Re: The summer alarm salesman are coming

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On May 8, 10:49=A0pm, nick markowitz <nmarkow...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> yes once again the college kids will be coming around door to door
> selling alarm systems
> and then disappearing into the wood work.
> One of my dads friends bought into there slick sales and is spending
> $43.00 a month for next 5 years.
> although they did give him a free system with about $350.00 worth of
> equipment.
> And these kids have big stories to tell to how there $350.00 =A0wireless
> system is so much better than the professional alarm system some one
> already has in there home .
> and every other lying cock and bull story they come up with.
> One of my customers heads the local block watch in her community and
> one of these kids
> told her how there system was endorsed by the local block watch group.
> what a sup-rise for the kid.
> Yes I realise there young ambitious and full of vigor and anxious to
> make money for school but if you ask me this is no way to sell systems
> and many of these summer companies have a long list of =A0consumer
> complaints filed against them as well to boot.
> free systems was the begining of then end of the alarm industry .

RHC: Yes Nick, this sort of selling has always bothered me from the
very first day I got into this industry. However, after 15 years of
the same bullshit, I have learned to come to terms with it. There seem
to be at least two truisms that come to play in this sort of human
activity. The first is that everyone seems to love getting something
for nothing, and there are enough shady business people around who
will always take advantage of this sort of human tendency. It doesn't
matter that the system itself is vastly inferior; it only matters to
the customer that the perception is there that they are getting
something at bargain basement prices. Frankly, this is the only way
that scumbag outfits like Alarmforce (for example) can even survive.
Even a cursory glance at their (and other companies like them)
offerings should make people very suspicious ( a corollary to this is
"those who advertise the most, end up giving you the least"). However,
people who have made these kind of decisions will always look for
reasons that re-enforce the correctness of their original decision,
and they are then not open to any kind of further reflection or
comment. In the case of the usual "free system", a simple mathematical
calculation would show how very expensive their choice will be in
reality. In your quoted case, $350 plus $45 X 60 months ($3050) is not
"free", not withstanding the likelihood of having to also pay insane
charges for service when required.

The second truism is that everyone today is looking for that "quick
fix" to all their problems and will gladly put aside their common
sense when someone offers them their version of a " security placebo".
Never mind the less glamorous and equally important physical security
precautions; simply throw in a minimalistic electronic system (or
worse) and then sit back and breathe easy in their ignorant bliss of
what they have done.

Originally, I went so far as to expend a lot of energy to put up a
website to educate consumers on how to approach their security
services. Over the years though, I have come to realize that educating
someone is only something you can do if they want it. There will
always be enough people out there that will continue to allow
themselves to get suckered in to all sorts of nefarious deals, in
spite of what reputable companies have to offer. I think it was Rube
Goldstein who years ago said ..."there's a sucker born every minute".
Personally, I put it another way..." a fool and their money are soon
parted".

All you and anyone who is a true professional in this business can do
is continue to be truthful and honest in dealings with customers. You
will lose many sales to these fast buck artists but the customers who
do come to you will appreciate what you offer and will spread your
good name to others. And honestly Nick, do you really want those other
kinds of customers ?

Personally, I have given up caring about people like this who make
these kinds of choices. There are enough intelligent people out there
who will shop carefully, and who will continue to keep legitimate
companies in business. To hell with the idiots....

I guess that's what happened when I took off my rose coloured
glasses.....:))