Page 66 - Security Today, March 2017

TECHNOLOGY CHANGES
ack in the day when the security industry was still matur- ing, the typical sales channel for the manufacturer con- sisted of a rep organization with assigned territories and dealers in the region, national account partners, distribu- tion organizations and occasionally a buying club.
THE WAY IT WAS
The small reseller or alarm dealer could usually only purchase from the distributor or through the buying club and neither choice gained them any benefit from being loyal to one brand over another. Prod- uct training, technical support, marketing materials and so on were provided by the supplier, with some organizations significantly better than others. If a dealer or installer wanted to improve their knowl- edge of a product or learn about new technology, the obligation was on them to pay for participating in a training session at a manufac- turer’s road show—providing of course one was held in their region.
Leads were usually distributed by the manufacturer to the rep organization and the small dealer or installer seldom, if ever, re- ceived any leads. Other manufacturer perks such as co-op funds, dealer trips and so on similarly were never pushed through to this segment of the sales channel.
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A CHANGING MARKETPLACE
As the industry matured, security and surveillance products changed. Technologies became more sophisticated to meet demands of a changing market; pan/tilt units with timed rotation were developed to provide better coverage of an area with fewer cameras; moni- tors with a built-in four camera switcher developed; tube cameras changed over to chips and the notion of a digital system was on the radar with the first DVRs.
These changes had a significant impact on market growth. For ex- ample, over the last five years the market has grown by a compound annual growth rate of 8.2 percent according to Memoori’s 2016 An- nual Report. A robust market also attracted new players from Asia with lower cost goods and a surge of mergers and acquisitions, in- cluding some from outside the industry, additionally helped drive growth and bring attention to the industry.
Without a doubt, the increasing demand over the years for security and video surveillance solutions have presented a solid opportunity for the small dealer/alarm installer to expand their business models and revenue prospects. The attraction however was not lost on those who quickly came to market with a do-it-yourself surveillance solution.
By Bart Didden
GOING TO MARKET
Strategies continue to evolve for security industry
0317 | DEALER STRATEGIES