News: Qolsys Makes Value Proposition Pitch to Interlogix Dealers
Qolsys SVP Mike Hackett explains the fortuitous timing of Interlogix’s exit announcement, plus how his company is attracting dealers left in the lurch.
Interlogix’s decision last September to bail on its security business in the United States and Canada may well endure as one of those “Where were you when you first heard?” moments in industry annals.
Pose that question to Mike Hackett, co-founder and senior vice president of sales and marketing at Qolsys, and it’s clear why that consequential announcement will forever remain with him like it hit yesterday.
“I’m very sensitive to the people at Interlogix, so I don’t mean to say this in a disrespectful way,” he says. “The timing couldn’t have been more opportunistic for us.”
Build Your Business with Home Builders
How to leverage smart technologies to develop a relationship that will drive a residential security integration firm to new heights (Security Business magazine, Sept. 2019)
Cooking shows make preparing delicious meals look easy. “Simply add a dash of this and sprinkle a little of that. Then use this unique tool that was perfectly designed for this task and give it a little flip of the wrist and voila! Your creation looks like it belongs on the cover of Southern living magazine.” Reality, we all know, can be much different. For residential security integrators, working with builders can sometimes feel the same way – it looks easy to get sales volume without much effort, yet in practice, it is a challenge to even get the builder representative to call you back, let alone create a program that works.
The opportunity is obvious – while the security industry has its traditional 20-25 percent penetration rate, security integrators who have found a successful partnership with builders talk of take rates as high as 40 percent. Following the right recipe will yield results as high as 70 percent, with an opportunity to increase that percentage over time, but like any complex kitchen dish, the wrong ingredient at the wrong time could taint the entire dish.
Leveraging the following best practices can help demystify the creation of a successful builder program, and uncover the secret recipe to working with builders. Continue reading
News: How Touchscreens Benefit Both Security Integrators and Homeowners
Elevating the dealer to a smart home or business expert in the eyes of the consumer reduces churn, allows for upsell and more RMR potential.
Touchscreen technology is a part of our everyday life. We use them at bank ATMs, to retrieve a boarding pass at the airline ticket counter, when our iPhone battery is about to die, to control aspects of our home or office, and more.
In the not-too-distant past, the electronic security industry offered keypads to control the system and before that a key switch to turn the system on or off — yes, a real key!
