An executive protection company is in charge of not only protecting you from physical harm but psychological and emotional harm as well. When you hire a bodyguard, you’re only thinking about what could happen to you physically. However, if you’re stalked or worried about the safety of your family, you’ll need an executive protection company skilled with doing intelligence and pre-planning that can help protect you in the long term as well as the short term.
Selecting a Proficient EP Team
For some people, choosing an executive protection team can be difficult, especially because many people aren’t sure what to look for. It’s crucial to ask the right questions to determine whether an executive protection team is right for the job.
The best executive protection companies are able to work with the clients to ensure that they can deliver the best quality service to fit around your family and work life.
Here’s how you can select the best executive protection team for your needs.
Determine What You’re Looking For
Many clients don’t know the difference between executive protection teams and bodyguards. There are tons of different services and companies out there to fit your needs. If you’ve never been involved in this process before, it can get confusing. A bodyguard puts emphasis on the hard-skills, including the use of weaponry and martial arts, to protect the client from physical harm.
Executive protection agents, however, put emphasis on the softer skills. By pre-planning and doing intelligence work while offering exceptional service to the client, agents can avoid the need for the use of physical force.
For example, a bodyguard may see a crowd of fans and walk their client through it. This puts the client in danger even if the bodyguard is trained in martial arts. However, an executive protection team will have done the correct pre-planning to ensure they’ll never have to walk their client through a mob of crazed fans. They’ll have exit strategies planned, which never put their client in a possibly dangerous situation.
Learn About Executive Protection Professionals
While many protection agents are trained in multiple areas, it’s best to know the type of situation you’ll need an executive protection agent for. For example, when you’re going to an event, you may need an executive protection agent with different skills than one who handles your home security. However, all teams should be trained in multiple areas.
There are many specialist areas when it comes to working within executive protection. This includes everything from working with diplomats to working with younger children. Each job can require a different set of skills and involve various qualifications.
You should always determine the quality of the security personnel before making a decision about whether or not to hire the company. Not everyone with military training will make a great executive protection agent. Professionals must be licensed properly and vetted. They must also be tested for performance, judgment, and the ability to fit with your needs.
Knowing the Questions to Ask
When hiring an executive protection company, you should know which questions to ask so that you fully understand their process and can determine whether or not they’re the right company for the job. You should never be baffled by terminology or industry jargon; an executive protection team should be able to communicate effectively with the potential client.
The executive protection company will also want to make sure they’re the right team for the job, so they’ll ask you questions. Consider asking the following questions:
- Is the company registered? Where?
- Do you have a confidentiality agreement?
- Have you worked a job like this before?
- How are your agents vetted? What qualifications do they have?
- How much does this service cost?
- Do you have insurance?
- How experienced is the company and the individual agents?
- What is included in the package?
- Why is your company the best for the job?
Once your questions have been answered, you should make sure that you’re completely comfortable with the executive protection company before hiring them.
Response Speed
An executive protection company should be able to provide you with the services you require when you require them. They should have an established domestic network to fit your needs no matter where you are. A rapid response team can help keep you safe when you need it the most. For example, if you receive a threatening letter at your job, you’ll need an executive protection team available as soon as possible to manage the situation. Waiting a week or so for the protection team to arrive can result in physical and emotional harm.
Executive protection resources should be available with almost zero delays, making having a network of professionals available crucial.
Variety of Services
An executive protection company should be able to offer you a variety of services to ensure your complete protection. For example, you wouldn’t want to hire a team that can protect you while you’re inside a restaurant, but not when you’re traveling from the parking garage to the restaurant. They should have a driver available to get you safely to the location and a team in place to protect you from the parking garage to the time you get him.
If your concern is privacy, you’ll want to hire a team skilled with communication encryption as well as protecting you when you’re traveling.
Quality of Service
As we’ve discussed, soft-skills are one of the requirements for an executive protection company. Being able to protect the client requires skills that many people don’t consider when it comes to physical protection. Instead, executive protection agents are able to work within the lifestyle of the client to make them feel comfortable with their presence. An executive protection agent will learn about the business of the client so that they can read their moods and body language.
For the safety of yourself and your family, it’s in your best interest to choose the right EP service for the job. EP refers to a wide variety of security and safety measures to ensure the safety and security of the client. Selecting the right service is key to keeping you safe.
