June 28, 2011

 

Comments

Ken,

With regard to Mr Hayden's comments on dealer programs I could not agree more. We have recently launched a new national dealer program under the brand Security Doctors (www.securitydoctors.com) which is like no other program on the market. We actually want the dealer to care about the customers. We encourage dealers to keep their accounts in-house and build long standing relationships with these customer so that down the line they can cultivate the relationships for referral leads and additional business. We are well aware that the direction that the industry has been going in over the last 10-15 years where every company is in a dealer program and their entire focus is sell the account up the food chain. We believe that while this did fuel industry growth for a long time that dealers should have more choices. That is why in the Security Doctors program we give the dealers all the benefits of a dealer program with out the requirement of selling their accounts to us. We do have a funding partner if the dealer chooses to fund their accounts, but it is optional.

I think if you look at this industry at the dealer level the dealers that have been in the industry for an extended period of time, probably 5 years or more, all keep accounts in-house. It is very hard, not impossible, but very difficult to fund 100% of your accounts and keep a sustainable business model because you are only as good as your last sale and at the end of the day you really have very little to no value in your company itself.

Thank you,

Aaron L Wahrsager

President & CEO

Security Doctors, Inc.

(877) 479-0006

www.securitydoctors.com

*****

Mr. Kirschenbaum and Everyone Else:

I suggest that the expression “Dealer Program” has been polluted and Is likely being used improperly in most of the posts this forum. I appreciate that “Dealer Program” is not defined in any dictionary but consider the following.

Where an organization (such as a manufacturer) sets up a program to support companies who buy their products, promote their products, provide marketing support, provide training, provide sales support, and show their appreciation by holding a first class convention each year, this is a real “DEALER PROGRAM!” Obviously I am talking about the Honeywell First Alert Dealer Program, the longest running and clearly the most successful dealer program. Honeywell First Alert DOES NOT BUY ACCOUNTS!

Where a corporation wants to buy alarm accounts and offer a “Brand Name”, regardless of the reputation, this is not a dealer program. This is a “Line the pockets of the Mega Corporation” Program that in many cases has more accounts than they can handle, more bad press than the industry needs, and typically provides a false sense of security for the end user.

For any installing dealer it takes the same amount of effort to find a customer, sell the system and install the system whether they will keep the account or they sell it off to some mega corporation. I would much rather (and I do) go to all the work of finding, selling and installing so I can build MY OWN account base, not build a huge recurring revenue base for someone else.

I met a gentlemen who was in the alphabet company program. In five years he sold and installed six thousand accounts. Sold them all to Alpha Alarm Co. By my rough calculations he earned a gross of $4,200,000.00. Alpha Alarm Co. now earns over two and a half million EVERY year from those accounts.

If more installing dealers would take a few minutes to do the math they would soon realize that by selling their accounts they are cheating themselves out of a great retirement package!

Dave Currie

Damar Security Systems/Security Response Center

Sarnia Ontario