Watching the news lately, we have been seeing more and more crimes of opportunity happening. Mike Miller, Global Director of Loss Prevention defines this as “a crime that’s committed without planning when the subject sees the opportunity arise and they seize it.” Talk about carpe diem!
Here are three things that The Mershimer Group recommends to deter crimes of opportunity in your business:
- Build awareness – Building awareness is not only the biggest deterrent against crimes of opportunity, it’s the biggest deterrent of theft in general (internally and externally). Educate your employees on what to look for, how to regain control of the situation and how to deter theft as it’s happening. Also educate them on what “opportunities” thieves love such as an unmanned area in a retail store or a distracted employee.
- Controls in Place – You need to have controls in place to deter and prevent theft. This means having an action plan or policy and enforcing it. Implement different policies and procedures to deter internal and external theft separately. Ex. Manager can only void sales. Server level employees can’t void sales (separation of duties). Pay attention to access controls, register controls and authorization controls. Internal controls will reduce the opportunity for theft and fraud.
- Consequences – This goes back to our first point, but it’s a huge factor in deterring crimes of opportunity. Make sure every employee knows what can happen to them if they are caught stealing or committing a fraudulent crime “in the moment.” Loss of job, financial impact, reputation impact, etc.
Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill selects The Mershimer Group as their loss prevention solution provider. The outsourced loss prevention program will consist of various services meant to deter theft at the restaurant level, including audits, employee training, and awareness meetings among other tools used to deter and prevent loss within the restaurant chain.
Brand evangelist = A customer who has such a strict allegiance towards a brand that they are emotionally invested in it. This person is your company cheerleader, recommends your products to family and friends and acts as a brand ambassador on social media sites.
There is a new “mystery shopping provider” that is allegedly charging shoppers to access mystery shopping companies and mystery shopping jobs. It has been reported to the MSPA that unauthorized charges are now coming up on these shoppers’ credit/debit cards after the initial fee to gain access to a list of mystery shopping companies/jobs. Also, this company’s phone operators are well coached in convincing you it is a legitimate mystery shopping provider, in order to get your credit card number.
HS Brands International made the Boston Business Journal’s 2012 Pacesetters list, which lists privately held companies who report a three-year growth rate of 10 percent.