Why you should never sign on as a dealer with a large company

?? ???????, 8 ??? ??????? 2015 - 6:07:35 ?.?. UTC+2 , ? ??????? snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com ? ??????:

y dealer, I signed on for the monitoring services of Protectron, a large al arm conglomerate up here in Canada. I also made the major mistake of having them do my billing, which was a much easier way to go while in "startup mo de". My business grew over the years primarily because we were able to sell full priced services with bundled service and warranty in the monthly, wit hout the need for a long term contract committment. And we did so at a far more reasonable price than any of the larger companies. Many people wish th e more personal services of a small, family oriented company versus the fac eless and expensive service of a large company, regardless of pricing. For years we could barely keep up, and that was with no advertising; only word of mouth. This still holds true today.

o take over our own billing, the horror story started. Due to their complet e incompetence, the billing data which they sent to us was in such shambles that I had to hire an outside contractor to put the data in a format that I could input to the new independant billing company. This cost $3500 up fr ont just to have the data file corrected. I also found dozens of credit car ds which hadn't been billed, several for some years. I concluded that they didn't follow up properly because it simply wasn't their money and thus did n't really give a damn !! It has taken nearly a full year to get the billin g sorted out. Now that my son is running the business, I am working strictl y in the office, and it has been my major job for 2015 to sort out this mes s. It has taught me a hard lesson in dealing with large security companies, and one which I hope I can pass along to others thinking of making the sam e mistake

ission. Now that Protectron has been purchased by ADT, I am beginning to se e the start of the cheapening of their monitoring services. As such, we are moving our accounts off Protectron/ADT's station on to the facilities of a large independant monitoring station. However, without the ability to quic kly shift all accounts, this is another major job for us.The top quality of services now being reported by clients on the new station is astounding co mpared to what they were receiving before, with loads of extra options avai lable to them for less than I am paying with ADT. Bottom line, I am not bas hing ADT here, it's just that their services are not in keeping with the mo re personal monitoring services available through a top quality independant station.It's more "cookie cutter" due to the large quantity of clients the y have to deal with (over 8 million last I heard), and their big company em phasis on the bottom line.

sed to heed the following:

the large company do it for you. Although this can be the more expensive wa y to go, especially at the beginning, it's far better for your company down line

not using the large company receiver numbers directly. Today, this is prett y easy to do and definately FAR easier than when I started in the '90's.

ou own, and all information is available digitally on that server for all a ccounts ie: contract, programming, correspondence unique to that client, et c. This way, you can access all relevant data on site with the client. Nor do you have to keep 8 or 10 filing cabinets around to house your files.

, including all the high tech options customers are needing today. The busi ness has never been more profitable than it has since my son started offeri ng services, and I personally couldn't be happier with the outcome. It took 15 years of working with me to learn the business, and most importantly, t o finally become a top quality businessman in his own right (the son should always exceed the father). And his outlook is somewhat different than mine (with the exception of ethics) and he is bringing a new approach to things which has shown in the results.

y but disastrous lures of the larger company's dealership options.

er "hitching your wagon to the star" of a large corporation at the beginnin g, but you will fare much worse over the longer term.

ere you and I would agree completely....:)) Feel free to say..."I told you so..."

Great post my friend. I totally agree. From day one i am dealing the billin g with the clients and i collecting the money with the help of my employees . Also when you make the collection you have a constant touch with the clie nt and while on collection (every 3 months) always someone will remember a new project to ask from us.

regards, Spyros

On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 5:07:35 AM UTC+13, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote :

y dealer, I signed on for the monitoring services of Protectron, a large al arm conglomerate up here in Canada. I also made the major mistake of having them do my billing, which was a much easier way to go while in "startup mo de". My business grew over the years primarily because we were able to sell full priced services with bundled service and warranty in the monthly, wit hout the need for a long term contract committment. And we did so at a far more reasonable price than any of the larger companies. Many people wish th e more personal services of a small, family oriented company versus the fac eless and expensive service of a large company, regardless of pricing. For years we could barely keep up, and that was with no advertising; only word of mouth. This still holds true today.

