Loss Prevention Certification- Loss Prevention Training

August 9, 2014 by
Currently there is a big push for Loss Prevention Employees to be certified through the Loss Prevention Foundation. They have two levels of certification- one for those beginning their careers and another for those who have been around longer. The point is to standardize loss prevention training throughout the industry.
This formalized loss prevention training and certification is expensive, too expensive for most small businesses to certify more than one or two mangers within the organization. That doesn’t mean that it is not beneficial to have this kind of information available for all of your employees.
By attending a more affordable loss prevention workshop, you can get your entire team involved and educated. Benefits to this kind of training include better job performance by providing awareness of methods and kinds of losses that retailer’s incur. They can improve competencies needed to resolve shrink losses and implications. They can also improve the perception of your company or business within the community.
When businesses take a stand against shoplifting losses within their walls, the community takes notice. It is not just the shoplifting that begins to go elsewhere, it is also the customers who have a better perception of your attentive employees. Instead of going somewhere else, they come to you. They begin to share a positive message of your stores, thus growing your business as more customers come to you for their shopping needs.
For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

Currently there is a big push for Loss Prevention Employees to be certified through the Loss Prevention Foundation. They have two levels of certification- one for those beginning their careers and another for those who have been around longer. The point is to standardize loss prevention training throughout the industry.

This formalized loss prevention training and certification is expensive, too expensive for most small businesses to certify more than one or two mangers within the organization. That doesn’t mean that it is not beneficial to have this kind of information available for all of your employees.

By attending a more affordable loss prevention workshop, you can get your entire team involved and educated. Benefits to this kind of training include better job performance by providing awareness of methods and kinds of losses that retailer’s incur. They can improve competencies needed to resolve shrink losses and implications. They can also improve the perception of your company or business within the community.

When businesses take a stand against shoplifting losses within their walls, the community takes notice. It is not just the shoplifting that begins to go elsewhere, it is also the customers who have a better perception of your attentive employees. Instead of going somewhere else, they come to you. They begin to share a positive message of your stores, thus growing your business as more customers come to you for their shopping needs.

For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

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How To Approach a Shoplifter- Loss Prevention Training

August 2, 2014 by
If you have a customer suspected of shoplifting in your store, what do you do? For some the answer is simple- you walk up to them accuse them of shoplifting and demand to search their bags to find the stolen items.
For others, the answer is to not confront them and to call the police to have them arrested. As for the rest of your employees, the best approach is one of denial- “He was a shoplifter? Really? I didn’t notice.”
While all of these approaches make sense depending on the type of person you or your employees are, none of them are the best way to go.
If you accuse a shoplifter directly, you open yourself up to a variety of scenarios. The first is an open/ aggressive confrontation can escalate into a potentially dangerous situation. The shoplifter might be armed, or prepared to fight his way out. If you do not have any proof, you might open yourself and your business up to a wrongful detainment/ accusation lawsuit. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars and potentially negative press. Same thing goes for calling the police without actual proof.
A passive/ non-existent approach can lead to shoplifters coming back because they do not fear getting caught. The best way is to learn the five steps retailers’ use and how to legally approach a shoplifter. Loss prevention seminars can walk you through the steps and answer most of the legal questions you might have.
For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

If you have a customer suspected of shoplifting in your store, what do you do? For some the answer is simple- you walk up to them accuse them of shoplifting and demand to search their bags to find the stolen items.

For others, the answer is to not confront them and to call the police to have them arrested. As for the rest of your employees, the best approach is one of denial- “He was a shoplifter? Really? I didn’t notice.”

While all of these approaches make sense depending on the type of person you or your employees are, none of them are the best way to go.

If you accuse a shoplifter directly, you open yourself up to a variety of scenarios. The first is an open/ aggressive confrontation can escalate into a potentially dangerous situation. The shoplifter might be armed, or prepared to fight his way out. If you do not have any proof, you might open yourself and your business up to a wrongful detainment/ accusation lawsuit. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars and potentially negative press. Same thing goes for calling the police without actual proof.

A passive/ non-existent approach can lead to shoplifters coming back because they do not fear getting caught. The best way is to learn the five steps retailers’ use and how to legally approach a shoplifter. Loss prevention seminars can walk you through the steps and answer most of the legal questions you might have.

For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

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Loose the Battle, Win the War

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (1)I read a horrifying news article about a man, who had been convicted of shoplifting, winning a lawsuit to the tune of $500,000. That’s right- half a million dollars paid out to a man who was convicted of shoplifting from a store. The report was horrifying for two reasons.

The first, because he was a shoplifter who might never have to work a day in his life again, basically was paid out to steal. Two, because the reason he won his suit was because he was injured during the course of the apprehension as a result of his shoplifting.

