ADT Security Pro - Home Security Blog

California Security Pro's ADT Authorized Dealer Survey

Background on California Security Pro and the team:

How many employees do you have? 60 Team Members

How long have you been an ADT Authorized Dealer? Since 1999

What is your primary means of going to market?

1. Inbound from Internet search and customer review sites
2. Area Representatives work new homeowner routes and crime areas
3. Referral partner marketing

Do you work to collaborate with the local ADT office? 

We have started to have meetings with the local ADT Corporate management team and have done one Sales Rally with the ADT Sales team and other local Dealers. We are scheduled to have another collaboration management meeting on March 11 in Northern California and a Sales Rally in Southern California on March 12th. We are very excited about both events and what we can accomplish together.

What makes your dealership, California Security Pro... unique? 

1. Our team... Our culture of truly being customer obsessed. Our motto is "#1 in California...#1 in Customer Service".  
2. We also believe that ADT Pulse is the best security solution for families and over 75% of our customers have an ADT Pulse system installed. Of our total customers, 30% have Pulse Level III installed.
3. Our marketing focus is the internet, social media and customer review cites. We have zero van crews.

What does being “customer obsessed” mean to you? 

To cherish our customers. Customer obsessed means that everyone on our team truly cares about each customer and we treat them as we would our family and friends. Customer obsessed means we are the best at what we do at the highest level of professionalism. Every team member from our Leadership Team, Sales Representatives, Technicians, Administration and Customer Care need to take personal responsibility to take care of every customer we get in contact with on a daily basis... we need to roll out the red carpet treatment for them and give them a WOW experience.

...and what do your team members do to offer the best customer service? 

1. Leadership Team: We are ultimately responsible to ensure every customer gets exceptional service. If there are any problems, our leaders get personally involved to make sure we turn a service issue into a positive resolution. It does not matter what time it is... our customers need to be protected everyday and we need to give them the immediate service they deserve. Our management team leads the way of our customer obsessed culture.
2. Sales Representatives: Need to be completely knowledgeable about our products and services to ensure that each customer gets the perfect security solution for their family at a price they can afford. Listen to the customer's needs and spend time to help them understand their options. Have 100% integrity... 100% of the time.  Follow up with the customer after the sale with a personal thank you note, visit the install (phone call if you can not be there) and then check in with them a week/month later just to make sure they are very happy:)
3. Technicians: Need to start the relationship with the customer off right by being on time. Take no shortcuts to reduce time of install, finish the job completely on the 1st visit and clean up after the installation. One of the most important parts of a fantastic installation is the demonstration of how to operate the system and setup all the ADT Pulse features. This "Golden 30" is just that... GOLDEN. A job well done will result in very few immediate service calls.
4. Administration and Customer Care need to make sure the account is processed smoothly and be available to answer any customer questions. Our Customer Care team follows up with every customer the day after installation to make sure they are 100% satisfied and happy. We also help them with their installation certificate so they will get their homeowner's insurance discount. We also have automated emails that help our customer's with typical account questions, links to setup logins and ADT Pulse Apps.

What do you like best about partnering with ADT? 

We bleed blue and are very proud to be partners with ADT. It is an honor to offer customers the finest home security monitoring in America and confidently know we are giving them uncompromising security. It is a very noble cause to protect homes and families with ADT. We love ADT! 

Meet the President of California Security Pro

How long have you been in the security industry? Close to 10 years

What other industries have you worked in? 

Out of college I was a cashier at Pack and Save Supermarket and worked nights at UPS loading trucks.  I became a UPS driver and got to wear brown outfits everyday. UPS taught me the importance of scientific management and the use of every minute of your work day to create efficiency and on time delivery. One day I found myself holding a strike sign and decided it was time to move on. 

I tried a business of my own and learned a lot from failures... They say it's never a failure... just a lesson. Ya, ya, ya... it was a lesson that cost me more than a college education. However, it did teach me a lot of what it would take to run a successful business and how important marketing is to a business. Wife said I needed a job... and she was definitely on target. So I started working for a home improvement company called American Home Improvement Products (AHIP), an authorized dealer of Sears Home Improvement. AHIP was the largest home improvement company at the time and had very good sales training. My skill sets dramatically increased and I thrived in a sales environment. After six months working as a Sales Representative, I was sitting with my wife in Maui, on a trip I had won, sipping a chocolate shake with a some a bit of alcohol goodness mixed in and sitting by the pool. I look over at my wife and thought.... man I love sales.