o take over our own billing, the horror story started. Due to their complet e incompetence, the billing data which they sent to us was in such shambles that I had to hire an outside contractor to put the data in a format that I could input to the new independant billing company. This cost $3500 up fr ont just to have the data file corrected. I also found dozens of credit car ds which hadn't been billed, several for some years. I concluded that they didn't follow up properly because it simply wasn't their money and thus did n't really give a damn !! It has taken nearly a full year to get the billin g sorted out. Now that my son is running the business, I am working strictl y in the office, and it has been my major job for 2015 to sort out this mes s. It has taught me a hard lesson in dealing with large security companies, and one which I hope I can pass along to others thinking of making the sam e mistake

ission. Now that Protectron has been purchased by ADT, I am beginning to se e the start of the cheapening of their monitoring services. As such, we are moving our accounts off Protectron/ADT's station on to the facilities of a large independant monitoring station. However, without the ability to quic kly shift all accounts, this is another major job for us.The top quality of services now being reported by clients on the new station is astounding co mpared to what they were receiving before, with loads of extra options avai lable to them for less than I am paying with ADT. Bottom line, I am not bas hing ADT here, it's just that their services are not in keeping with the mo re personal monitoring services available through a top quality independant station.It's more "cookie cutter" due to the large quantity of clients the y have to deal with (over 8 million last I heard), and their big company em phasis on the bottom line.

sed to heed the following:

the large company do it for you. Although this can be the more expensive wa y to go, especially at the beginning, it's far better for your company down line

not using the large company receiver numbers directly. Today, this is prett y easy to do and definately FAR easier than when I started in the '90's.

ou own, and all information is available digitally on that server for all a ccounts ie: contract, programming, correspondence unique to that client, et c. This way, you can access all relevant data on site with the client. Nor do you have to keep 8 or 10 filing cabinets around to house your files.

, including all the high tech options customers are needing today. The busi ness has never been more profitable than it has since my son started offeri ng services, and I personally couldn't be happier with the outcome. It took 15 years of working with me to learn the business, and most importantly, t o finally become a top quality businessman in his own right (the son should always exceed the father). And his outlook is somewhat different than mine (with the exception of ethics) and he is bringing a new approach to things which has shown in the results.

y but disastrous lures of the larger company's dealership options.

er "hitching your wagon to the star" of a large corporation at the beginnin g, but you will fare much worse over the longer term.

ere you and I would agree completely....:)) Feel free to say..."I told you so..."

Great advice, Bob, and its the same things that I tell all installers that come on board with our station as a bureau. Most listen, and a few don't. The more control you have over your own clients, the better off everyone i s. We don't have to chase up individual bad debts if the installer is resp onsible for them as a whole.

Cheers

Graeme McKenzie

On Sunday, November 8, 2015 at 11:07:35 AM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote :

y dealer, I signed on for the monitoring services of Protectron, a large al arm conglomerate up here in Canada. I also made the major mistake of having them do my billing, which was a much easier way to go while in "startup mo de". My business grew over the years primarily because we were able to sell full priced services with bundled service and warranty in the monthly, wit hout the need for a long term contract committment. And we did so at a far more reasonable price than any of the larger companies. Many people wish th e more personal services of a small, family oriented company versus the fac eless and expensive service of a large company, regardless of pricing. For years we could barely keep up, and that was with no advertising; only word of mouth. This still holds true today.

o take over our own billing, the horror story started. Due to their complet e incompetence, the billing data which they sent to us was in such shambles that I had to hire an outside contractor to put the data in a format that I could input to the new independant billing company. This cost $3500 up fr ont just to have the data file corrected. I also found dozens of credit car ds which hadn't been billed, several for some years. I concluded that they didn't follow up properly because it simply wasn't their money and thus did n't really give a damn !! It has taken nearly a full year to get the billin g sorted out. Now that my son is running the business, I am working strictl y in the office, and it has been my major job for 2015 to sort out this mes s. It has taught me a hard lesson in dealing with large security companies, and one which I hope I can pass along to others thinking of making the sam e mistake

ission. Now that Protectron has been purchased by ADT, I am beginning to se e the start of the cheapening of their monitoring services. As such, we are moving our accounts off Protectron/ADT's station on to the facilities of a large independant monitoring station. However, without the ability to quic kly shift all accounts, this is another major job for us.The top quality of services now being reported by clients on the new station is astounding co mpared to what they were receiving before, with loads of extra options avai lable to them for less than I am paying with ADT. Bottom line, I am not bas hing ADT here, it's just that their services are not in keeping with the mo re personal monitoring services available through a top quality independant station.It's more "cookie cutter" due to the large quantity of clients the y have to deal with (over 8 million last I heard), and their big company em phasis on the bottom line.

