As a powerful educational experience for the electronic security and life safety industry, the Electronic Security Expo takes great care to select a distinguished group of professionals to provide insight and input on its advisory board. As the only national tradeshow designed by and for security and fire integration/dealer and monitoring professionals — you can be assured that the experience is timely, relevant, and well-positioned to benefit your company.  

Dealers, integrators, and monitoring professionals will have access to the industry’s leading educational programming, including reviewing proven marketing tactics, sales team management tips, operations best practices, and more

The 2023 ESX Advisory Board includes: 

• Jeremy Bates- President of Bates Security 
• Cameron Fleck- President of NewVision Security 
• Morgan Hertel- Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Rapid Response Monitoring  
• Paul Hevesy- FAST Board of Directors Chair 
• Mark Hillenburg- VP of Industry Relations, DMP 
• John Loud- President of Loud Security 
• David Morgan- Co-founder & Vice President of Security Dealer Marketing 
• Tom Nakatani- VP of Custom Monitoring Technology for ADT
• Elizabeth Parks- President of Parks Associates 
• Rodger W Reiswig- VP of Industry Relations for Johnson Controls 

Because of these minds, ESX can bring you some of the best educational sessions in the industry. They work hard to produce top materials to serve you and your business. To do so, they carefully review attendee feedback surveys and attendance data from previous years and take into consideration their own business’ challenges to develop a list of possible sessions. Up to 120 session ideas are considered in an in-person meeting with ESA’s team. Those ideas are then narrowed down to the top 28 through a detailed and thorough process to ensure only the most powerful content is delivered at the event. 

Our ESX Advisors invest hundreds of combined hours to make ESX what it is in order to serve you and your company. Thank you to our 2023 ESX Advisors!  

Join us next on June 5-8 to experience the programming this team of professionals has designed for you. 

[Full Video of Interview on Security Nation Podcast is Below]

During the COVID-19 pandemic many industries experienced a recession of technology and growth. Fortunately, the security industry and more specifically, the MDU (Multi-Dwelling Unit) vertical was one of the exceptions. The Electronic Security Expo in June 2022 hosted a peer-to-peer education session “Top 5 factors you need to know before entering the MDU market”, that explored the MDU market’s latest trends, go-to-market strategies, and what makes it a unique vertical in our industry. This session was led by 4 presenters with each offering a unique industry perspective. 

Growth & Trends in the MDU (Multi Dwelling Units) Market  

The presentation began with taking a closer look at the latest MDU market trends. At the beginning of the year, Yardie Matrix published an article regarding new construction permits that are being pulled. It shows that there is a steady trend for the next five years with an average of almost 4000 units being built, which is astronomical. “It is also important to note that more people start renting when there is a recession.” says Mariam Rogers “So, it is great to see that the MDU marketing has sustained throughout the pandemic, and it is still growing steadily. It really is a recession-proof vertical.” Rogers adds. 

Additionally, the presenters discussed how apartment operators are getting smarter and more creative. For example, some developments might be running a building that’s 90% traditional apartments and then 20% that are co-living.

“There is just this incredible amount of diversity that is starting to happen in the multifamily market.” says Preston Grutzmacher “Once there is a diverse population in buildings with totally different use cases, then the demand for technology grows as well.”  

Jennifer Doctor then explained that historically in the MDU market, any kind of multi-dwelling unit had three elements; the property automation itself, the resident amenities and automation, and the building security. “Before the last three years or so, these elements were treated as separate components in the environment. Now we are seeing them merge into one solution request. That’s really where the true growth is for our industry.” 

Market Strategies to Motivate Buyers 

After going over the MDU market’s growth potential and trends, the discussion moved into go-to-market strategies. They explained how marketing efforts have been changing over the years. If you were to rewind the clock in the security industry ten years, your marketing spend would have been directed entirely towards a security reseller. But in more recent years there has been a need to bring qualified leads to your channel partners and keep their business going. One of the ways that you can do that is by marketing to the different types of organizations inside of multifamily. Marketing to developers, investors, and to general contractors. Because the more excitement that you can build with those organizations, the more demand you can create to supply your channel partners. “Remember, there’s an entirely different set talk tracks when it comes to communicating the products to each of your different audience members.” Grutzmacher advises

“If you’re talking to a property manager, their needs are different from the leasing agent, from the developer, from the owner, and you must start asking yourself, ‘Who are our customers?’ –  For dealers entering the market, don’t write anyone off. Your next sale could come from a ton of diverse groups within any property.” Grutzmacher continues. 

