The use of systems to provide security and peace of mind is well documented. Are you putting these systems to work for you and your organization?
The installation of an electronic security system should be providing a solution to real security and operational concerns. This mindset starts with the client and their ability to translate the true impact of threats to their business operation.
Being in this industry for the past 25+ years I have been lucky enough to see it evolve from a necessary evil to a cornerstone of business operations. While seeing this transition take place there is still a cost to doing business for the end user and many times that cost is looked at as an expense. When dollars and cents are involved, this will seemingly always be the case. It is our job as integrators to discover the business impact certain activities have on an operation and provide real solutions to our clients that impact safety, security and the bottom line.
The Client's Perspective.
Looking at our business from the outside in, I can easily see where the client is looking at us an expense. If our Advisor arrives at the site, puts on the sales pitch, and quickly runs through their building and counts doors and cameras and then has a quote ready in 30 minutes to make a decision on.
This would tell me a few things. First, does this person really care about me in this process. We may like each other, sure, but do they really understand how this impacts me? Next, did they really take the time to evaluate all the factors that could play into the system's ability to be effective in my facility? Finally, if it's that easy I can just order some stuff online and see if I can get it to work. "I mean I just need to see my parking lot anyway."
The Sales Perspective.
Well, I think we have an idea of this one. The "Sales manager" is driving their teams to be successful and pushing them to get quotes out. Without quotes and playing the numbers game you can't hit your quota. As a Salesperson your closing rates are determined on your quoting and that is driven off your contacts. It's true that sales is a numbers game and its well documented in hundreds if not thousands of books.
The reps want to hit that quota and so they are trying to quote as fast as they can go get to the next meeting. While this is presumed to be moving the forward in their job, they end up missing quota and becoming a 70%'er or worse and are always on the bubble and on performance plans that only add pressure.
The Solution.
This brings us to why we seem to end up with the perception that systems don't solve issues and solutions cost too much. There is a disconnect in the ability to drive value in the process. This is somewhat 50/50 between the client and the salesperson but it can be easily solved.
The client should be going into this with an open mind and have a full understanding of how their business is suffering from not acting. Now, it is the Advisors responsibility to ask probing questions that develop the conversation and lead to common ground. This initial Discovery session is key to both sides understanding the impact a solution would have on the operation.
There is always a main reason we are called that is threating the client's operation and that needs to be addressed initially of course, but there are many other factors besides loss to be thinking about. How does your labor hours spent searching video, tracking down employees or lost production hours that are not being managed, affecting the business? These are all costs that usually far outweigh the system we are about to put into place. This is the turning point when a system becomes a solution. When both parties find the true cost of not taking action vs. the implementation and ongoing expense of the proposed system.
What makes us different?
We have several things that we expect from our team. The major most important factor is to be an Advisor, not a salesperson. We are not here to make sales. We are here to advise and filter out the technology for our clients. Do we make sales, of course we do, but the driving factor is not a sales quota and not a number of quotes that yield a closing percentage. In fact, we don't even look at that as a factor. We focus our efforts on quality touches and impactful designs based on client feedback.
Over time we have found that by changing the focal point of our team to the client, removing quotas, paying a fair and consistent commission we are able to far exceed our production goals. When you couple great culture, unlimited income potential and happy clients that are getting their business secured, safety increased, and overall satisfaction met.
This industry is important and has evolved to become a major factor in building designs, daily operational expectations and increased safety and security. It is not something to take lightly by the client or our team.
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