As the countdown to the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) 2024 begins, anticipation grows for one of the most dynamic educational tracks of the event—the ESX Sales Track. Slated to take place from June 3 to 6 at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky, ESX 2024 promises an unparalleled opportunity for professionals in the electronic security and life safety industry to immerse themselves in the latest insights and strategies. 

ESX Sales Track: Elevating Sales Excellence 

Sales development is one of the most important processes an organization can build to deliver a seamless, efficient revenue machine. 

Learn to develop your brand and go-to-market strategy to keep the focus on building your RMR. Identify complementary markets, new products, and services that will give your sales teams the edge over the competition. Explore new sales management processes that will accelerate sales performance and increase your revenues and RMR. 

Key Sessions Under the ESX Sales Track: 

Unlocking Video Sales that Surge RMR: Strategies, Techniques, and Applications: 

Video monitoring has become a key tool for security, surveillance, and operational efficiency in the commercial, industrial, and residential markets. This dynamic session delves into the strategies, techniques, and applications that are shaping the video monitoring sales landscape. Why is selling video so lucrative? How is pricing different? What should be avoided? Join us as we explore cutting-edge approaches to effectively market and sell video monitoring solutions. From understanding customer needs to leveraging emerging technologies, this session equips you with the insights needed to drive sales and establish a competitive edge. In this session, you’ll learn: 

• How to gain a deep understanding of the current video monitoring landscape 
• How to align video monitoring solutions with end users’ unique requirements – and what mistakes you should avoid 
• Questions to implement specifically to video projects that will help move the sales timeline along 
• To develop the best compelling narratives that highlight the tangible benefits of video monitoring and what applications are best  

How to Boost Revenue without Adding Customers: 

We will delve into the powerful strategies and tactics to increase your share of the wallets of your existing customers. While acquiring new customers is essential, inside sales that maximize the value derived from your existing customer base is equally as impactful. Learn how you can foster stronger relationships, enhance customer loyalty, and drive incremental revenue without the need for extensive customer acquisition efforts. Armed with proven strategies and best practices, you’ll be able to significantly contribute to RMR growth while reducing client attrition rates. In this session, you’ll learn: 

• How to use data analytics to gain valuable insights and optimize inside sales strategies 
• Practical communication strategies, techniques, and customer outreach programs for inside sales staff to utilize 
• Tactics to extend customer relationships and increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) through upselling, cross-selling, and retention strategies 
• Explore strategies to add new products offerings, opening up fresh revenue streams and adding incremental RMR 
• How you might incentivize sales staff who are not finding new customers but growing revenue with current customers 

Maximizing Recurring Revenue (RMR) with Fire Alarm Systems: 

Fire safety and security professionals will gain invaluable insights into the strategies and best practices for optimizing RMR for fire alarm systems. It is tailored for professionals seeking to bolster their revenue streams through long-term, sustainable monitoring, inspection, and maintenance contracts. Leave this session equipped with a comprehensive toolkit to elevate your RMR potential. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, these actionable strategies promise immediate impact and success. Join us for an enlightening journey towards Fire alarm RMR excellence! In this session, you’ll learn: 

• How RMR can be applied specifically to fire alarm systems 
• Explore the range of value-added services that can be bundled with fire alarm system installations 
• Practical advice from industry leaders on structuring service contracts and pricing models that balance profitability with competitive offerings 
• Important industry regulations, ensuring compliance and instilling trust in your clientele 
• The top markets to attract new clients and upsell existing ones 

Beyond Price: Roleplaying Value-Driven Sales Strategies *Interactive*: 

This interactive session will invite audience members to roleplay traditional sales conversations with value-driven consultative sales approaches. End users seek more than just hardware, software, and recurring services—they demand comprehensive solutions. Discover how to shift the focus away from price and cultivate a sales approach that emphasizes the broader benefits your product or service brings to the table — enabling you to better serve your clients and stay ahead in the market. Roleplay scenarios will include:  

• Going up against a competitor (how do you differentiate yourself) 
• How to highlight and differentiate value when your price is higher 
• Finding out what your prospect’s issues truly are (not what you think they are) 
• Getting to the decision 

Special emphasis will be paid to coaching your teams for these successful conversations. 

