A little vent

Don't you just love morons like that? Yeah you should come out and fix my system for free....

Been there, done that, shot the messenger. (I wish.)

I was recently introduced to a potential customer by a neighbor. Turns out he is a drywall texture contractor and owns 3 homes. I go to his home to size up his existing system that doesn't work. He has a Moose Z1100 that was installed 20+ years ago. I also observed all the new tile work and cut wires throughout the house which use to be wall to wall carpeted.

The home is an older ranch style with very little to no attic access. Not enough space to reinstall a hardwired system without some major time & labor expense. So being the guy that I am, I quoted him a flat $500 just in parts to get an Ademco Vista20P hybrid system installed. I explained that all wiring will either be replaced, or a wireless transmitter would be placed in areas that I cannot easily get a wire to.

As expected, he balked at the price, and started spewing crap about a Home Depot security system. He then showed me ads from ADT & Brinks for there famous $99 lick and stick systems...So I got back in my truck and drove off knowing that this guy was a fool. Here I was willing to give away my free time to this guy, which was obviously not worth anything to him. I was willing to help this guy out, and waive any monitoring agreement which I already suspected he didn't want to begin with. This is all too common here in Florida.

Jim Rojas

Bob La L> Been there, done that, shot the messenger. (I wish.)

RHC: Nick, I have found the opposite is quite true ! Notwithstanding the odd, inevitable cheapskate, I have found that residential customers are far easier to deal with overall. Most clients value your services and are willing to pay a reasonable price to keep their alarms working and properly monitored. However, businesses are quite another matter. While they pay, they also require a huge amount of "overhead". Usually no one in the business feels responsibility for the alarm, and as such, there is little onus to keep the calling list accurate; no interest in ensuring proper training of users, and no interest in checking the alarm to make sure it is working properly (other than the inevitable service call five minutes before closing just before a long holiday). Plus, large businesses are always physically changing things around which necessitates additional service work (work which is paid for yes, but which also keeps you away from more profitable work like new installs to increase your revenue base). As well, residential "takeovers" can be a lucrative source of additional revenue, since these people are usually coming from the uncaring, faceless Borg, and now being treated as actual people rather than a "contractual revenue opportunity" is a real breath of fresh air for most of them.

For some time, I have been trying to divest myself of all my commercial accounts and have successfully done so with the exception of about 20 odd. Life is much easier now for us, and the business also runs much more smoothly.

But I do feel for you with the kinds of cheapskate customers you describe !! Before I do anything with new clients, I usually have some detailed discussions about pricing with them, long before I ever drive out to see them. It's usually not hard to tell upfront if they are looking for something for nothing. After some upfront rough estimates, I usually direct them to go up to my website where all my detailed pricing is front and centre for them to see. Most come back for the work to be done, and the ones that don't are the ones who are inevitably looking for "low up front, long term, high priced contractual monthly", which I never do, and which never will be in my business model !

I believe a lot of it is how you approach it ! I don't feel any competitive pressures at all, since I am the only one selling my way in my particular market niche. So I can afford to take lots of time to talk to potential clients and weed out those who should be going to the Borg or other companies of that type. If they do decide to go with the "freeby" approach, I usually guide them to reputable companies I know who sell that way, and away from the Alarmforce "scammers" and the overpriced ADT type of companies. And I can say that at least I have helped the client to find the market niche he wishes to buy in, and as a result, he usually refers other friends and relatives my way. They know they won't get the hard sell !!

It isn't perfect, but it works for me. And I simply refuse to deal with businesses at all !! But I guess we all have to find our "niche".....

On an opposite note. I placed an ad in Craigslist 2 years ago for people looking to get their systems fixed at a reasonable cost.

I get a call from a fencing contractor that has an ADT Safewatch 3000 system in place, that ADT no longer monitors. So I drove 30 miles to his home and noticed his fully wireless setup. He had 2 doors and 1 motion in his system. He was looking to get all the windows and doors done utilizing his existing system if possible.

So basically he needed another 13 window transmitters, 2 smokes, 2 heats, 3 glassbreaks, upgrade keypads to alphas, and 4 keyfobs. So I quoted him $1500 for the upgrades. He turned around an explained his current financial situation and asked me if I would care to trade for anything he does or has...

So again being the guy that I am, I said sure. He offered me a almost new 8x10x7 enclosed utility trailer that he use to move from Tenneessee to Tampa. I find out that this GatorTail trailer sells for $2500+ new. It also came with electric brakes.

I called the guy back and said that I owe him some cash for the trailer, because I felt that the deal really wasn't fair to him. He laughed for a moment and said that it was ok. He got the trailer 2nd hand and he paid $1700 for it. He was so happy that I was able to help his wife and family sleep better at night knowing that all the windows and doors in their home were now protected...

Jim Rojas

Bob La L> Been there, done that, shot the messenger. (I wish.)

I love to trade when i can I have gotten alot of things I could never had otherwise afforded

Nick,

I understand your frustration. This kind of thing doesn't happen to me to much. My customer base is about 50/50 for Resi/Comm. This was not a FREE or even a $99 special. This guy paid over $1K for the system and then let it sit. Go figure???

My customers like what I do and the way I do it. Those that don't are no longer my customers. It is rather simple. You either love me or hate me. It may not be the best business model but it works for me. I feel that from reading comments of others here I am not alone. The sad part is this cheapskate thinks he has won and will tell all his friends. Boo Hoo!!!

The prior venting was due to what occurred this morning. This afternoon I got a signed contract for more than $6k to do a big house. Some days just have there downs and ups. Wife and I splurged tonight for supper................. Domino's pizza!!!! Yee Haa!!

Have a good rest of the week all.

Les

This service IS free, it just takes $85.00 to get me there.

That's almost like I said when some guy asked how much one of signs and some stickers would cost.

I told him; "About $1250.00 and I will throw a system in for free. I don't like to put my name on something I did not do."

He decided not persue it any further. Too bad, his loss.

Les