Coronavirus is here. It has and will likely continue to dominate the news, along with our personal and professional lives for some time. I will not dwell on or repeat what our local, state, and national leaders are suggesting—and in some cases mandating—we all do. However, I will challenge all of us to change the status quo at our companies.
To start, let's address in-home selling. For years, security systems, for the most part, have been sold in one of three ways:
Door to door;
Through a DIY model, where a consumer purchases a system over the phone or internet and installs it themselves;
From a salesperson who responds to the home or office, performs a security survey, and processes the system based on the level of protection needed.
I would argue that in the current state of affairs, #1 and #3 are problematic. And, moving a traditional security company to a 100% DIY solution could be overwhelming at best—creating internal hurdles to overcome, not the least how to deal with your existing sales teams. My answer: make them the solution.
The current DIY landscape is robust—just read the Parks reports. DIY security companies have been growing the past few years, and with the current pandemic the thought of less people in the home seems very appealing.
Leaders lead in times of crisis. Notwithstanding the seriousness of the Coronavirus, you have a unique opportunity to transform your company, selling to the consumer in a way that they want to be sold to.
When someone contacts your company for an alarm system, I might suggest asking them how they want to proceed. Let them know you offer your services in a few different ways:
Traditional, where a salesperson comes to the home, provides a security survey and designs a system;
DIT (Do it Together) solution, where your sales team is a remote consultant providing the same services.
With the latter, the consumer gets the best of both worlds—reducing the chance that you won't lose the sale to a 100% online company. The sales sequence would be something like this: The consumer contacts your company and the call is transferred to the sales team. The team offers the two solutions above. If the client chooses option one, then it’s the same approach as performed pre-Coronavirus. If option #2 is chosen, then the client is asked a series of questions such as, how many accessible openings, how many touchscreens are needed, etc. This consultative approach should be the exact one used in a traditional sense, just performed remotely.
Keep in mind that the consumer may want a 100% DIY option and I would encourage you to allow that. Many will simply call you back when they're ready to install, and just about every manufacturer now has tabletop touchscreen options for consumer use.
In next week’s blog, we’ll address ideas on how to make the consumer feel comfortable with the installation process if they choose to have the system professionally installed.
I'll leave you with one last thought. Clearly consumers could become increasingly concerned with anyone entering their home over the next few weeks or months. Make sure to consider the changes you need to make that will lead your company and employees through the crisis, or you may find yourself obsolete at the end of it. True leaders will prosper in times of adversity.
For an unbiased look at your company processes, or assistance in creating permanent or temporary changes to your sales process, contact MacGuard for a FREE consultation at www.macguard.com, or by filling out the connect with us form on the home page of this blog.