Optimizing Your Sales Teams Part 1: Performance Metrics, Commission Models and Repeatable Processes: 

To elevate a sales team, you need to go beyond the basics and focus on elevating sales performance while ensuring healthy gross profit margins. To achieve this, we’ll explore specialized strategies and tools that empower your team to drive sales growth while maintaining a robust bottom line. Our panel will provide real-world actionable advice and tools that will help you gain valuable insights into transforming your sales team into a high-performing unit. In this session, you’ll learn: 

• Why it’s important to build and organize sales teams for efficiency and productivity 
• The proven methods to equip your sales team with the right tools, resources, and training, enabling them to close deals effectively and consistently 
• Explore commission models that incentivize performance while aligning with your company’s financial goals and objectives 
• Which sales performance metrics are most relevant and how to use them to track progress, identify areas for improvement, and set achievable targets for sales staff 

Optimizing Your Sales Teams Part 2: Hiring Your Next Successful Salesperson: Essential Skills and Traits: 

Strong sales teams are the quickest way to bring in substantial revenue to your organization. Successfully hiring and training motivated, and passionate professionals will result in more conversions and sales. How can you avoid wasted efforts filling positions with candidates who lack the required sales DNA? What are the characteristics and skillsets that successful salespeople hold in common? What interview questions should you be asking — and what should you be listening for in the answers you receive? In this session, we’ll role play the successful and not so successful sales interview. You’ll also learn: 

• How to determine what your skills gaps are and hire to fill them 
• Qualities all successful salespeople share that you should be looking for 
• Tips for engaging salespeople from hiring and keeping them engaged  
• How to successfully onboard and coach new salespeople 

Enhancing the Sales Process to Close Faster and Maximize RMR: 

The ability to adapt and streamline your commercial sales processes is paramount. This in-depth session is designed to equip sales professionals with the advanced skillset needed to harness the power of sales process templating. By leveraging this strategic approach, you’ll not only expedite the sales cycle but can also develop a process that drives a more consistent plan for RMR growth. This session is tailored for organizations seeking to improve their commercial sales effectiveness. In this session, you’ll learn: 

• The insights into crafting a comprehensive sales process template that acts as a roadmap 
• How asking the right questions can exponentially move a sale along 
• Negotiation techniques that navigate objections and secure deals with confidence 
• How to adapt your commercial sales process template for handling new business and existing customers, enabling you to address needs, pain points, and priorities with effectiveness 
• How technology and automation can be integrated into your sales process template 

Unique Sales Strategies for the Top 5 Commercial Verticals: 

This session dives deep into the thriving landscape of commercial electronic security sales, with a spotlight on RMR. We’ll uncover the top 5 commercial verticals that are driving the surge in demand, how you can leverage them to accelerate your sales success, and identify the unique sales strategies that help close the deals. You’ll be armed with the knowledge and strategies needed to excel in these thriving markets, positioning you as an agile and adept sales professional. In this session, you’ll learn:  

• The crucial insights into the unique dynamics, challenges, and opportunities that define each of these commercial verticals 
• The strategies for establishing trust for each of these commercial verticals by offering tailored solutions  
• The RMR offerings that resonate the most with each vertical 
• How recent advancements, including AI-powered analytics and cloud-based solutions, are reshaping the products and services offerings 

Unleashing the Power of Cloud-Based Access Control: 

Embark on a journey into the world of access control systems with our comprehensive session on cloud-based solutions. You’ll be equipped with the knowledge and insights needed to leverage the power of cloud-based access control systems, providing your clients with cutting-edge solutions that offer enhanced security, efficiency, and peace of mind. Cloud-based access control technology is revolutionizing security and access management, providing businesses with unprecedented flexibility, scalability, and efficiency, and is a driving force behind higher RMR. In this session, you’ll learn: 

