I need two Bodyguards tomorrow. Send anyone over? That’s not how to match Protection Agents with our clients.
Many people believe that when they need protection, they can simply call up an executive protection agency and request a bodyguard or two for the next day. However, this isn’t how we provide our clients with the best protection. Part of our protection services is about matching our agents with our clients for the best possible results.
Attributes of a Professional Executive Protection Agent
We believe it’s important for our clients to understand the attributes of the best executive protection agents so that they can determine who is the right match for them. When it comes to working with someone in charge of keeping you safe, it’s important to choose the best of the best, with the right qualifications, experience, and client service skills. If you need to hire an executive protection professional, here are the attributes you should look for:
Training and Experience
An executive protection professional should have related experience. Typically, they will have a background in the military or police force. Someone with these qualifications can adapt to the environment and work with you and can easily perform the duties of protecting you from any physical harm.
Communication Skills
An executive protection agent must be able to communicate with the clients. This includes being able to tell the clients when their suggestions are off-base and could put them in danger. A professional will be able to communicate effectively and eloquently to ensure the client knows what’s best for their protection.
Without good communication skills, clients can easily misconstrue what their protective agents tell them and cause problems with the protective detail.
Customer Service Experience
Believe it or not, executive protection agents rarely use their guns or martial arts skills. Their customer service skills, however, are used every single day. Your agent may pick up your calls or attend to your guests, which means they’ll need to be able to provide services far beyond what the movies show us.
Not only will your protective agent need quality customer service skills for helping you manage your busy life and keeping you safe, but they may also need to work with your family and those within your business to continue to provide the best service. An executive protection agent with bad customer service skills or none at all can be detrimental not only to the protection but to your business.
Good Decision-Making Skills
An executive protection professional must be able to think on the spot. While the team makes tons of plans ahead of time to ensure your safety, sometimes things don’t go as planned. This is where decisions must be made quickly in order to ensure the safety of the client. Good judgment is key for any protection professional, and they must be able to use their training to make the right decisions in the event of a crisis.
Ability to Handle Firearms
As we have mentioned, firearms are rarely used when it comes to executive protection. This is because, with the right planning, there will never be a need to use them. However, should the need arise, you need a professional who can handle him or herself to protect you.
Bodyguards vs. Executive Protection Agents
We used the word “bodyguard” in the title of this article. However, when it comes to bodyguards and executive protection, these are often not the same type of individuals.
Bodyguards
You see these folks on television in front or behind their famous clients. They’re the big guys with tons of muscle who are always pushing through crowds of fans to get their clients to their cars or vents. Bodyguards often have some training in protection, but they don’t have the necessary skills to prevent harm from coming to their clients. For example, a bodyguard may have martial arts skills, but we believe that if a bodyguard has to use these skills, they have already failed their client by putting them in harm’s way.
Bodyguards are often those who post selfies on their social media with their clients, another protection blunder that can put the client in harm’s way. They’ve also been known to sell information to tabloids and engage in inappropriate behavior with their client or while on the clock protecting the client.
Executive Protection Agents
Bodyguards are a thing of the past. Now clients need the experience and performance of executive protection agents. What makes an executive protection agent different from a bodyguard is not only their level of professionalism but the pre-planning stage of protection. This pre-planning involves mapping routes, having an understanding of parking, and having available plan-b solutions to problems that could arise.
For example, if there is a crowd outside a popular club that the celebrity will be at, an executive protection agent will know where the backdoor is to avoid the large crowd. As you know, crowds can be a dangerous place, especially if there are enemies of the client hiding within the fans. A bodyguard would walk his or her client right through the mob, but an executive protection agent avoids a possibly dangerous situation altogether.
Bodyguards are typically untrained and only there to look intimidating for anyone who may wish to do the client’s physical harm. However, if someone really wants to hurt the client, they will still try to do so whether or not there is a bodyguard there.
Protection agents, however, can do everything a bodyguard can do and more. With the right experience, they can avoid dangerous situations and even help protect celebrities and those of high-net-worth from cyberattacks. Bodyguards simply don’t have the training or experience to do this.
An executive protection agent differs from a bodyguard in the following ways:
Advance Work
As we’ve mentioned, it is the advance work that can help prevent a client from being put in a dangerous situation in the first place.
3 Rings of Protection
This is the technique of layering the protection so that it is almost impossible for the client to come into contact with someone who may wish to do them harm.
Cover and Evacuate
Standing and fighting can get the client hurt. Instead, protection agents get the client away from the dangerous situation as soon as possible.
