Tis The Season To Be……Robbed

It is getting darker outside earlier. The season brings more than that to us. The pressure on everyone including the bad guy’s increases. This coupled with drug addictions, personal problems and more will make retailers a tempting target. After all you tend to have a lot of cash around or at least the perception of more cash in the drawer is there.

We really don’t care why it happens the real concern is how do we keep it from happening to us? You can reduce your risks with a few simple, cost effective and for the most part common sense measures:

• Drain your Cash Drawer – Your drawers start out the day with a set amount usually in the neighborhood of $100+/- in cash. Set up a schedule and make it someone’s responsibility to drain the drawer of cash every few hours. An easy way to do this is to pull out the all the large bills such as $50’s and $100’s. Leave only enough of the others to make change. DO NOT think that by hiding them under the cash drawer that no one will notice. Everyone knows this. Pull the money out and seal it in an envelope. You do not even need to count it at this point. Put the sealed envelope in the safe. If you have more than one POS then write the POS number on the envelope. An even easier way to do this is to invest into a simple drop safe that costs around $100 (we can point you to a great vendor for this). You can install a drop safe yourself. It simply bolts under the POS in the Cash/Wrap. They have a slot that you can drop envelopes or just loose bills into. I think the best ones are the ones that use a padlock. Inexpensive and easy to keep up with. Then at the end of shift you simply pull that money out and take it to the back with the till. WHY are we doing this you ask? Most robbers come in and look at your drawer before they hit you that day or another. Having a drawer full of succulent cash is like waving tax money in front of a politician. They simply can resist.

• Lighting – Get your lighting both inside and outside up to speed. Replace burned out bulbs and ballasts. If your landlord is responsible for any of this then now is a good time to send him an email (finish this article first though as I have a few other tidbits for you). Dark attracts the bad guys.

• Observe and report – If you see someone suspicious then ask the police to drop by. Speaking of that, do you have a relationship with your local Police Department or are you just another store in the crowd? Granted this is sometimes easier in smaller communities. But large departments will also respond with the right incentives. Make it known that you like their presence there. Coffee and a warm place to write a report helps. Call and ask for a supervisor to drop by (non-emergency). Ask the Sargent what is going on in your area. What suggestions does he or she have for you? Their opinion counts to you, let them know that. Can they have an officer come by as your folks are closing to make sure that everyone is safe? Being a former Police Officer I know that the Police would rather do that then deal with a robbery.

•   Deposits – I strongly recommend that you do not take deposits to the Bank at night or closing. All the bad guys need to do is see who is showing up at the night deposit. Again it is like candy to a baby. Instead lock your deposit in your safe and take it late morning or lunch time. That is a good reason for you to get away for a few minutes anyway. Instead of that frozen meal in the microwave you can actually recharge your brain battery for a few minutes. Speaking of deposits. Conceal them by putting the deposit envelope or bag into something else. Don’t be obvious.

• Discuss with Staff – Your people need to be in the loop. Many people treat this as something that will never happen to them. And of course we hope it won’t. But although a nice thought that is like expecting that world peace will really happen someday. I have a list of simple discussion points that I will be happy to send you free of charge, obligation…. just send me an email or call. I also see Managers and Owners that think they will scare their employees by discussing it up front. People including that 18 year old first time employee are tougher than you think. Remember, this is really about their safety not the money.

• Give Freely! – Last but not least, if someone presents you with the business end of a gun, knife, hand grenade, tank…. (You get the picture) then give them the money and get them on their way as soon as you can. Your duties are the protection of yourself, employees and customers. The money is a small mater when a robbery occurs. As soon as they leave lock the doors, THEN call the police. Robbers have been known to come back when they did not think that they got their fair share of your profits. Do not open the door for anyone except a uniformed police officer. You need to protect and keep your employees and customers there. This will also help to insure that these witnesses are there when to police are on site.

Again contact us if we can help.

Let’s have a profitable and safe holiday selling season!