Protect The Irreplaceable
We were interviewed recently for a major newspaper here in the UAE and during the interview we got around to discussing why in these difficult times, people would rent a safe deposit box. It’s a great question and so immediately I was off “on a roll” describing how our advanced robotics, integrated bio metrics and 24/7 access delivers a convenient service and elevates the humble safe deposit box into the 21st century. I rushed to demonstrate the “magic” of MySafe. No “take a ticket and wait here”, instead swipe, step into your own privacy pod, a click here, a click there and ten seconds later you “box appears” as if by magic.
Its an easy sell and in our new flagship site at the Dubai Airport Freezone, its easy to spin the story. The interviewer however was looking for something different. He was doing a story not on MySafe but on the safe deposit box industry and trying to understand the dramatic difference between the banks perception of consumer demand and the passionate story presented by MySafe as we described the growth potential. His thought provoking questioning prompted me to look again at the dynamics behind the private safe deposit box industry.
For sure all private safe deposit box companies set out to differentiate and many do. I strongly recommend that you engage with private safe deposit box companies who aspire to global best practice, companies who are passionate about the needs of the consumer and you will find a detailed listing of such companies in the Safe Deposit Federation website www.safedepositfederation.com
MySafe might focus on the advanced robotics and convenience, others might focus on their global presence, others still on their strength of their security infrastructure. Its all good stuff and business should be competitive with each focusing on amplifying their strength. That said, at it’s core, every single private safe deposit box company must focus on a much more generic response to the consumer. The private safe deposit box sector is expanding exponentially not just because the banking sector are withdrawing at an ever increasing pace from the provision of physical branch services (including the humble safe deposit box service), we are expanding because the consumer has come to appreciate the very real added value in having a simple, convenient, secure, storage solution for items of personal or corporate value.
At its core, its about supply and demand. For over a decade now the banks view is that the demand is decreasing steadily. For sure, if you “ring fence” a tiny percentage of your client base and then squeeze that base by dramatically reducing the capacity available to it, its easy to see why you might form a view that “demand is reducing”. If your strategic goals prevent you from driving the safe deposit box aspect of your business and instead its relegated to a “must have a small number” then for sure it will never shine. There will always be a demand from the top 5% for a secure service but in any industry, when you cater for the top 5%, you create an unprecedented opportunity for others to invest, innovate and develop services that reflect the true requirements of the consumer and not the service provider.
Therein lies the answer to the interviewers question. He asked why in these difficult times would a client rent a safe deposit box and the answer is there for all to see:
“It just makes sense” to protect what you value most”.
In a Covid 19 world, nothing can be more powerful that to realize how precious life can be and how important it is to take all reasonable precautions to protect all that is precious to us. For many, sensitive or precious items of value are at the cornerstone of our plans to appreciate all we have and all we hope to achieve in the years ahead.
One of the worlds leading security manufacturing companies with a 600 million USD + turnover recently announced that their “secure storage” business unit now accounted for 37% of their global sales. Another leading manufacturer of automated safe deposit box vaults to the banking sector describes the “new” global opportunity to develop within the private sector as unprecedented. That exponential growth of the private secure storage sector has driven innovation and a customer centric focus that has captured the attention of a suppressed consumer base and in countries across the world, a realization that once you provide a quality service that is innovative, convenient and add’s read value, the consumer will respond.
It is so rewarding to be in a growth industry where we can excite the consumer by providing services they believed were almost impossible to find.
The reward comes from working one on one with clients who appreciate the premium nature of an invigorated service delivered by a private safe deposit box industry determined to take the safe deposit box into the 21st century. Congrats to all who dare to “Dream Big Dreams” and service the needs of their client base.
Terry Downes. CEO, Mysafe Global Vaults, UAE.
