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Selling Security Features from A to Z
BY KATHERINE L. HOUSE
FORM December, 1996
Add features to documents that might be altered, forged or cashed. This includes store coupons, refund checks, birth certificates and event tickets. This fall, the television program "Prime Time Live" demonstrated how students forge college transcripts to get into the university of their choice and win scholarship money. (See end of article for a complete list of documents that are candidates for document security.)
Be proactive. Security documents are hot, and companies such as Standard Register, Moore and Deluxe are spending plenty of money to develop marketing pieces and educate end users. Before your clients ask about features, be prepared to educate them about the advantages and disadvantages of various features as well as liability issues and methods for proper document storage.
Circulate articles about fraud to customers and sales reps. Your local newspaper follows stories about college students who copy coupons from the local sub shop or criminals who cash refund checks from the regional utility. Take copies of these articles on sales calls or mention them in your company newsletter. They can build awareness of the problem and how criminals operate. To build your library of information, offer to swap articles with distributor colleagues in other parts of the country.
Do your homework on new features. Talk to manufacturers about their product offerings and R&D efforts. Ask suppliers and manufacturers if they have brochures, sales pieces and other educational materials you can imprint.
Ensure clients understand their responsibilities. Security features may deter document fraud, but businesses must also use precautions in their accounting areas. Bank statements should be reconciled immediately and discrepancies reported to the bank. The employee who reconciles bank statements should not be the same employee who prepares checks for signature.
Find out how the documents will be used. In many cases, document recipients must be trained to look for security features. For example, in the case of microprinting, recipients must use a loupe or magnifying glass. Some inks and fibers are visible only under black lights. Therefore, some features are more effective when used in a controlled environment where employees, such as cashiers at a department store, can be trained to look for them.
Gather samples. Some security features, such as holographic tape, may be hard for clients to visualize. Include samples as part of your sales presentation.
Hold educational seminars. By offering to educate clients and even their customers, you will be perceived as a consultant, not a paper peddler. Topics to cover include Uniform Commercial Code regulations addressing liability for fraudulent checks, storage of security documents and examples of real-life fraud cases.
Insist that customers use a combination of features. Experts often recommend using a security paper, a printing technique such as prismatic printing, and a special ink such as fluorescent or heat sensitive ink. Heat sensitive ink changes color when exposed to heat, including heat from someone's fingers. Thus people who know a document was printed in heat sensitive ink in a certain area can touch the item in the right place to verify authenticity. The pigmentation of a document printed in heat sensitive ink also will change when copied.
Join forces with banks. Most banks will be pleased that you are trying to convince their customers to make checks more secure. Introduce yourself to local bankers. If your prospects tell banks they have been talking to you about security features, the managers can acknowledge they know you and that you are steering them in the right direction. Banks can also be great sources for referrals.
Keep documents secure at your business. Never dispose of negotiable documents in a dumpster. Make master copies, file copies and document waste invalid. Printing the word "Void" across a document is not enough. Instead, drill holes through the MICR line, across the face of the document and through the amount area.
Learn the lingo. One of the hardest things about selling security documents is learning the terminology. Many companies offer similar features under various trade names. To be competitive, you must learn the different names as well as their definitions.
Make sure your manufacturers take adequate precautions. Ask them how they secure their plants, their negatives and their computer files. How is waste disposed of? What types of background checks do they conduct on new employees?
Never advertise your products as forge-proof. Security features are designed to deter criminals, especially amateur ones, just as car alarms deter most thieves. However, no document is forge-proof in the hands of a sophisticated, determined criminal.
Outwit criminals (or try to) with covert and overt features. Experts recommend integrating obvious features (bleed-through numbering, for example) and covert features (fluorescent fibers and other features visible only under black lights) into the same document for maximum security.
Promote the aesthetic value of features. Holograms, prismatic printing, foil stamping, rainbow numbering and other features can enhance the appearance of documents in addition to making them more difficult to duplicate accurately. Marketing managers and business owners might like the look of a step-and-repeat pantograph or artificial watermark incorporating their company's logo.
Quiz clients on past problems. If you start talking to a company's accountant or security officer, you might be surprised to learn about past problems. Perhaps a temporary employee stole a blank check or two, or a former employee was suspected of embezzling. These clients are excellent candidates for security documents and seldom worry about price. In addition, they may give you an opportunity to display your consultative skills by allowing you to examine the security of their entire operation.
Remember to balance added cost with the risk of forgery. Some security features, such as bleed-through numbering and microprinting, are relatively inexpensive, yet can be quite effective for certain applications. A 50-cent coupon from a local store probably doesn't need to be printed on paper containing fluorescent planchettes, but birth certificates and certain licenses may warrant such protection.
Select only a few employees to handle secure documents. If you have a security cage in your warehouse, access should be limited, and employees should be required to log in and out.
Try out features on equipment. Practice making copies of samples on color copiers to find out which features are effective in which situations. Note that some combinations of colors can fool copiers better than others, and certain copiers do a better job than others. Your copies can be good sales tools, too.
Use warning messages carefully. Warning messages should be written in clear, simple language so anyone can understand them. People outside the printing industry aren't familiar with terms such as prismatic printing and bleed-through numbering. Warn recipients that the absence of the indicated feature could indicate a forgery, so the document should not be cashed.
Verify the identity of strange callers asking for samples. A few years ago, a manufacturer received a call from someone requesting samples who said he was a check distributor. The caller altered and cashed the samples when he received them. When dealing with an unfamiliar person by phone, you may want to ask for a caller's business phone number and return the call to verify authenticity.
Warn clients of the potential danger for forgery. Buyers may not realize that document forgery has moved from the domain of the professional forger to Joe Average, who has access to desktop publishing equipment or sophisticated color copiers, so it's up to you to educate them. A local police officer or FBI agent may be able to enlighten you about recent trends and scams.
Xamine (OK, we cheated a little.) features under black lights. Hand-held black lights are effective sales tools when demonstrating fluorescent inks, fibers and other features.
You should take care in shipping negotiable documents. Notify clients when negotiable documents are shipped and when they should receive them. Advise document recipients to confirm all boxes immediately upon receipt. Never mark cartons or carton labels with words that would alert thieves to their contents. Place a layer of "dummy" forms on top of negotiable documents. This might deceive would-be thieves.
Zoom in on the right buyers. Purchasing agents aren't the best targets for selling security documents. Instead, talk to accountants, controllers, chief financial officers, marketing managers, security officers, loss prevention managers and other senior company officials.
Katherine L. House is managing editor of FORM Magazine.
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