• The fundamental principles and advantages of cloud-based access control systems, from enhanced scalability to seamless integration 
• How cloud-based solutions streamline operations and reduce hardware costs, making them an attractive option for businesses of all sizes 
• How cloud-based access control enables remote management, allowing for real-time monitoring and control of access points from anywhere in the world 
• How to structure the right RMR pricing model for the application 

Sales Track Leaders: Tracy Larson and Kendall Horner 

Guiding attendees through these enlightening sessions are distinguished Sales Education Advisors—Tracy Larson, President of WeSuite, and Kendall Horner, Vice President at Braveheart Sales Performance. Their wealth of experience and industry expertise will undoubtedly enrich the learning experience for all participants.

“I’ve loved ESX since I first met the show,” Tracy said. “The education is very targeted. When I joined the team of advisors, the best thing that I saw happening in front of my eyes was the development of new ideas– to which I could freely contribute– that would help salespeople optimize their roles and learn how to sell new technologies or services better.”

“Being part of this group is a huge opportunity to collaborate with others with all kinds of different perspectives that contribute to helping the industry get to the next level,” Kendall agrees. “For me, being an advisor means that I get to participate on the conference that’s truly honed in on RMR, and I get to help provide actionable things for businesses to grow and reach a new level and live their dreams.

Tune in to the episode of the Security Nation Podcast featuring Tracy Larson and Kendall Horner. Gain exclusive insights into their perspectives on sales development, industry trends, and the future of the industry. Access the podcast on your preferred platform wherever you regularly listen to podcasts. 

Registration Details 

To gain access to this exclusive ESX Sales Track and all best-practice sharing sessions, an ESX Executive Pass or Deluxe Pass is required. Don’t miss the opportunity to elevate your sales strategies, connect with industry leaders, and shape the future of electronic security at ESX 2024.

While having strong margins from installation revenues is vital to a security company’s health, RMR is the more sustainable business practice in the long term, supercharging enterprise value.  

The “Driving Higher RMR on Every Sale” session at ESX 2023 provided more in-depth training on how company sales and technical staff can contribute to the company’s overall RMR growth.  

The session was led by Resideo’s Premier Partner Program Leader, Quentin Gunther, Security Solutions’ President, Jamie Vos, and Security Pros’ Director of Client Technology, Mike Williams. Quentin brought knowledge on more of the residential and SMB side of monitoring and security, while Jamie and Mike focused primarily on the commercial side. 

The three speakers brought between 20 and 30+ years of industry experience to the table as they discussed proven strategies businesses can use to grow their RMR. 

The Value Proposition 

The first strategy is to adjust your pricing according to what your offering is – taking into consideration not just major operations like monitoring and equipment costs, but also all the smaller services your company offers along the way, such as customer support calls. A five minute call doesn’t seem like much time, but those five minute increments add up, costing your company in time and resources. It’s important that you charge for every service that you offer if it’s of value to the customer. Otherwise, if it’s not of value to the customer, you should eliminate it completely. 

Gunther, Vos and Williams have all found that setting a lump price for all the inclusions tends to reap greater RMR growth. It is more preferable for the customer to receive one bill each month, even if it’s a bit higher, versus receiving multiple bills. 

Additionally, you should reduce your options. Gunther saw his sales closing ratios rise significantly when he cut down his package offerings to one or two. Too many options distract or even overwhelm the customer. If you have a single package or subscription with impressive inclusions and value offers, you will be more successful. 

Therefore, it is critical to establish a value proposition behind what your company has to offer that demonstrates why it’s worth the customer’s time and money, as well as accurate pricing.  

Itemize Services and Costs 

Clearly listing the components of the offer and the cost of each individual item will help you fight against competition. If a customer can clearly see that your package includes equipment, installation, monitoring, and 24/7 phone support, then when a competitor shows up with a lower number but only offers equipment and installation, the customer will be able to quickly see that you have the higher value offer.  