sed to heed the following:

the large company do it for you. Although this can be the more expensive wa y to go, especially at the beginning, it's far better for your company down line

not using the large company receiver numbers directly. Today, this is prett y easy to do and definately FAR easier than when I started in the '90's.

ou own, and all information is available digitally on that server for all a ccounts ie: contract, programming, correspondence unique to that client, et c. This way, you can access all relevant data on site with the client. Nor do you have to keep 8 or 10 filing cabinets around to house your files.

, including all the high tech options customers are needing today. The busi ness has never been more profitable than it has since my son started offeri ng services, and I personally couldn't be happier with the outcome. It took 15 years of working with me to learn the business, and most importantly, t o finally become a top quality businessman in his own right (the son should always exceed the father). And his outlook is somewhat different than mine (with the exception of ethics) and he is bringing a new approach to things which has shown in the results.

y but disastrous lures of the larger company's dealership options.

er "hitching your wagon to the star" of a large corporation at the beginnin g, but you will fare much worse over the longer term.

ere you and I would agree completely....:)) Feel free to say..."I told you so..."

Hello Robert,

and yes ..... I will graciously accept your invitation

I TOLD YOU SO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm waiting to hear the long term results of free service and no term contr acts although I doubt I'll be around when it comes time for your son to sel l .... if ever.

Glad to hear you're prospering presently though.

On Sunday, November 8, 2015 at 11:07:35 AM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote :

y dealer, I signed on for the monitoring services of Protectron, a large al arm conglomerate up here in Canada. I also made the major mistake of having them do my billing, which was a much easier way to go while in "startup mo de". My business grew over the years primarily because we were able to sell full priced services with bundled service and warranty in the monthly, wit hout the need for a long term contract committment. And we did so at a far more reasonable price than any of the larger companies. Many people wish th e more personal services of a small, family oriented company versus the fac eless and expensive service of a large company, regardless of pricing. For years we could barely keep up, and that was with no advertising; only word of mouth. This still holds true today.

o take over our own billing, the horror story started. Due to their complet e incompetence, the billing data which they sent to us was in such shambles that I had to hire an outside contractor to put the data in a format that I could input to the new independant billing company. This cost $3500 up fr ont just to have the data file corrected. I also found dozens of credit car ds which hadn't been billed, several for some years. I concluded that they didn't follow up properly because it simply wasn't their money and thus did n't really give a damn !! It has taken nearly a full year to get the billin g sorted out. Now that my son is running the business, I am working strictl y in the office, and it has been my major job for 2015 to sort out this mes s. It has taught me a hard lesson in dealing with large security companies, and one which I hope I can pass along to others thinking of making the sam e mistake

ission. Now that Protectron has been purchased by ADT, I am beginning to se e the start of the cheapening of their monitoring services. As such, we are moving our accounts off Protectron/ADT's station on to the facilities of a large independant monitoring station. However, without the ability to quic kly shift all accounts, this is another major job for us.The top quality of services now being reported by clients on the new station is astounding co mpared to what they were receiving before, with loads of extra options avai lable to them for less than I am paying with ADT. Bottom line, I am not bas hing ADT here, it's just that their services are not in keeping with the mo re personal monitoring services available through a top quality independant station.It's more "cookie cutter" due to the large quantity of clients the y have to deal with (over 8 million last I heard), and their big company em phasis on the bottom line.

sed to heed the following:

the large company do it for you. Although this can be the more expensive wa y to go, especially at the beginning, it's far better for your company down line

not using the large company receiver numbers directly. Today, this is prett y easy to do and definately FAR easier than when I started in the '90's.

ou own, and all information is available digitally on that server for all a ccounts ie: contract, programming, correspondence unique to that client, et c. This way, you can access all relevant data on site with the client. Nor do you have to keep 8 or 10 filing cabinets around to house your files.

