Security Sales & Integration July 2022 - 35

back to their purchasing experience, which is
when they bought a car usually and they treat
us like the car dealers. If it's a relatively unsophisticated
purchasing guy, he's going to be out
there, he's got a ladder in the other room, he's
got his toolbelt on his chair and he's going back
and forth between doing his day job and writing
POs to you. He doesn't know the right way
to do it. He doesn't know how to buy on value.
He doesn't know anything else.
It's really a head-scratcher and if you're a new
sales guy, they're insecure. They're young, everything
else and it literally destroys them. But now
with the market, the way it is, my guys are empowered
to take these guys and educate them.
I'm noticing this happening more and more,
it's a big change coming. I'm watching these
customers elevate. They're making mature decisions
because they have no choice. Before they
would go to the next integrator until they found
someone to say yes, and that's been taken away
from them because we're all in the same boat.
Stewart: It just comes down to, you have to tell
them the truth. I can't tell you how many times
we've been in a meeting and the customer will
have an agenda. I tell them, " Look, I can tell
you the truth or I can tell you what you want
to hear. It's your money and you get to spend
it how you want, but if I believe you're doing
something that's not in the best interest of you
or your organization I'm going to say why. I've
been right more than once, but I've also been
wrong. This is my experience that I'm bringing
to the table, and this is how I'm laying it out. "
How does the labor shortage play into
your company's overall dynamic?
Lanning: I worry for sure that, as much as the
supply chain and getting parts is an issue, at
some point you have all this work you've got
to get done and perform. Where in the world
are we going to find these people? That's where
customers are going to get upset, when they
have the equipment, and they can't get it installed
because you don't have enough people.
Stewart: It comes down to how efficient you
are, what you're going to be able to execute.
We're all going to lose some work due to capacity.
You have to look at your A, B, C and D customers
and make hard decisions because you
can't do it all. Even for the manufacturers, if
they get all the raw materials, it will take them
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probably six months just to handle what's already
in their backlog. It comes down to who's
going to do it better; who's going to turn six
months into five months or 12 weeks into 11
weeks? That will then be the difference of losing
or keeping a customer. Key will be how fast you
can mobilize to get things out in a meaningful
way. Size matters, but in this case, to me, in this
market being smaller and nimble is better.
DeStefano: That's true. That goes along with
the whole hiring piece as well. If you look at
some of the bigger companies, they can't pull
the trigger as quickly. If I have somebody who
fits my culture, fits the work ethics, fits the profile
of somebody I want to have working with
us as one of our team members, as one of our
colleagues, we'll find the spot because we know
we're going to use them.
As an industry, we need to start training and
developing people from day one. We've got a lot
of poaching going on. Let's start looking at tech
schools. Let's start looking at places that are seeking
internships so they can send their folks to
learn a trade and get something moving so that
they move forward in their careers. In security
they can have a career to move forward with.
We're looking for those individuals and
those types of organizations where we can go
for that human capital. Maybe that prospect
doesn't need to know much because we're going
to put them with an experienced person
who's going to train them on a job and we're
going to send them to classes or train them
with an internship program. Those are things
are going to move our industry forward and
eliminate some of this human capital issue.
Stewart: If you find a good person, I don't care
what their skills are, find this spot for them.
It's not that I don't care about their knowledge
base, but I care more about their attitude
and how hungry they are because they'll
learn. They will excel if they're hungry enough.
Lanning: The labor market is different today
than it was 10 years ago. Employees are looking
for flexibility. To me, that is their No. 1 requirement.
That could be not wanting to come into
an office or wanting to bring their dog to the
office or wanting to be able to take off in the
middle of the day or working when they want
to work. A colleague complained to me yesterday
that he's got a really great tech who only
JULY 2022 Security Sales & Integration 35
For us, we look
at the RMR piece
as way of keeping
our doors open,
the lights on,
keeping our
employees
employed in good
or bad times.
That's why
through the
pandemic we were
able to keep
everybody
employed.
- Jim DeStefano, Senior
Vice President, Unlimited
Technology
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration July 2022

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