“We decided early in 2019 to focus more on information meetings and seminars. We did so in response to the interest expressed by our customers and others who wanted to learn more about different areas. This is also something that creates added value through certification by us,” says Mårten Wallén, Managing Director of SBSC.
But, as everyone knows, we were faced with a pandemic and all in-person meetings had to be cancelled or rescheduled. In the autumn, SBSC offered several different webinars on various themes.
“In cooperation with Weop, we held webinars on the themes of background checks and security clearance prior to employment. This is an area we want to shed light on given the fact that four out of five crimes at the workplace are inside jobs. It is essential that employers can ensure, at the earliest point in time possible, that the persons they hire do not have criminal objectives. We have conducted these webinars as “regular” Teams meetings, so it has been possible to ask questions while it was live and it has worked well,” says Mårten Wallén, Managing Director of SBSC.
In 2020, SBSC also turned its attention to another area in response to the new protective security legislation which entered into force in April 2019 – protective security procurement.
“We believe that increased knowledge in this area can give our certified customers a head start in protective security procurement. Together with Christoffer Stavenow and Max Thimmig from the Stavenow law firm, who are both very experienced in the area, we hosted a webinar intended for our customers in the public sector. We believe that it is important that persons involved in procuring security solutions are aware of the requirements imposed on a provider. This is why we also invited this group to separate webinars,” explains Mattias Nettarp, Public Affairs Advisor at SBSC.
Magnus Josephson, who specialises in the area covered by the Swedish Public Procurement Act, was retained during the year in order to create various types of materials for SBSC-certified providers.
“In December, we offered a webinar on the theme, “Win more public contracts as a certified provider”. The purpose of these webinars was to demonstrate to our certified providers that SBSC is highly proactive in ensuring that their certificates will be the quality benchmark in the context of various fire safety and security procurements. Hopefully, the webinar will contribute to increased awareness and inspire new ideas which our certified providers can then apply in their dealings with the public sector,” says Mattias.
In addition to these webinars, you can find other useful materials on the website.
“We also produced a film series during the year in which Magnus provides a step-by-step walkthrough of the procurement process and what certified providers can do to win more contracts. There will also be a useful checklist,” concludes Mattias Nettarp.
Upside and downside
“Naturally, there are many advantages in arranging webinars instead of physical meetings. As the host, we have the possibility to reach out to a much greater audience and the participants do not need to travel in order to participate. Still, we see the value in meeting in person and exchanging ideas and thoughts, and I find it hard to imagine that we will switch exclusively to webinars even if they are a solid complement to physical meetings,” says Mårten Wallén, Managing Director of SBSC.