This also ensures that the customer knows exactly what they are getting and helps them take full advantage of the services. That way, they don’t find out two months in that they’ve been paying for something they haven’t been using. In the long run, this results in happier customers, who are more likely to keep returning and renew services. 

Training your Sales Staff 

There are some challenges that come with changing or adjusting pricing. Once you have decided on a value proposition and pricing, you must decide how to share that proposition through a fantastic story. That story should convince both your internal and external audiences, which will be your salespeople first, followed by your customers.  

To convince your salespeople, you must tell a story from the customer’s perspective, helping your salespeople to relate to the customer. Encourage your staff to develop a personal connection to the customer by asking open-ended questions and involving them in a conversation versus just giving them the sales pitch. No one wants to feel like a number on somebody’s quota– your sales staff included. We have all received sales pitches before and hung up the phone before the pitch was done. Remind your staff of that regularly, training them to think from that perspective.  

That said, it’s still critical to balance personal connection with efficiency and detail in the sales pitch. The customer has to understand the value of your full services and see the whole picture to understand that the cost for those services is very reasonable– and to take advantage of their full benefits. How many of us have found out after paying a monthly or yearly subscription for something that we hadn’t been taking full advantage of our included offerings because we didn’t know their extent? It’s a frustrating situation that our staff should be helping our customers avoid.  

Set Goals for Your Sales Staff 

Once your sales staff is ready to go, having fully understood and embraced the new mindset, it’s critical that you set sales goals. If the sales staff have no idea of what to aim for, they won’t maximize their skills, training, or time.  However, if you set clear goals, they will rise to the occasion to meet them.  

One important thing to note is that there should be incentives to go along with the goals. Gunther has noticed there is a direct correlation between RMR growth and sales staff that are being compensated for their achievements. You should ensure you compensate your salespeople according to what their goals are and whether they met or surpassed them.  

Keep a Pulse on Your Customer Base 

Companies need to keep careful track of what their clients are seeking and whether they are satisfied with their services. Make sure you are providing feedback opportunities and monitoring the responses closely, whether that is through surveys, testimonials, customer services calls, or reviews. This is a great way to track whether you are doing things right according to your customers or whether you need to make adjustments to keep customers coming back.  

Inside Sales 

Once you have a customer base, don’t let it go. Keeping existing customers is always easier and more cost-effective than gaining new ones. Ensure you are retargeting existing or past customers through marketing efforts, such as newsletters, promotions, etc.  

Have a team that is specifically dedicated to following up with old customers or current ones. Ask questions such as “What’s changed in your business in the last x years?” or let them know about any new services or offers. For example, perhaps the customer originally came to you for surveillance cameras, but now they would like other monitoring options added as well, such as sensors. You should make that process as easy for them as possible by staying in touch and offering services before the customer has to ask or go searching for them.  

You want to generate RMR as much as possible, letting your sales build on themselves rather than having to manually generate every new sale. If you apply these strategies you will see significant RMR growth over time. 

The Electronic Security Expo (ESX), is where cutting-edge business practices meet inspiration and where visionaries and industry decision-makers get down to business. This conference and trade show for electronic security and life safety dealers, integrators, and monitoring companies is the must-attend event for industry professionals who are serious about growing their business and competing at the next level.  

“The quality of education at ESX is unmatched.” says George De Marco, ESX Chairman. “It’s all thanks to content delivered by fellow security pros who are in the trenches, running companies day in and day out. We welcome fresh perspectives from those with unique approaches, sharing best practices and ideas to empower entrepreneurs and decision-makers in effectively managing and expanding their organizations.” 

ESX offers the most comprehensive educational sessions with presenters that have real-world industry experience, and it wants security pros to offer their expertise. Today, ESX opens the application process for industry professionals to contribute to its educational program: Electronic Security Expo Presenters 

What ESX Searches for in Presenters 

One of ESX’s core objectives is to provide peer-to-peer learning opportunities to its attendees. This means that ESX’s search for presenters focuses on security dealers and integrators who have had success implementing a new practice, business model, product or service. The goal of all sessions is to deliver practical and meaningful business and industry intelligence for entrepreneurs, C-level executives, functional managers, and influencers. The ESX Advisors have identified the key topics for the 2024 education program which is set to be announced to the public in the coming months. This call for presenters officially closes on FEBRUARY 16, 2024. 