, including all the high tech options customers are needing today. The busi ness has never been more profitable than it has since my son started offeri ng services, and I personally couldn't be happier with the outcome. It took 15 years of working with me to learn the business, and most importantly, t o finally become a top quality businessman in his own right (the son should always exceed the father). And his outlook is somewhat different than mine (with the exception of ethics) and he is bringing a new approach to things which has shown in the results.

y but disastrous lures of the larger company's dealership options.

er "hitching your wagon to the star" of a large corporation at the beginnin g, but you will fare much worse over the longer term.

ere you and I would agree completely....:)) Feel free to say..."I told you so..."

Within the scope of the whole marketing approach, the free service and no l ong term commitments have been a boon to us over the long term. It allows u s to stand out from the crowd of companies who many times seem little bette r than the Alarmforce scammers and other "contract monkeys" in our industry . I can say with absolute certainty, that we have dozens of clients who are with us because they have been so absolutely screwed by companies misusing these long term contracts to extort money when it wasn't necessary. People appreciate honesty and openness in business, and our providing services wi thout the requirement to needlessly lock in, and our standing behind the pr oducts and services we sell and install, has been a hallmark of our busines s approach since day one. Good service means we don't lose customers unless they are moving, and it ensures they return to us when they need our servi ces again.All our clients pay for their services up front, so from a busine ss perspective, there is no need for a long term contract. If they want a f ree system, they go elsewhere.

I have no intention of arguing these points once again. This business model works well for us and our clients and my son is carrying the business to n ew technological heights, with great success.

I wish you well in your business...

On Monday, November 16, 2015 at 8:49:56 AM UTC-5, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote :

long term commitments have been a boon to us over the long term. It allows us to stand out from the crowd of companies who many times seem little bet ter than the Alarmforce scammers and other "contract monkeys" in our indust ry. I can say with absolute certainty, that we have dozens of clients who a re with us because they have been so absolutely screwed by companies misusi ng these long term contracts to extort money when it wasn't necessary. Peop le appreciate honesty and openness in business, and our providing services without the requirement to needlessly lock in, and our standing behind the products and services we sell and install, has been a hallmark of our busin ess approach since day one. Good service means we don't lose customers unle ss they are moving, and it ensures they return to us when they need our ser vices again.All our clients pay for their services up front, so from a busi ness perspective, there is no need for a long term contract. If they want a free system, they go elsewhere.

el works well for us and our clients and my son is carrying the business to new technological heights, with great success.

If I may ..... let me give you another tidbit of possible things to come. A nd I have to say that in all my planning of how this business was going to pan out for me, the one thing I overlooked was after being in business for so long that the original clients would begin dropping off at a rate commen surate with the period of time over which they were signed up.

That is .... back in the beginning, I was signing up customers at a pretty fast rate. They were all pretty much new business and home owners. Now .... that they've aged .... 20, 30,40 years, they're beginning to retire (no mo ney), and/or move away or die. Somehow, I just never planned for that. And , of course now ..... and over the last number of years, add to that the fa ct that I've ramped down on the amount of work that I do,(not many 12/16 ho ur days) my rate of attrition has increased. Although I could opt out at my whim, I continue to stay involved with all the new technology ..... becaus e it's fun .... my account base is going to be less than what I had estimat ed it was going to be when I finally decide to opt out.

HOWEVER .....I'm willing to make the trade-off though because the size of a number of the installations I do every year are falling into the $10 - $20 ,000,00 range and cover the gamut of technologies. It's really satisfying t o start at the Cable and Internet hookup and do a completely connected home from expanded whole house WiFi network to whole house audio, to TV's, home theater, CCTV, Alarm system, with remote viewing and notification, automat ed lighting, remote door bell viewing, remote garage door control .... It' just goes on and on and I'm lovin every minute of it.

I'm finding that there's not too many people out there in my vintage that c an keep up with the technology so I'm fortunate in that regard. Additionall y it's obvious that there's not too many people out there who really like w hat they do and can make good money at it too. Never planned on that either .