It raises a very important question of where do we, as retailers and business owners, draw the line? Where do we say we will allow this particular loss to happen to avoid an even worse loss? In essence, how do we loose the battle to win the war?

As the news report goes on, this particular man seems to have made a habit of bringing up (and winning) lawsuits stemming from his alleged shoplifting incidents. When the businesses could not win their cases against this man to convict him of shoplifting, he turned around and sued for slander, liable, and wrongful apprehensions.

While this particular situation is probably one of the more extreme examples of how a shoplifting stop can go horrifically wrong, this is not an unrealistic topic for businesses to be aware of.

Any time a shoplifter is stopped, or even approached, we have a responsibility to be right- 100% right. We also have to be able to prove it in a court of law. The days of acting on gut feelings or suspicions are long gone.

We have a right to protect our stores and to make shoplifting stops. We need to do so in a way that is also fair and legal to the suspected shoplifter- lest we also incur a half million dollar settlement at our expense.

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Start Before It Becomes An Issue

July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (2)Employee theft can and will happen to every small business at some point in time. The question of how you handle it, and what you can do about it relies on the protections you have in place before an incident occurs. Without these protections in place setting precedence, you might find your hands are tied in regards to the specific incident currently in front of you

The best place to start is in having anti theft verbiage in your employee handbook. That of course, means you need to have an employee handbook in place to standardize all of your business policies. If you do not have a handbook, you need to develop and implement one as soon as possible.

Within your handbook you need to be clear and broad all at the same time. A sentence stating that employee theft of any kind will under no circumstances be tolerated. Theft is defined as possessing or removing any company asset or another employee’s possessions without prior authorization from management.

You can further elaborate on the different types of company assets, or you can leave it open to all assets from pens and paper to merchandise and cash. Next you may want to include that the company will prosecute all cases of employee theft.

After having a written record of the company’s intentions, the policy should be verbally covered in employee on boarding and training. This way there is no confusion as to what the expectation is. Some businesses even have the employees sign a paper (to be retained in their employee file) that they are aware of this policy.

By clarifying up front, most employees will take heed to this warning. For those that do not, it is much easier to prosecute the employees for their theft, or misappropriation of company assets, when there is proof that the employee was aware of the consequences ahead of time.

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Beyond An Apprehension- Loss Prevention Workshop

July 19, 2014 by
Going to a loss prevention workshop isn’t only about learning how to apprehend a shoplifter. It is about finding ways to identify your store’s vulnerable areas and finding plausible, financially sound, and effective solutions for them. Some store’s do not want to make apprehensions, but do not realize there are other ways to prevent shoplifting.
The reality is most shoplifting is preventable. Some of them might be easy fixes, and some of them might require a more complex system to keep the shrink losses at bay. 
The more training and education you have, the better your chances of reducing your overall shrink losses. The key is in knowing what your specific store vulnerabilities are and how they happen. 
Maybe you have inattentive employees on the weekends. Perhaps your high theft merchandise would benefit from being placed at the front of the store where employees can watch it better. 
Can you use EAS and other retail anti theft devices to keep your desirable products on the sales floor for customers, but deterring theft at the same time?
Does your shoplifting happen at a certain time of day or week? What are your biggest loss items? Have you found evidence that the shoplifting seems to happen in the same location of the store (fitting room, back corner)?
By identifying the key areas, the information from a loss prevention workshop can be applied to how to deter shoplifting, saving you and your employees from actually having to apprehend a shoplifter. By deterring the theft ahead of time, you reduce your inventory losses without putting your employees at risk.
For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Going to a loss prevention workshop isn’t only about learning how to apprehend a shoplifter. It is about finding ways to identify your store’s vulnerable areas and finding plausible, financially sound, and effective solutions for them. Some store’s do not want to make apprehensions, but do not realize there are other ways to prevent shoplifting.

The reality is most shoplifting is preventable. Some of them might be easy fixes, and some of them might require a more complex system to keep the shrink losses at bay.

The more training and education you have, the better your chances of reducing your overall shrink losses. The key is in knowing what your specific store vulnerabilities are and how they happen.

Maybe you have inattentive employees on the weekends. Perhaps your high theft merchandise would benefit from being placed at the front of the store where employees can watch it better. 

Can you use EAS and other retail anti theft devices to keep your desirable products on the sales floor for customers, but deterring theft at the same time?

Does your shoplifting happen at a certain time of day or week? What are your biggest loss items? Have you found evidence that the shoplifting seems to happen in the same location of the store (fitting room, back corner)?

By identifying the key areas, the information from a loss prevention workshop can be applied to how to deter shoplifting, saving you and your employees from actually having to apprehend a shoplifter. By deterring the theft ahead of time, you reduce your inventory losses without putting your employees at risk.

For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

 

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Are You Letting Your Employees Steal From You?