Doctor added that during those conversations about the types of buildings with different audiences on value, you must keep the end user adoption and what their needs are front of mind. “If you’re in an apartment with a month-to-month rental, the products you bring in are potentially different from those of a condominium. Plus, all of that can change if you’re in a multi-unit dwelling that caters to a senior citizen environment.” explains Doctor. Essentially, you must be able to adjust your talking based on all these audiences to truly present your value and what makes you unique and the better solution. “It’s not the product. We can all build the products, it’s the conversations of how to present them.” Doctor adds 

How Does Managed Wifi Fit in the Picture? 

This portion of the presentation explored managed WiFi solutions. Grutzmacher pointed out, if a building has managed WiFi, with each residential unit is charged $20 from their ISP, but they’re selling the WiFi to each individual resident at $50. That’s created $30 of RMR per unit that they never had before. “Managed WiFi is the next frontier in prop TAC for multifamily. When we get to the world of managed WiFi, all of a sudden that property has a revenue source.” says Grutzmacher.

From there Rogers added that every tech stack must have a network that is reliable. Residents want to be able to make phone calls in the elevator or parking garages without them dropping. Without the proper infrastructure that all the technology is layered on, connections will fail. “If you start looking at things like Smart Appliances that are running on WiFi, there must be a backbone to keep everything, and everyone connected. That’s where managed WiFi is a great solution. You use systems that have a cellular backhaul and if the celluar connection isn’t stable and there’s no WiFi, you’ve got to get very creative with your design or you’re going to have a lot of unhappy customers.” says Rogers 

First Step… Find a trusted partner 

During the question-and-answer porting of the ESX education session, an attendee asked for what one’s first step should be when entering the MDU market. The presenters all concur that everyone should start by finding a trusted partner. Doctor cautioned that if your first partner is not one that you totally trust and feel has your back, then you need to go with someone else and trust your intuition. “Not all partners will put your interest before their wallet. You need somebody at the very beginning that is going to help you go through this process as a team to help your goals, not theirs.” explains Doctor 

Rogers challenged those entering the MDU market to ask potential partners a set of questions to ensure that they are legitimate and have industry knowledge.  

• Is the partner SOC compliant? 
• How long has the partner been in business? 
• Is the partner working from a startup fund or are they operating in the black? 

“You can’t rely on everyone that’s selling to you to be an expert on all things technology. You need to partner with people who understand the whole tech stack and the multifamily ecosystem as a whole.” cautions Rogers. 

In the session’s closing the presenters remarked on the Electronic Security Assocation’s role to educate integrators and channel partners and make sure that the industry is on the same page and understands how unique multifamily is. 

“ESA in terms of helping present the education and building awareness is beyond necessary right now for the industry. They are finding ways to present the specific nuances of the different markets too. ESA and this event the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) has the voice and the authority to do this and help all of us and we appreciate everything they do every day.” says Doctor 

If you find this peer-led education format beneficial to your security business, make sure to register to ESX 2023. It will be held June 5-8 at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Security Nation Podcast Episode 10

The Electronic Security Expo, 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. Please read this call for presenters if you are interested in speaking at the Expo. 

ESX offers the most comprehensive educational sessions with presenters that have real-world industry experience, and it wants security pros like you to offer your expertise. Does your company excel in selling RMR services? Do you have a success story of rolling out cloud based access control? Does your company nurture leads with social selling? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then ESX would love to hear from you! To learn more about the selection process, keep reading below. If you are ready to sign up as a presenter, fill out the form here: Electronic Security Expo Presenters (esxweb.com)  

What ESX Searches for in Presenters 

One of the goals of ESX 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 2023 education program which is set to be announced to the public in the coming months. This call for presenters officially closes on MARCH 11, 2023
 

There are a variety of factors to consider in maintaining a successful security business. Critical elements include recruiting and retaining talent, assessing employee and customer attrition, and growing sustainable recurring revenue and EBITDA. By far, the number one issue facing the security industry is a limited viable workforce. Consequently, dealers, integrators, and monitoring centers must rethink compensation packages, professional development, and employee retention programs for both new and existing employees. In addition, a good leadership team will strive to build the right culture, the right purpose, and the right vision that attracts the right people for all levels of the organization.  