I stayed in the home improvement business for several years and was able to become a very successful Sales Manager and trainer. After having record success as a Sales Representative, it brought me a lot of joy to help others exceed in their sales careers and pass on what I had learned about sales. I continued my sales management helping start Interactive Response, which latter became Interactive Home. This is where I started in the security industry. In three years, Interactive Home became the 49th largest low voltage company in the US. We worked with many production builders, like Lennar and Brookfield Homes, in Northern California and wired thousands of homes with GE Security and Smarthome technologies. We also partnered with Sony and Klipsch to installed whole house audio and theaters. We had tremendous success because of our ability to market to builders and sell low voltage options to new homeowners. It was a great ride until the housing market crash and the bubble popped. Enjoy the wave you are riding as long as it lasts:)

What is your most memorable experience while running your dealership? 

When my outlaws, I mean my new Mom and Dad, kept asking me about how much it would cost them to get an ADT system installed. Everytime they went on vacation, Europe for a few months, Hawaii for a week, he would ask me... how much is that monthly again? $35 or $45 I would tell him. He had the money to do it but he kept deciding not to get a system installed because he did not want another monthly bill. Well guess what happened? They gotten broken into... and it made what I was doing real to me.  It made me realize how important it was for me to protect every family I met with and that I needed to be more passionate about persuading people that they truly do need to protect their family with ADT. All of us who represent ADT need to realize that what we do will save lives and hopefully this is the passion I manage our team with.

What advice would you give a new ADT Authorized Dealer? 

Realize that you are a marketing company. Even if you are fantastic at sales, the best installer and have a desire to offer exceptional customer service you will never grow your business without customers being interested in working with you. In today's marketplace, 90% of us look online, read customer reviews or use social media before we make a buying decision. The generation of Millennials are starting to buy homes and they shop differently.  Make sure you create a solid online reputation in your local market and then be obsessed about treating your customers like you would like to be treated.

If you want to grow your company you must build leaders. From experience, I concentrated my efforts on training our Sales Reps and made sure we hired talented Technicians and Customer Care Representatives. We ended up with 50 very competent team members but forgot we needed leadership to grow us to the next level. If you are starting a new ADT Dealership you can not do it by yourself. You will need leaders who are passionate and working together to build a stable and profitable company.

Learn from the success of other ADT Dealers and the local ADT Direct offices. The ADT Team will help guide you to grow your new business. Founder Dave Lindsey of Defender Direct, the largest ADT Dealer, was extremely helpful giving our owner Dave Loetz advice, business model, processes and all the documents he used to run his business to help us get started. We are so very grateful to Dave for sharing his "secrets" to success. When you become an ADT Dealer... you join the ADT Family:)

What is your best advice for leading a sales team? 

Often you get the opportunity to lead a sales team because you were one of the best Sales Representatives. Remember, you are no longer the best Sales Representative, but a leader. Anytime you are prospecting or selling a customer an ADT system by yourself you are just a Sales Representative. When one of your team members are by your side you have now become a leader.

A leader is a servant to his team. You serve your team by putting their needs before your own and putting all your effort into helping your Sales Representatives improve their lives. When all of your Sales Representatives are earning substantial money to provide well for their families... you will be making plenty to provide for your family. And, it's is so important to realize that you can not truly be a servant to your sales team if you never spend time with them outside of work. A true leader creates relationships and that requires time. Make sure you plan for exciting and fun events with the whole team and with every individual you lead.

Being a great sales leader starts with attracting the right people. Only hire people you want to serve. After hiring, providing exceptional sales training is one of the most important things you can do to help your sales team be successful. Put all your energy into your training... you should be exhausted at days end after giving everything you have to help your team be the best they can be. Then hold your Sales Representatives accountable to meet or exceed their personal sales and financial goals on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. Make sure you recognize them for a job well done, create fun contests and have an absolute blast with your team.... there's nothing better than a group of happy, smiling Sales Reps. 

Connect with Greg Barker, President, California Security Pro on LinkedIn

When you are looking at home security companies to install a home or business security system, please consider giving us an opportunity to provide for your security needs. If you are a home owner and would like to schedule a free home security review or if you would like to refer a friend or client to California Security Pro... Call 1-800-310-9490.