Growing Your Business Through Strategic Partnerships

Whatever your situation as a locksmith, you probably are looking for ways to grow your business. But in order to grow your business and compete with the larger players, you need a plan. You need sales leads, you need to advertise and you need to obtain your materials at the best possible prices.

Tom Fowler presents a compelling dealer program. Onlinealarmquotes.com offers a service to locksmiths and security providers designed to help them achieve growth and success.

We reviewed his webpage then interviewed him to help us better understand him and his company. Following are Ledger’s questions and Fowler’s answers. We report and you decide!

Can you tell us about yourself and your company?

At the age of 14 I went to work at a Mom & Pop hardware store/locksmith in the Bronx named Cora Inc. The owner, Pat Cassieri, took me under his wing, and taught me not only about locksmithing, but also about business ethics, management and integrity.

I began my first alarm company thanks to men like Kyle Leavitt formerly of Ademco, who is now with TriEd, Tom Capadonna of ADI, and my current VP of Operations, Don Trask, who all helped me through the learning curves.

I’m a veteran of many “dealer programs” and as such have seen the ugly side of this business.

In 2008 I decided to put together a program that would help the smaller companies become more of a force. It’s a program that helps guys to prosper in an industry crowded with these seasonal, mass marketing, door knocking locusts that plague our communities and give the industry a black eye.

After three years of trial, error, and tweaking, we launched our program upon the industry in January 2011.

Please explain the difference between an affiliate member program and an authorized dealer program.

An authorized dealer is akin to subcontracting your company out whereas an affiliate member is an option that allows the business owner to retain complete control of their operations, promote their own identity, and have choices. Dealer programs TELL you what you can or cannot do. Dealer programs insist on promoting THEIR name. Dealer programs place liens on your business to guarantee your compliance with THEIR rules. Dealer programs grab kickbacks on just about everything you do.

We don’t! We work for our members. We dance to their tune. This is why so many companies fear dealer programs and why our members love us.

What are the benefits of membership?

We offer everything from discounts on equipment, monitoring, printing, etc. to qualified sales leads, technical support, sales support, web support, marketing support, as well as funding with multiples up to 41x the RMR, and leasing options. We can help make a one-man show become more competitive with these giant mass marketers that are destroying the security industry. We are constantly adding new benefits without increasing the cost of membership. For example we now offer funding, without chargeback, on renters. NOBODY else does that!

What is the cost of membership?

It’s based on population and category in the areas the member wishes to receive leads and marketing support, but our minimum membership fee is $500 annually. The only difference in benefits is in leads and marketing. Everything else remains the same regardless of the membership fee.

We also guarantee that the member will see a return of at least two times their investment within 12 months or the next year is free.

How does a locksmith or security professional apply?

They would complete a basic survey found on http://www.securitydealersupport.com. From there we contact them and initiate our due diligence process.

What draws prospective clients to your web site?

We have dozens of web sites generating leads. To answer your question, it is the organic (no frills) extensive content that the end users enjoy.

What is ‘charging back’?

It is a negative feature of most every dealer program available. You sell them a contract, yet they can send it back to you as far off as 15 months later and be refunded the money they paid you. It has a crippling affect on integrators.