Deborah O'Mara explains how a little innovative thinking can help boost recurring monthly revenue

By Deborah O'Mara, SourceSecurity.com's dealer/integrator correspondent

For the security dealer and integrator, competition swoops in from every angle, including local and national companies, utilities and telecommunications firms, and even do-it-yourself systems. But that doesn’t mean you can’t successfully boost recurring monthly revenue (RMR) with a little innovative thinking.

Field technicians are particularly well-suited to selling RMR through system add-ons, upgrades or new services. These technicians have a good understanding of the customer’s premises, how lifestyles may have changed, or new services that may be beneficial. They’ve earned the trust of the customer – especially after a successful service call or system inspection.

That’s not to say the approach isn’t without challenges, although Bob Harris, owner and president of Attrition Busters® in Los Angeles concurs it’s a great way to extend the relationship with clients, make them “stickier” and avoid the trap of “leaving money on the table.”

“I absolutely think it’s a great way to get more revenue, but the downside is that some service techs may not be on board,” Harris says. Harris, who provides sales and marketing training to dealers and integrators globally, says he often suggests the concept, which requires buy-in from top management.

“The downside is that many service techs don’t feel comfortable selling. And some sales people don’t like the idea of technicians selling either, yet we’ve found they aren’t aggressive going after new business with existing customers. But then we stumbled on another way to do this - a reward for more information,” Harris says.

Incoming intel

Harris says the idea is to have technicians observe and bring intelligence back from the field for followup. “They see what’s going on at the customer premises, especially if they are instructed as to what new opportunities might consist of. They may notice the customer is still using a POTS (regular hardwired phone connection) and might jot that down on the service ticket for followup on cellular services. Or the technician can say: ‘I notice you have this type of connection or may benefit from this type of service; would you like someone to call you about new service options?’”

He says alarm companies can offer technicians a percentage of the additional RMR or a flat fee, depending on the amount of the additional revenue.

John Loud, president of LOUD Security Systems in Kennesaw, Ga., says the company empowers field technicians and service personnel to bring in additional revenue.

“We do so much in that area and have been for many years, so we have a good track record and experience in making it successful. When a sales rep goes to see a prospect, people are usually ready to buy. But buyers have a limited capacity for the extent of services available. When the technician shows up, it’s a new buying opportunity,” Loud says.

Named the Bonus Dollar Program, Loud says the company’s technicians and field service personnel get a $10 flat fee or 10% of the new RMR, provided they do the additional work or install new service at the time of the client visit, thus avoiding a second costly truck roll.

“If they sell an additional $200 in cellular alarm services they get $20 and then another 10% one-time payment for the increased value of the annual monitoring services contract,” he says.

One sale that’s putting money in tech’s pockets is new system batteries. For this, techs receive $10.

It’s an easy sale, Loud says. “The customer doesn’t want to be bothered when their keypad starts beeping because of a low battery, so the technician asks when they last had it changed and outlines the fact that an after-hours sales call would be $85, compared to changing out the battery now for $35.  It’s not a huge money maker, but it’s like finding a $10 bill. Other sales opportunities for techs are key fobs, add-on keypads and water detectors,” he says.

LOUD Security’s program also encourages friendly competition within the operations team. “We’ve been doing this for at least 10 years, and it’s created a lot of opportunity,” he adds.