ATTRITION BUSTER


Undermining Business Potential


By Bob Harris S


imilar to businesses in other sec- tors, many alarm and security dealers continue to procrastinate on embracing significant changes in our industry, not to mention putting off meeting our clients’ needs and wants. This is the first mistake that prevents many security companies from reaching their goals, and it is literally choking us. Unfortunately, many people continue to react as opposed to act proactively to circumstances. It reminds me how much we’ve become just like our subscribers who wait to become the victim of a bur- glary before installing an alarm system. While many business owners tell me they would give anything to improve their company’s performance, in reality, they mean everything but the money it would cost to do so and their eagerness to embrace some productive change. It is important to always remember that business owners have lost far more from indecision than they ever did from


a bad decision. How much is your cozy familiarity costing you in terms of money being left on the table, customer attrition and worst of all, competing on low price as opposed to added value, peace of mind and effectiveness? And that brings us to the second mis- take: a low price strategy creates an inherent fear in the minds of sales peo- ple to add value by “up selling” or even offering bundled services. They worry about losing the sale (particularly their commission) because of the “risk-to-re- ward” factor a higher price creates. This develops if they are not being suffi- ciently compensated to run the risk of offering more profitable installations or bundled service packages.


How serious is your passion for find- ing solutions to avoid a low price strategy as well as overcoming your most difficult business challenges? I hear a lot of people talk about this, but what are they really doing to overcome


THERE ARE THREE COMMON MISTAKES THAT HINDER FUTURE SUCCESS: PROCRASTINATION, LOW PRICE STRATEGIES AND FAILURE TO INVEST IN CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING


HONEYWELL’S HOME ENERGY


SOLUTION PAGE 6


IR SECURITY’S DOOR


CLOSER PAGE 8


PELCO’S BEZEL


MONITORS PAGE 10


DYMO’S LABELING


TOOL PAGE 18


FALL 2011 WWW.SECURITYPRODUCTSCANADA.COM


BATTERED BY FALSE ALARM FEES, THE INDUSTRY, PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS AND CONSUMERS NEED TO WORK


TOGETHER TO CURB THE PROBLEM


The security industry’s source for new products


FEATURE PRODUCTS FROM GS BATTERY-CANADA


PE Series 3~4 Year Life Design PX-HG Series 6~8 Year Life Design Goldtop HG Series 8 Year Life Design PWL Series 13 Year Life Design LONG LIFE = PROFIT


www.securityproductscanada.com SUBSCRIBE TODAY! IT’S FREE!


24 SECURITY PRODUCTS CANADA| Winter 2011


the low price issue to create the percep- tion of value and worth to the work we do? Is our skill and professionalism re- ally worth little to nothing? Today, the only training that sales people typically receive is about product and technol- ogy. And that is because it is free from our vendors. Product and technology training certainly is helpful, but it does not teach skills associated with selling. And that’s the third mistake: failing to invest in meaningful training on fun- damental customer service and sales skills has clearly created a culture of lethargy within many organizations. A noticeable lack of enthusiasm, no sense of urgency and employee empowerment is the return. The lack of tangible train- ing in a variety of areas is one of the most common and costly mistakes that undermines business opportunities. Many dealers tell me they’re really busy right now installing new systems. While this seems to be really positive, I’m not sure how hard they’re working to simply replace those they’ve lost. I happen to know that non-payment and financial issues are the two leading rea- sons why customers cancel. I also know that most of your customers that call to cancel can be saved. Let’s face it, today’s customer service would get a failing grade in just about every industry. However, if you train and empower your employees to exceed customer expectations, even just a little, you’ll see huge results.


Bob Harris is president of Attrition Busters (www.attritionbusters.com). With more than 30 years of experience in the alarm industry, Harris


provides seminars, workshops and consulting services for private alarm companies. He can be reached


at 818-730-4690 or bobh@attritionbusters.com.


CPM Agreement #40752539


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40