July 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (2)Employee theft is one of the most difficult issues a business owner faces. An employee is 15 times more likely than a non-employee to steal from an employer and they are responsible for approximately 44% of business’s theft losses (National Federation of Independent Business). And yet it’s one of the problems owners and managers are least likely to address.

However, the denial method of management doesn’t work causing nearly a 1/3 of businesses to fail due to employee fraud (U.S. Department of Commerce).  There are many reasons why owners are resistant to addressing the problem of employee theft. Three of these reasons are centered in the owner’s personal beliefs.

I’m a good guy – Some managers simply refuse to consider the idea that their employees would steal from them. They believe “I’m a good guy, so my people will never steal from me”. They misinterpret the issue of employee theft as a personal issue, a referendum on their character, rather than the personnel, business and legal issue that it is.

It’s not that much – Many loss prevention specialists, accountants and business analysts are aware of the open “secret” in many small businesses. Some owners and managers know and don’t care that their employees are stealing. They think, but don’t actually know, the loss is a small amount and for a variety of poorly thought out reasons believe it’s “not worth dealing with”.

There’s nothing I can do about it – These owners or managers don’t want the responsibilities of their jobs. They develop beliefs which permit them, in their minds, to not be held accountable for their managerial duties. For example, they have convinced themselves thatit’s impossible to find good quality workers, so employee theft happens all the time and everyone does it. In this rationalization, there’s nothing the manager can do, so he’s justified in doing nothing.

One of the most important components to any comprehensive loss prevention program is management’s commitment to and involvement in it. Many times business owners can be the biggest obstacle to a successful program due to their erroneous personal beliefs. Regrettably, many have found that ignoring the vital issue of employee theft leads to drastic consequences.

Nicole Abbott – writer, educator and psycho-therapist

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Shoplifting Videos from Around the U.S

July 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (12)The United States Retailers lose billion of dollar every year due to shoplifting. The National Association for shoplifting prevention has programs dedicated to helping those with these problems and educating and reaching out to the youth of this country. Stealing affects every one of us and the repercussions of shoplifting affect those closest to the shoplifter. Here are some articles and videos for you about shoplifting around the country. Follow the links below.

Texas woman sentenced for million dollar shoplifting ring

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – A Texas woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking part in an international shoplifting ring where members used oversized bags to steal millions of dollars worth of goods from high-end stores, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Eva Salazar, 49, pleaded guilty on Monday to second degree theft for stealing merchandise from stores including Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Coach, said Trey Banack, the chief of the White Collar Crimes Division of the Bexar County District Attorney’s office in San Antonio.

Salazar and three other women would enter shopping malls with bags that could hold deceptively large amounts and then “clear entire tables and shelves of merchandise,” Banack said.
“They then delivered the merchandise to a fifth woman, who would sell the items through her online store,” Banack said.

The ring hit malls in Austin, Houston and San Antonio, and also struck internationally, with suspected thefts in countries including Canada and Australia, he said.

Children left home alone while couple goes shoplifting

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – Louisville Metro Police have charged a couple with leaving their children home alone while they went to a store to shoplift.

Around 7:20 p.m. July 7, police said Crystal A. HDC) 33, of Louisville, walked out of the Preston Highway Meijer with merchandise she had not paid for. The arrest report says Herthel had a receipt in her hand as if she had paid for the items, valued at $556.57, and placed them in the truck of her car.

During questioning, Herthel admitted to stealing the merchandise and said that her boyfriend, Kurt Sheets, 35, helped her select the items.

According to police, Sheets and Herthel walked into and out of the store separately. Officers also said each gave conflicting statements about why they were at the store.

Police also learned the pair had left their children, ages 10, 4 and four months, at home while they went out to commit the theft.

Both Herthel and Sheets were arrested for shoplifting. According to officers, the two had a total of $34 in cash on them.

Police said Herthel had previously been arrested for shoplifting from an Indiana Meijer store.

Video appears to capture weekend shoplifting assault outside Madison Square Mall

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — A video that surfaced online this weekend appears to depict the assault of a Belk employee as he tried to stop a shoplifter outside Madison Square Mall.

The incident occurred Saturday evening, when a loss prevention officer was trying to stop a woman who had stolen merchandise from the Belk department store. The Huntsville Police Department said two men came to the woman’s aid and assaulted the employee, who was reportedly not seriously injured.

The suspects fled with the merchandise and no arrests have been made, police have said.

The video surfaced Sunday, when a woman named Whitney Woolen posted it on Facebook. As of 1:50 p.m. today, the video has been shared nearly 500 times from Woolen’s page.

