Re: Do YOU ACTUALLY Own Your Equipment -- Truce?

["Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

R.H.Campbell wrote:
> I don't remember those exact quotes but you are once again taken things out
> of context. You conveniently forgot to to put any of those comments in
> context. I can't remember those exact words, but I do remember saying such
> things (and stronger) in regards to AlarmBridge's hidden auto renewing 5
> year contract, which is what we were talking about.

As a matter of fact I chose those quotes because they WERE in context
and didn't choose others that would have taken a long explaination to
qualify.

>
> And my comments about ADT still stand ! They and the other nationals WOULD
> be in trouble if they didn't have these long term contracts to hide behind !
> And by revenue sharks, I AM referring to ADT and a lot of the other
> companies who install these hopeless wireless minisystems just to get the
> long term contract. And of course the newest kid on the block - AlarmForce !

Yeah, we know ...... we know ....... already!

>
> However, if you or anyone else feels slighted by my comments, then I will be
> more careful in the future and will qualify my comments carefully so no
> reader goes away feeling that long term contracts in and of themselves are a
> bad thing, or at least they see it scoped out within the industry
> realistically.  But with rare exception, they do nothing for the end client,
> so people should shop around, since more and more companies will do that if
> pressed by the buyer !!

There is no reason why term contracts NEED to be solely for the benefit
of the end user. In my case, I hold the price of monitoring for the
term. But that's just to entice them to sign the agreement. The equity
of the contracts is what the value of my company is based on and what
my quality of retirement is resting on. You're correct is saying that
there is little in it for the end user, but not using them is giving
away a little piece of your company, with every sale. It's certainly
alright for you to do that, but why would you want to disparage eveyone
else who doesn't choose to give up their equity, as you are?

If you went to the bank and asked for a loan based on the value of your
accounts ...... what would it be worth? Nothing. Mine have an intrinsic
value that yours don't. That's important and grows every more
important, the larger the company grows. You and I will never grow that
big but it is the basis that larger companies use to guage the value of
their worth and the basis that banks and investors use to guage when
financing is sought. Your company could grow to 10 thousand accounts
and be worth but a fraction of a similar sized company with term
contracts and thus when you eventually needed financing to make that
next big jump, you wouldn't have it.

Do you really believe that a company who's using long term contracts is
going to go month to month simply because an end user want's him too?
If a client doesn't want to sign a minimum 1 year contract with me, he
looking for another alarm company tomorrow. The reason why? Because I
know that he's going to find every alarm company out there requiring
the same thing. No contract, find sombody else. Since everyone prices
their installs based on the recurring revenue stream, anyone the end
user finds who WILL give him a no term agreement is obviously not doing
well to begin with. In other words, in this market it would be an act
of desperation, in order to get the job.   In more cases than not,
anyone who sells a job and loses money is not doing well for some
reason. Bad sales skills, bad installations, ...... what ever ..... and
will not survive long enough to be competition. I hope they sell a lot
of jobs pretty fast.

>
> And unless we want to continue this tirade any longer, I suggest you also
> start to look at things more objectively, and start looking at the "big
> picture" in regards to the contract issue !

How much more objectively could I look at it?  If I get a lot of long
term contracts, I'll get a lot of money when I retire. That's pretty
damn objective looking to me?

>Win, lose or draw according to
> your standards, it doesn't serve any further purpose other than stirring the
> pot in the newsgroup.

Are you referring to what you do when you refer to people who use long
term contracts as "scaming, conning, etc, etc? Or to me when I object
to it?

>And frankly, neither of us are going to change our
> minds, so lets just drop it !!

That's always been acceptable to me. You do things your way, I'll do
things my way.
I never set out to actually "change your mind" ..... just to let you
taste what it's like when you insult people.

So, now .......... does that mean:
You wont insult the people in this newsgroup and installers everywhere
by telling end users that all companies who use long term contracts are
villans?

And in return, ........   I won't have anything to object to ..... ?

>Feel free to shoot at me in the future if you
> don't like what I say......

Well hey now, I'm a pretty good shot but Canada is pretty far away.
.........