides pre-accident and post-accident evidence for determining the cause of any injury. Prevents costly litigation by providing concrete evidence of the injury.

Surveillance for Employee Time Management
North American workers are wasting more than twice the time Human Resource Managers expect. Daily average in fact now more than 2 hours per day per employee
According to a new survey the average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours per workday. According to the survey, employers spend $759 billion per year on salaries for which real work was expected, but not actually performed.
Waste Management
The biggest distraction for respondents? Personal Internet use. 44.7% of the more than 10,000 people polled cited web surfing as their #1 distraction at work. Socializing with co-workers came in second at 23.4%.
Solutions for Monitoring Wasted Productivity – Strategically placed cameras monitoring the workplace. Employees who are being watched will be more productive and conduct far less personal business or personal phone calls. They will be more conscious about performing work that they actually are responsible for finishing every day.