Security Sales & Integration January 2022 - 34

Management
2022 Security Dealer
Executive Roundtable
ger because it made us open to different ways of
doing things. That was a good thing as we have
evolved. However, this year has been even harder.
We do a lot of small business where we've
seen a lot of consolidation, people taking multiple
offices and moving it to one. Inflation of
wages, materials, gas is painful because all our
installations are either subsidized or run on extremely
thin margins, so 3%, 5%, 10% can be
painful. Also, there's severe supply chain issues
and we have the 3G sunset happening.
All of those layers have made 2021 harder.
We used to
look one week out
to schedule and
called clients the
day before to
confirm
appointments.
We are now
looking a month
out.
- Marvin Smith,
Orlando Emergency
Signal
Orlando Signal Emergency
adds a personal touch
by giving its pet-owning
customers dog or cat snacks.
We finished 2020 flat year-over-year, down a
little bit on install revenue, but more profitable
in some other areas. Not only has 2021 been
more difficult, but I believe it's going to be
harder still in 2022. We are beholden to technology
and the supply chain, and we're having
difficulties in that respect. The biggest challenge
moving forward is how to stabilize our supply
chains because the growth is there.
Especially with the pandemic, people realize
there's value. There's value in the smart home,
there's value in having their home protected,
they want to have emergency services, they
want to have fire on their small business, they
want to have visibility and some lifestyle stuff so
they can manage their employees when they're
not there. There's a lot of opportunity for us in
this business and we're very lucky to be in it.
Patrick Monroe: In 2020, we definitely saw
a slowdown in activity because our security
business is so construction oriented. Whereas
an electrician, plumber, drywaller or a framer
couldn't get onsite to finish or work on a project,
we had those same challenges. We were
fortunate to be recognized as an essential trade,
and so for the most part we were able to continue
working.
It slowed us down by maybe as much as
50%. Financially, we weren't really impacted in
2020. This year, we were able to ride the wave
of the recovery with some new opportunities,
new business.
This year's challenges are certainly different,
with the supply chain and personnel, which is
why we've backed off a little bit in our marketing.
We've pulled back so we can focus more
on larger projects with larger margins. We have
20 employees but saw an unprecedented five
resignations this year of people with seven or
more years of tenure. So not only did we lose
people, but we lost our most tenured, experi34
Security
Sales & Integration JANUARY 2022
Family owned Security Central serves thousands
of homes and businesses ranging from small
retail stores to large multibuilding campuses.
enced people. I had one fellow who, because of
the pandemic and all the things that happened,
took stock of his life and decided he wanted to
be a farmer.
These are the kinds of things people are going
through, the human element of what's happening
with folks. We have a lot of new folks on staff
and we're focusing a lot of our time and attention
on training and development, unlike anything
we've done before. At the same time, we're
trying to ensure our customers that the company
is doing well and is healthy. I believe 2021 is going
to be our biggest financial year ever by 10%
or 15%. But I do worry a little bit about the
customer service component. Again, just based
solely on personnel and the supply chain.
Continuing with the supply chain
challenge, what strategies are helping?
Jackson: We've changed the way we purchase.
We tried to do close to a just-in-time type of
inventory in bringing equipment in just a week
or two ahead of time. We've extended that out
by trying to order a month ahead in hopes of
getting it in time. We've beefed up our inventory
of parts, especially those we suspected would
be a problem in the future, such as the cellular
communicators for the sunset replacements.
We're doing what we can and yet we're still running
into roadblocks with certain parts not being
available. If you only have 99% of the parts,
that doesn't mean you can get the job beyond
99% working. It means it doesn't work at all
until you get that last part.
As mentioned, we have not been upholding
one of our four core values of responding
quickly to customers' calls and needs because
we've been so backlogged. Yet, on the other
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Security Sales & Integration January 2022

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