As you’ll no doubt have realised, running a physical car dealership comes with a whole host of security issues. You’re quite literally showing off to the whole world that you have a fleet of flash, new cars, and then have to work extra hard to ensure that no one is able to steal those vehicles.
To avoid security incidents, it’s imperative that you invest in advanced security systems. From risk assessment to employee training, here’s how you should go about approaching this important area of running your business.
Risk assessment
While it’s definitely a good thing that there are so many security solutions available nowadays, it does mean that you have to be extra specific in which ones you choose. To do this effectively, you first need to know which risks to prioritise when it comes to mitigation strategies.
Take a step back, looking at all the various threats your business is currently facing. That includes everything from cyber security to perimeter breaches – don’t make any assumptions, just note them down, and then analyse both the severity of their outcome and their probability of occurring.
Based on this kind of analysis, you can prioritise certain areas over others, and focus on upgrading the security systems that will have the biggest impact overall.
Potential upgrades
Below, we go through a range of potential upgrades that could have a positive impact on dealership security.
Key cabinets
An often overlooked component of dealership security lies in key control. In short, if someone can get their hands on the keys to one of your cars, it will be much, much easier for them to steal the car itself.
It’s a good idea to invest in some kind of advanced key control cabinet from a provider like KEYper Systems, so that you can both control and keep track of the keys in your premises.
A strong perimeter
Of course, it is still important to focus on the basics of dealership security – importantly, that means creating a security perimeter that prevents people from driving cars off the lot unauthorised.
This can be something as simple as a relatively low, sturdy wall and a set of strong, retractable bollards. Done well, these can make it virtually impossible to pass the perimeter without access to the bollard controls.
Employee training
You can’t just rely on gadgets for dealership security – you need to integrate them into your professional culture. Work out what skills and knowledge your team needs in order to keep your business safe, and then provide the relevant training to them.
Relying too heavily on technologies, rather than involving your employees, can end up being incredibly expensive, while also not really meeting your security goals.
Dealership security isn’t too difficult to optimise, but you do need to be thorough in your approach. By starting with risk assessment, choosing the right technologies, and then making sure that you’re involving all relevant employees as well, you should be able to make the improvements you need with relative ease.