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Employees and Business Longevity- Loss Prevention Training

July 2, 2014 by
For the companies being sold to investment firms, many will not be around in five to ten years. They will be sold, or may go under completely after all of the assets have been striped of any redeeming value. As far as an investment firm is concerned, the longevity of the company is not important, the short-term profits are.
To fulfill these profit goals, the investment firms will make massive staffing and payroll reductions. They reduce the employee hours to about as minimum as what they can get away with. Employee benefits are next to go. What you are left with are employees who are viewed as disposable assets, instead of valuable ones. Needless to say, employee training and development whether it is in the form of computer based learning, seminars, workshops, or one on one development is non existent.
Depending upon which side of the coin you are on, this is either a completely brilliant or completely inane business strategy. The deciding factor falls within what you want the longevity of your business to be.
For companies who are looking for longevity, treating employees as assets to be nurtured and developed is essential.
The more training employees have, they more they will feel in control, and valued. They are more willing to go the extra mile for the business, and want to further their own growth and development as an employee. This makes your business profitable for the long haul.
For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia
Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

For the companies being sold to investment firms, many will not be around in five to ten years. They will be sold, or may go under completely after all of the assets have been striped of any redeeming value. As far as an investment firm is concerned, the longevity of the company is not important, the short-term profits are.

To fulfill these profit goals, the investment firms will make massive staffing and payroll reductions. They reduce the employee hours to about as minimum as what they can get away with. Employee benefits are next to go. What you are left with are employees who are viewed as disposable assets, instead of valuable ones. Needless to say, employee training and development whether it is in the form of computer based learning, seminars, workshops, or one on one development is non existent.

Depending upon which side of the coin you are on, this is either a completely brilliant or completely inane business strategy. The deciding factor falls within what you want the longevity of your business to be.
For companies who are looking for longevity, treating employees as assets to be nurtured and developed is essential.

The more training employees have, they more they will feel in control, and valued. They are more willing to go the extra mile for the business, and want to further their own growth and development as an employee. This makes your business profitable for the long haul.

For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

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Omni Channel Retailing

July 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (11)Omni Channel Retailing is the current long-term direction that retailers are going forth with. It basically is the process of integrating all aspects of a retailer into one accessible unit for customers to shop. This is the current way to combine a brick and mortar location with online sales, social media, distribution, and mobile phone apps. By cohesively allowing customers to shop any location, by any means available, sales are maximized exponentially.

Simply put, a customer can purchase merchandise online, or from their phone by searching your company website. The products available come from your distribution channels, and in stock inventory within any of your stores. A customer has the ability to see what your on hand inventory is, make the appropriate purchase, and then decide how they will get the product. The options are usually pick up in store, deliver to home, or deliver (from the distribution center) to a store of their choice.

Omni Channel Retailing is a viable option, not just for the larger companies with hundreds of selling locations. It is actually a great way for smaller businesses to compete with these big box stores as customers have better access to a wider range of your merchandise, when and where the customer needs it.

Having worked with larger companies just beginning these selling processes, I was able to experience their growing pains first hand. The hardest obstacle to overcome was ensuring the proper on hand inventory, so when a customer placed the order we could quickly fulfill it.

I saw too many unhappy customers place an in store pick up order, show up thirty minutes later, only to find out we didn’t actually have their product in stock. Not only were they put out by the inconvenience of needlessly driving to the store, but also they still had to figure out how to get the merchandise they wanted to buy.

As we progressed with the process, we started taking a better approach to our on hand accuracies. As a result, our sales increased, as did our customer satisfaction. Through Omni Channel Retailing, we were able to reach a whole new customer base and increase our sales in ways we never dreamed we could.

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A Victimless Crime?

July 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

theft (1)Shoplifting has always been viewed as a victimless crime. It is one of the reasons why shoplifters justify what they are doing. They view their theft as a crime against a faceless company where no one specifically gets hurt. The majority of these shoplifters would never steal from a friend, or commit another kind of home invasion or burglary. That would be violating a specific person, and much harder to morally justify.

When you work retail, you understand just how far from the truth it really is. Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. Its victims are actually frequent and plentiful, starting with the store owners and employees. These are the ones who have to bear the majority of the effects shoplifting has.

To start with, small business owners often do not have the inventory turns needed to effectively diminish the financial impact of stolen merchandise. Unlike companies with thousands of locations that collectively absorb the financial impact of higher cost of goods and lost sales, small businesses rely on their slim profits from maximizing every dollar spent in their stores.

Employees are the next to feel the pains of shoplifting. Hours can be cut, reducing their personal paychecks. Store maintenance, heating and cooling can also be reduced as finances are moved back into inventory replenishment. The overall morale of a store can be reduced, making for an unpleasant place to work.

Customers are the last to feel the brunt of shoplifting, but they still feel it. They are the ones whose time and patience are wasted looking for items the store should have, but doesn’t. They frequently unload their displeasure onto the employees who already have a reduced morale. Customers start taking their sales elsewhere; shopping at stores they can rely on.

Even though a shoplifting crime does not target a specific person, it is by far not a victimless crime.

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