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

[Jim <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

On Monday, November 16, 2015 at 8:49:56 AM UTC-5, roberc...@xxxxxxxxx wrote=
:
> Within the scope of the whole marketing approach, the free service and no=
 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.=20
>=20
> I have no intention of arguing these points once again. This business mod=
el works well for us and our clients and my son is carrying the business to=
 new technological heights, with great success.=20
>=20
> I wish you well in your business...

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.=20

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.=20

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.=20

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.