Building the Right Team

Gaining the right employees is the first step. Keeping them is equally as important. Leadership and management training will be vital in this process. In addition, employee attrition should be tracked and analyzed to understand its cause and effect, subsequently using the data to improve employee retention. Improving employee retention and engagement will also have a direct and positive impact on customer attrition. 

Keeping Your Customer Base

That brings us to customer retention. Measuring customer attrition is critical to understanding the make-up of your company’s customer base and corresponding recurring revenue stream. For example, if your customer base is primarily focused on a market segment that can be hit hard by a recession or is highly concentrated in a particularly vulnerable segment, your attrition rate will likely trend much higher than normal. Understanding your customer attrition will also provide valuable insights into your product and service offerings and the delivery of the customer experience. 

In addition, more than ever, recurring revenues must be assessed to determine how vulnerable the company may be during this uncertain economic climate. Consider the value of understanding your exposure to possible industries that may be acutely or permanently damaged in the coming months or years. This exercise will also help you focus more clearly on the market segments that remain sustainable and profitable and identify emerging sectors to add to your go-to-market strategy.  You can also minimize your risk by diversifying your customer portfolio so that you are not too highly exposed to any one sector or customer type. 

Assess your EBITDA

Credit markets are becoming more challenging for companies that are not financially disciplined enough to meet lending covenants, especially dealers and integrators focused mainly on the residential market. We all understand that recurring revenues are good, but a solid plan to refocus on growing your EBITDA is even better. Whether you’re thinking about selling your company next year or the next decade, you should run your company like you’re going to sell it tomorrow.   

Security professionals who are interested in taking a deeper dive into the industry’s trends should register and attend ESX 2023 in Louisville, KY, June 5-8. Over the course of 3.5 days, attendees will experience industry-leading education programs, best practices, and more to take their business to the next level. 

When it comes to tight labor markets, not only is there recently a workforce shortage but as competition for skilled labor increases, so do wages and benefits. Coupled with remote, hybrid, and flexible work policies, employees have more options in the current workforce environment. Because of this, employee acquisition and retention are becoming competitive differentiators.  

In Fort Worth, TX in June 2022, Dee Ann Harn, CEO of RFI and Gretchen Gordon, CEO of Boost Profits led the “Navigating A Tight Labor Market – Find. Retain. Augment” peer-to-peer educational session at the Electronic Security Expo (ESX). Together they brought their years of expertise and explored key points that position your company for success during this industry trend. 

Find.

According to Dee Ann and Gretchen, the first key point is to attract the right employees. Using job ads properly can be extremely powerful. Ads are always huge in any industry, but it is important to put the right information out into the world. The right information includes demonstrating your company brand, culture, and values. It is crucial to have these identified in advance to hiring new team members. If this is accomplished it will be much more transparent for you as a manager, to identify who will be well suited for the company and the culture. However, a lot of companies fail to consider what attracts a valuable employee
and forget that the hiring process goes both ways. Dee Ann and Gretchen emphasize making sure your company is living out its culture in a tangible way
to the employee, which leads us to retention. 

Retain.

It is important to think about your company values and culture and think of the value proposition from the perspective of the employee. Is this a good work environment? Would someone enjoy working for your company and why? 65% of job seekers say that a company’s reputation influences their decision on whether they chose to apply to a job and 64% of job seekers say that reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed influence their perception of what it’s like to work at that company.  

When employees feel seen and valued, they are less likely to look for different work opportunities. In this day and age, many young employees are choosing positive and healthy work environments over simply having a career and good salary. Now, people are looking at the package deal. Salary, benefits, PTO, remote and hybrid opportunities, flexibility and so much more. The days of living to work are far behind us and many young people are choosing to work to live instead, with many still wanting to have a healthy work-life balance lifestyle available to them.  

Augment.

It is crucial for companies to identify who fits with the company and to be transparent from the beginning. Using accurate job descriptions is one part of doing this. Employees should know what they are getting into so a month or two in, they aren’t struggling, surprised, or at risk of resigning. Ensuring there is growth in the company plays a big role as well. Employees want to know that they can grow and succeed within a company long-term, and that they have the resources available to them to do so.  

Overall, with the right tools and resources, employers should be able to be successful in hiring long-term candidates who can bring success not just to the company but to their own career as well. Companies should firstly solidify their brand, use that brand to advertise to a specific target of job seekers, identify from applicants who is well-suited for the company culture and lastly be able to offer that employee proper tools and resources to succeed.