Today we’d like to introduce you to Shaun Marso.
Hi Shaun, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2021 after running another security company for 9 years, I decided to break of and start my own. I saw many things in security that as a General Manager I could not control. Most companies in our business focus on their total number of hours per week, instead of focusing on the quality of those hours. Security has a bad name for itself due to the “rent a cop” sterotype of worker. My goal was to change that and offer not only a quality service, but to come into the business with a focus on making customer service a number one priority. We have companies that can charge much cheaper rates and do a very poor job servicing their clients, so I wanted to try something new, and something different. Treat every customer as if they are your only one. Give them the best service possible, and the money will no longer become an objection, but losing our services will be their number one concern. In our short time in business, I believe we have successfully implemented this tactic as we call this our “client-centric approach”. It is our only goal in security, to make ourselves stand out above anyone and everyone in this business. We wanted to be the company to be able to confidently say, you can have quality, or you can have quantity, but we will guarantee the best of both.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been much smoother than anticipated, but no without some trials. Our main issue will always be competing against companies such as Allied Universal who are the largest in the world, but also willing to lose money to price out all the other companies in our industry. Their low ball tactic has successfully taken over our industry and allowed them to dominate through a “fire sale” mentality. They have literally taken on projects to intentionally lose a million dollars on one job in a year, just to raise their prices in the next year and one day make their money back. This is a roadblock we could not compete against directly, so we focused on the quality and customer service we provided. Surprisingly, this has been well received, but also created what I would call some sticker shock. Clients in our industry are expecting a low rate of pay, which has been driven down by some of these massive companies in the industry. This is and will likely always be our main road block. We will need to convince the prospective clients that getting a better product is worth paying slightly more when you are getting more than you expected. To those clients who cannot overcome the increase in costs, we have been unable to sway their decision to just give us a try. To those who have been so fed up with the normal security industry low quality services, we have some of the best testimonials we could ever ask for. This is our goal, to eventually be the company that you will get what you pay for, but the struggle will always be convincing Clients to pay more than they pay for their current services now.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
ENC is a very new company, founded in December 2021 and taking on our first Client in April 2022. We have grown steadily since that time and average about $1.3 million in gross sales per year with an average of 40 employees. We provide Armed and Unarmed Guard Services, Private Investigations, Threat Assessments and Mitigation tactics for businesses, Armed, Unarmed and Rifle Training for Security Officers, as well as Event Staffing. We are also currently the only security company in North Carolina providing Secured Transport of juveniles in the custody of offices in D.S.S. Historically county facilities would use their local Sheriff’s Departments to move juveniles from hospitals, respite facilities, or group homes, who were considered a threat or too dangerous for social workers to move by themselves. We became the first company to take on this task in Pitt County in April 2023 and have successfully completed nearly 100 event free transports of juveniles allowing them to ride in a civilian vehicle, not shackled and handcuffed, and given a much more pleasant and enjoyable experience. We developed this plan in conjunction with Pitt County when finding out they no longer had transport services as their main option with the Sheriff Department due to staffing issues. We offered to take over and it has become a massive success, currently providing transports to around 9 other county facilities when they need assistance due to out of state moves, scheduling issues, or even a lack of available officers. We pride ourselves in being a company that can be fluid, innovative, and think outside the box and solve problems that others may not even know they exist yet. Even more so, we strive for total and complete satisfaction for our clients utilizing our “Client-centric” way of thinking to focus 100% of our energy to ensure our clients expectations are met and exceeded to place ourselves above everyone else in our industry. This way of thinking has allowed our company not to have to compete with the standard industry companies, but instead has allowed us to be elevated above others and helped us gain a reputation of the “best option” when they recognize our core values, dedication to client services, and providing the quality we guarantee in our initial client meetings. We feel so strongly about our customer service promises that we also allow ANY client to cancel their contract with nothing more than a 30 day notice, regardless of our length of contract. We truly believe that if we are not providing what we promise, then you shouldn’t have to pay us for failing to keep up our end of the deal. We are happy to say we still have a 100% Client retention rate and aim to keep that as our focus. Too many companies sign a contract and forget about the client, citing they have a 3 or 4 year agreement for services. We believe that is wrong and short-sighted. We want to continually grown in our relationships and services so the Clients cannot imagine allowing anyone else in their facility once we have the opportunity to provide the Clients with a new way of doing security, actually caring about our Clients.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Spending time in the Black Hills of South Dakota camping in the mountains and traveling across Colorado. I have always loved the mountains and outdoors. Moving to North Carolina from the Midwest has given me this same opportunity to enjoy our beautiful state and enjoy, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful states in the US. Here I can camp, hunt, ski, visit the mountains, but spend days at the beach all within a 4 hour drive. North Carolina is the state that has it all and I cannot imagine living anywhere else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.encprotectiongroup.com
- Instagram: @enc_protectiongroup
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encprotectiongroup/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/enc-protection-group-llc
