Security Sales & Integration July 2022 - 30

EXCLUSIVE!
Executive Interview
UAS at 50
Elkins: With UAS being a private company from
1972 until 2022, we didn't have to spend a lot of
time worrying about Wall Street or bank covenants
because we have a wonderful banking relationship.
Because of the nature of our business
in the national account space where you might
be asked to install 500 systems in the next three
months, there's not the luxury of having everything
housed at a distributor. In the early days
of the supply chain crisis, we went overboard to
ensure we would be there for our customers by
inventorying record numbers of components we
regularly use in our core verticals.
From time to time in national accounts you
may share a customer. We had another service
pliers possible, we've developed critically important
and longstanding relationships in this
space. As a result, they have worked with us
to not only ensure we have a product, but also
that we can keep the pricing for that product
as close to pre-supply chain issues as possible.
In the national account space, there's not a ton
of elasticity in terms of pricing. While national
account customers are going through the same
things as the rest of us, we do everything we can
not to pass too much of that along. We seek to
remain not only competitive in the marketplace,
but most importantly to maintain that business
partner relationship with our customers.
There's a bit of a bug and windshield effect
in the world of national accounts, right? Sometimes
you're the bug and sometimes you're the
windshield. During supply chain challenges, you
may find yourself more bug than you'd want to
be but at the end of the day, over time, this is just
another example of how we can partner with our
customers to ensure everyone is successful.
Our customers want us to be successful and
" In the early days of the supply
chain crisis, we went overboard
to ensure we would be
there for our customers by
inventorying record numbers
of components we regularly
use in our core verticals, " says
Zeus Fire and Security CEO
Scott R. Elkins.
provider ask us if we could sell them equipment
so they could install it in one of our common
customer locations. One of the great stories is
because we made sure we had enough product,
we were able to field that request.
Unfortunately, I don't see supply chain challenges
changing this year and, frankly, don't know
that it's going to change even next year. There's
lots of talk about countries that produce a lot of
the equipment spinning up manufacturing again.
In theory, COVID will dissipate. As those two
factors come together and this backlog ultimately
gets filled, it will become less of an issue as time
goes on. But we're not taking the chance. We need
to see the supply chain fully activated before going
back to our prepandemic purchasing.
How are those factors and inflation
impacting your costs and pricing?
How are you managing that with clients?
Elkins: Having been around for a very long
time and centralized our product offering into
the fewest number of manufacturers and sup30
Security
Sales & Integration JULY 2022
we want our customers to be successful. In order
to do that, we need to work with one another
to ensure we consistently provide the services
they need, at the level they need, and that
we can do it within a level of pricing that makes
sense for our customers. It's a team effort. It's
not us versus them. It's us and our customers
walking hand in hand. We're all dealing with
the supply chain issue together.
Everyone seems to be struggling with
staffing, where does the company find
itself amid The Great Resignation?
Michelle May: We've stepped up our game as far
as follow-up. We don't let candidates hang out
there because we wait two or three days and an
offer from some other company comes in. The
days of waiting for two and three people to compare
to, it just isn't happening. It's pull the trigger
now and if it's not a fit, we'll deal with it. We've
been more aggressive. We've utilized agencies,
which in the past we didn't use as much. We've
also upped our game as far as salaries to be very
competitive with other companies in our area.
We have a great referral basis too, with our employees.
We also have some college partnerships.
How do you sell prospective employees
on the UAS culture?
May: We're like " Cheers, " where everybody
knows your name. We have an amazing culture.
securitysales.com
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Security Sales & Integration July 2022