Anyway, just fair warning about the attrition thing ..... Don't know what y ou can do about it but knowing that it's there might help. Obviously, I've downsized through the years so this "effect" is not going to be a problem f or a company that keeps growing.

te:

no long term commitments have been a boon to us over the long term. It allo ws us to stand out from the crowd of companies who many times seem little b etter than the Alarmforce scammers and other "contract monkeys" in our indu stry. I can say with absolute certainty, that we have dozens of clients who are with us because they have been so absolutely screwed by companies misu sing these long term contracts to extort money when it wasn't necessary. Pe ople appreciate honesty and openness in business, and our providing service s without the requirement to needlessly lock in, and our standing behind th e products and services we sell and install, has been a hallmark of our bus iness approach since day one. Good service means we don't lose customers un less they are moving, and it ensures they return to us when they need our s ervices again.All our clients pay for their services up front, so from a bu siness perspective, there is no need for a long term contract. If they want a free system, they go elsewhere.

odel works well for us and our clients and my son is carrying the business to new technological heights, with great success.

And I have to say that in all my planning of how this business was going t o pan out for me, the one thing I overlooked was after being in business fo r so long that the original clients would begin dropping off at a rate comm ensurate with the period of time over which they were signed up.

y fast rate. They were all pretty much new business and home owners. Now .. .. that they've aged .... 20, 30,40 years, they're beginning to retire (no money), and/or move away or die. Somehow, I just never planned for that. A nd, of course now ..... and over the last number of years, add to that the fact that I've ramped down on the amount of work that I do,(not many 12/16 hour days) my rate of attrition has increased. Although I could opt out at my whim, I continue to stay involved with all the new technology ..... beca use it's fun .... my account base is going to be less than what I had estim ated it was going to be when I finally decide to opt out.

a number of the installations I do every year are falling into the $10 - $

can keep up with the technology so I'm fortunate in that regard. Additiona lly it's obvious that there's not too many people out there who really like what they do and can make good money at it too. Never planned on that eith er.

you can do about it but knowing that it's there might help. Obviously, I'v e downsized through the years so this "effect" is not going to be a problem for a company that keeps growing.

We are not finding an increasing attrition rate within our base beyond the normal level when people move, but we are finding a growing interest and ne ed for the higher tech solutions. And these generally lead to other tech op tions clients are requesting from us which mean we end up being far more in volved in their overall telecommunications and security solutions than we w ere previously with just their alarm. This in itself makes our services mor e valuable to the client and further cements our relationship with them.

I too find a lot of the older and smaller alarm dealers falling behind in t echnology and as a result, losing a substantial part of their current base. My son often has to help them with tech solutions to prevent them from los ing the client (a lot of smaller dealers help each other here, which I am t old is somewhat unique in the industry). They simply don't understand the n ew technology AND worse, have no interest in learning new things.The really sad part of this is it takes them out of the pool of available companies w ho can bid on high tech jobs, and opens up the door to higher priced, large r companies such as ADT and the like who have the knowledge and resources t o do the necessary work (albeit with the same large company limitations on service quality and high pricing). Or it leaves the customer having to go t o several suppliers, who don't seem to be able to work in close unison with each other, so the customer ends up more or less acting as a general contr actor to try to get things done properly (and you know how that ends up.... ). At this point, our one source solution becomes even more attractive to t he client.

This is no different than in any industry though. The business world is alw ays changing and it is up to companies to adapt or die. Far more of our wor k is comprised of customized solutions for each client. Our older base of c lients are usually static, at least until they literally die off, but the y ounger crowd are always moving from home to home, generating more work, but of a quite different nature.

I am largely retired now other than doing the office functions. But I do se e the quotes and correspondence between my son, our technicians and the cus tomers. Some of what they discuss I hate to admit I don't understand at all . So I personally am in the same boat as some of these smaller companies, b ut was lucky enough to have a fully trained and excellent management person in my son to take over.

I don't know your age, but I am 71 and still healthy, and plan to take far more time to tour on my Gold Wing motorcycle while I still have the faculti es to do so. Remember, life after 70 is a crap shoot. No one ever went to t heir grave saying they should have worked longer and harder.

I hope you find your "balance" and truly wish you well for the future...