5 min read · Written by Grant Rayner on 11 Oct 2023
Share by emailIn last week’s article, I provided an overview of response services, describing their advantages and disadvantage. I also discussed the different approaches you could take to delivering response services.
In this article, I’ll focus on pre-emptive deployment, and will share some of my experiences deploying to incident locations. I’ll also focus on deciding when to deploy, and describe different approaches to pricing response services.
The typical approach to response deployments is to wait until a client formally requests your support. If you take this approach, you may or may not deploy. If you do deploy, you may only work with one client.
An approach I’ve found to be very effective is to preemptively deploy whenever there’s a significant incident in my region.
The key benefit of pre-emptive deployment is that you demonstrate your value to your clients. While other larger security companies are deciding whether or not to go, you’re already on the ground supporting clients. Word will get around, and you’ll almost certainly onboard new clients.
The fact that you arrive early will provide a ‘first-mover advantage’. You’ll be able to support clients who need assistance and can’t afford to wait for other security organisations to decide whether to deploy resources. Arriving early also gives you time to orientate to the situation, and identify essential local resources and contacts.
However, bear in mind you’ll need to pay for all of your expenses, including flights, hotels, ground transport, meals and communication. You may also need to pay for local fixers and possibly security escorts.
I’ve pre-emptively deployed during multiple incidents in the region. Two incidents of note include the Nepal earthquake in 2015 and the Easter Day terrorist attacks in Colombo in 2019. In both cases, I took one of the first flights into the country. Once on the ground, I contacted my clients and let them know I was available for work. All told, I received a considerable amount of work from clients for both of these deployments. I was also able to onboard new clients.
In Nepal, I worked directly with client organisations. I also supported several large security companies and insurance companies. Specific tasks included:
By the end of this project, I was working in the embassy of a European country coordinating evacuations for their citizens.
In Colombo, I worked with my own clients. Tasks included:
As a result of the work I did during this project, I went back to Colombo multiple times over the next year supporting major client projects.
As noted in last week’s article, response work makes for great case studies. I’ve been able to reference my response work in my books, and I refer to some aspects of this work in my training.
Now that you have a better understanding of the benefits of pre-emptive deployments, the next question is when to deploy.
The way I approach pre-emptive deployments is to evaluate major incidents as they occur and determine whether there is value in responding. Here’s a few of the factors I consider when making this decision:
If you’re engaged with active projects and you have short-term deliverables, you’ll need to prioritise your existing clients. I’ve not deployed for several incidents for this exact reason. Of course, you might be able to negotiate with your client to adjust timeframes.
Let’s move on to discuss how you might go about pricing response services. I’ll then touch on how you might build products out of a response project.
When pricing response services, consider the following factors:
It follows that your day rate for response services should be higher than your normal day rate for consulting services. If subcontracting, similar factors will apply.
As a guide, I’d suggest a minimum of $2,500 a day is an appropriate rate for response work. However, in practice, you should be working with multiple clients and you won’t be supporting each client on a full-time basis. Rather, you’ll be doing a few hours work for each client each day. For some clients, you may only do a few hours work for them and that will be it. As such, you could charge each client less than your full day rate (e.g., $1,000 per day). If you’re working with three or four clients at a time, you’ll end up with an effective day rate higher than $2,500.
Of course, you could charge a client less if you decide you want to work with a specific client, but know that client won’t pay your going rate. I’ve often completed small tasks for clients at no charge, for example quickly checking on an employee as a favour to a client. Just don’t expect your goodwill to lead to future work with the client—many companies are happy to take advantage of independent consultants and will dangle future work as a carrot.
As a final point on pricing, note that you’ll need to think carefully about how to handle expenses. If you make enough revenue, you may be able to absorb your expenses from the deployment. Alternatively, you may be able to split your expenses across clients. You could, for example, apportion your expenses based on the hours each client has used.
Before finishing this article, there’s value in discussing different ways you can leverage response work.
In addition to providing services on the ground, you could also leverage your response work to build products. For example, you could issue a daily situation update based on your first hand knowledge of the situation on the ground. Alternatively, you could provide written products. For example, after the terrorist attacks in Colombo in 2019, I conducted detailed assessments of 13 different accommodation options in the city and sold these assessments as a package in an online format to multiple clients. These products provided additional value to my clients and helped to extend the revenue for the project.
Once you’re back from the project, you can prepare a short presentation and invite clients to attend (for free). A combination of good stories, interesting facts and great photos can present a compelling case. Anyone attending the presentation will think of you next time there’s a major incident.
To wrap up, pre-emptive deployments can be a very effective approach to supporting clients when they need support the most. It’s a useful exercise to establish a set of criteria to guide you on when to deploy. Finally, consider other opportunities to leverage deployments, including developing related products and conducting presentations.