Benefits for Presenting at ESX  

• Establishing Authority: Presenting at a conference allows speakers to showcase their expertise, positioning themselves as an authority in their fields. 
• Networking: Presenters meet with over 50 industry experts speaking in the ESX program. Speaking at ESX provides a chance to connect with peers, potential collaborators, and even future employers or clients. Networking opportunities can extend beyond the classroom, during breaks, at social events and in our Speaker Lounge. 
• Professional Development: Preparing and delivering a presentation requires research, organization, and effective communication skills. The process of speaking at a conference can contribute to their personal and professional development. 
• Visibility and Exposure: Speaking at a conference can significantly increase presenter’s visibility within the industry. It puts you in front of a targeted audience, which can lead to recognition, invitations for collaborations, and even media coverage. Your company will also benefit from increased brand recognition within the industry. 
• Contributing to the Community: Speaking at conferences is a way to give back to the professional community. By sharing your insights and experiences, you contribute to the collective knowledge base of the industry. 
• Savings on ESX Registrations: ESX Speakers enjoy 30% off of their ESX registrations. 

ESX Education Tracks 

The sessions cover tactical advice in Sales, Operations, Management, Monitoring, and Executive Leadership to help businesses grow and stay competitive. Special emphasis is paid to building RMR or recurring revenue and on the business vertical of fire alarms. 

Operations Track: Sponsored by The Connection Xchange (TCX) 

Discover best practices that will improve your company’s operational excellence and the customer experience. Explore ways to build efficiencies in installation, service methodologies, and human resources. Examine how others are solving today’s most common operations struggles like recruiting and retaining employees, supply chain lags, truck rolls, job safety, training, and more.
 

Monitoring Track: Sponsored by RSPNDR Inc. 

Delivering quality security and life safety monitoring services to end-users, including cloud-based lifestyle enhancements, is mission critical 24/7. Discover best-of-breed operator training, state-of-the-art technology infrastructure, and vital monitoring processes and procedures for next-gen central stations. Learn from seasoned professionals who share best practices to maximize your 24/7 monitoring operation effectively and profitably. 

Sales Track: Sponsored by Prima  

Learn to develop your brand and go-to-market strategy to keep the focus on building your RMR. Identify complementary markets, new products, and services that will give your sales teams the edge over the competition. Explore new sales management processes that will accelerate sales performance and increase your revenues and RMR. 

Management Track: Sponsored by Napco 

Learn to implement and manage key performance indicators that help to streamline processes and improve top and bottom-line results. Find ways to build a strong culture that helps you drive transformational leadership and change throughout the organization. Examine emerging trends and leading-edge technologies that will excite your customers’ changing demands and open new markets to evolve your business. 

Executive Leadership Track 

As the saying goes, “It can be lonely at the top.” But it doesn’t have to be. The most successful business leaders never stop learning. This track is an opportunity for connecting with, learning from and growing with other C-Suite operators and owners of electronic security and life safety companies. The program will offer insights to freshen up your leadership approach and motivate your team in an intensive afternoon of workshops led by experts.
 

Education Session Sponsorship Options Are Available 

ESX highlights education aimed at peer-to-peer advice exchange for integrators, dealers and monitoring professionals. Manufacturers and service providers are encouraged to work with their partners to submit a speaker application. 

Educational opportunities for manufacturers and service providers to drive thought leadership around industry trends are available through sponsorship purchases, including 60 minute and 30 minute Tech Talk sessions. The Executive Leadership track is also still available for sponsorship, allowing companies to provide introductory remarks and branding alongside executive-level content provided by ESX. For more information about exhibiting and sponsoring options, visit: https://esxweb.com/electronic-security-expo-sponsorship/