Security Sales & Integration January 2022 - 35

hand, it's great to be busy and have a nice backlog
of work. It is a challenge for sure. We have
been having the discussion about having to say
no to things and identifying what type of work
is our best type and what type is not as profitable.
We have to say no to that stuff because
our most precious resource is our manpower
and we have to spend it wisely.
Smith: Jordan hit it on the head. 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. From an inventory
standpoint we're having to plan ahead to make
sure we have items on the shelf. Also we tend
to now be more reactive and last minute as it
relates to the supply chain. We may have an appointment
scheduled three weeks out that looks
good today but tomorrow I may have a shortage
or not received that product. We have to closely
watch that inventory and are at times, unfortunately,
having to reschedule clients.
But as long as you're communicating that directly
to the client, sharing with them what the
issue is, they've been forgiving. We have had to
work around it, doing some product changes
based on what's in stock. We've adapted in that
at times we are going to install the inventory
that's on hand.
Rao-Russell: As a large company we're fortunate
in that I do have a centralized warehouse
where we keep a lot of products. It's
only been the last two or three months we've
felt a pinch. We've changed how we order. We
have had to employ Marvin's process where we
contact the customer and say, " We know we
sold you these cameras, I can get this many of
this brand. This is a comparable other brand,
it's compatible with your system. Do you want
to do this now or do you want to wait? " The
communication piece is very time-consuming.
I have a robust outside customer service rep
team that used to be just about retention and
keeping customers happy. They're spending a
lot of their time right now overcommunicating
and making certain people understand we
have a service challenge.
The best thing I can say is you try and overorder,
but you also have to be more in touch
with it. It's not like it once was where you can
just order and forget about it. I had technicians
who were horrible planners. They would
know they had service and were like, " Oh, I'll
securitysales.com
just run by ADI and pick it up. " That's not
working anymore. The biggest challenge is
changing the mindset of all our departments
to be cognizant and communicate that. Even
my salespeople never used to communicate
fulfillment issues. It's a complete change from
how we were because most of our leads, especially
on the residential and small business are
very reactive.
From a customer's perspective, it doesn't
matter if we are able to get an intrusion system
up right away, or maybe a small access control
system up, or maybe some smart home devices
up. Until they see it all working and in their
app - either Alarm.com, Resideo Total Connect,
whatever they're using - to them it's not
done. COVID has been an exercise in patience
for me personally and professionally, and I'm
not one who has a lot. Society as a whole got
very used to everything at our fingertips with
our phones and immediate gratification. It's become
a different world. To some degree, it's out
of our hands. We do the best we can and we
plan the best we can.
Monroe: Our supply chain challenges are very
similar to construction trades. We've gone back
to our developer, our general contractor, and
used something that's been available to us for
a very long time. That is the progressive invoicing
process. If you're a subcontractor on a large
construction project, your billing processes affords
you the opportunity to bill for materials
that you have ordered and received and have
on hand. They may or may not be installed
yet. It's designed this way so you can manage
cash flow. As mentioned, in the past we were
so damn spoiled by just being able to walk into
our local ADI office but now we've got to plan
more effectively.
We're stocking items, which is a new dynamic
for us, and the progressive billing allows us
to charge in advance for those materials before
they're installed. We're ordering far, far in advance.
I have materials on hand now that are
not going to go in until probably the second
or third quarter of 2022. That's something I
couldn't have fathomed six months ago. The
funny part is we have so many people working
from home now that I've made their offices
into stockrooms and storage units. We've
moved their desks out and there are boxes
stacked all the way to the ceiling. That's what
we're doing to attempt to solve the problem.
I had
technicians who
were horrible
planners. They
would know they
had service and
were like, 'Oh, I'll
just run by ADI
and pick it up.'
That's not working
anymore.
- Joey Rao-Russell,
Kimberlite Corp. (Sonitrol)
JANUARY 2022 Security Sales & Integration 35
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Security Sales & Integration January 2022

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