R.H.Campbell said:
Mike, I won't bother to add too much more to this thread except to advise
you to be just as careful of this gentleman's statements as you should be
with anyone that posts here. He assumes far too much !! Read both sets of
rationale, and make your own judgments. Often, those who can't justify their
positions, use personal attacks as their only "weapon". I stand by
everything that is posted on my website !
And often those who can't compete in any other way, have to
relentlessly ridicule legitimate business practices of their
competition and give away revenue and the equity in their business, in
order to keep up with the rest..
But for the record, I find it necessary to "correct" a few of his points.
His statement that most alarmco's insist on long term contracts IS accurate
and for the reasons he states, although the equity issue is entirely blown
out of proportion. It is only one of many things that buyers use when
evaluating a company for purchase.
That's what YOU say, but you know that if you were to ask anyone in
this group or any one who purchases accounts or issues "paper" for
business loans ...what is the most important item determining value
..... you know darn well that it would be, how many and what the terms
of the contracts are. If there weren't any contracts longer than one
month, they would hardly waste their time going through any of the
other due diligence that normally follows. You've been corrected an
informed of this dozens of times by people who purchase accounts and by
those who've sold accounts. You just refuse to admit or recognize it
simply to justify your ridiculous policy of giving away free service
and no contracts, just so you can compete in your market.
However, that is no reason why you as a
shopper should not seek the shortest term contract you can find in the
marketplace. Just because he, and a large part of the industry feel they
have to lock you in to a contract for their own self interests, and which in
most cases doesn't do a damn thing for you, doesn't mean that you as a
consumer should accept it.
So you think that just because YOU, don't find a need to increase the
equity of your company, that you should mislead consumers into
believing that they are going to be able to find someone who will offer
them month to month contracts when you know that the possibility of
doing so is virtually non existent.
In a free market, there are many ways to market a
product, and only those with little appreciation for marketing will insist
on doing things one single way, and especially "because that's the way it's
always been done".
There is absolutely nothing wrong with developing a marketing plan that
suits you and implementing it. Where the problem arises is when you
feel that you have to justify it, by implying that everyone who doesn't
agree with you is scamming the public and by you incessantly accosting
every end user who comes here, looking for advice, with your tirades
about them looking for companies that will give them month to month
contracts. Which you admit and KNOW is not going to happen.
It is my opinion that without a long term contract, some
of the very largest companies simply couldn't keep their attrition rates at
anything near normal levels (attrition means the number of accounts lost
each year as a percentage of their installed base). Any dealer that is
prepared to step up to the plate and provide service on a monthly basis,
KNOWS that he has to keep you happy or see you disappear with a month's
notice !
Thats utterly foolish. To imply that any company who has the means and
foresight to build equity in his company, should give up that
opportunity and revenue and "give" it to a consumer for no other reason
than that's what YOU think is the right thing to do. If YOU don't want
to have equity in your company that's just fine. But for you to mislead
consumers into believing all other companies should do what you do,
That's wrong. Just as you have a right to run YOUR company the way you
want to, others have the same right. If YOU weren't continuously
harping on the subject and constantly misleading consumers who come
here, ...... no one would say a THING to you about the way you run your
company. But YOU keep bringing up the subject and then get bent out of
shape because someone objects to what you're saying. As long as you
feel you have to mislead consumers who come here, and imply that alarm
companies who use term contracts are scamming the public, you're going
to get opposition. When you keep you business to yourself, then you
won't have to constantly defend your defenseless policy.
Ask yourself, who's really putting their money where their mouth is
!! You remain "in the drivers seat", and this actually can serve to help in
protecting you against poor service from your alarm company !! (and this is
certainly NOT to suggest that you can expect bad service from the majority
of alarmcos...most know that this is very much a service busines) But you
see my point ! Why leave yourself open if you don't have to ?
That is so overtly presumptuous for you to imply that if someone
DOESN'T have a contract, that they'll receive better service. So in
YOUR view, if a company has a long term agreement, that is adding
equity to his company, he's going to NOT give good service because he
knows he's got a customer for a YEAR? What about AFTER the year when
the customer doesn't renew the agreement? In your warped imagination,
can you conjure up the thought that it would be to the greater benefit
for an alarm company who would lose the monthly income, along with the
equity of all of his accounts, to give his clients better service, than
a company with one month agreements who has NOTHING but monthly income
to lose and who has the contractual liability of providing free parts
and service? Who's got the most to lose if they don't give good
service? What do you care? You're not going to sell your accounts ( you
say!). You only care about monthly income. You don't want to build
equity in your company. It seems to me as if YOU'RE the one that
someone should be afraid to do business with. You can drop out at
anytime with nothing to lose. There's no incentive at all for you to
stay in business. No equity...and liability for parts and service. That
puts you in the realm of any other fly by night home improvement
company, with only installations as a source of income, no assured
recurring revenue, so no source of equity, a heavy parts and service
liability and therefore a company who's value is deemed as only "good
will"
If you choose to sign a long term committment for say, a cellphone, it means
you have been given the phone for less up front, and they recover lost
revenue over the term of the contract. Alarms are no different except when
you own the alarm outright, or have paid a fair market price up front, there
is no justification other than protecting their revenue stream, for locking
you into an alarm contract. Forget the industry self serving statements; it
IS that simple from YOUR perspective !!
You categorize it as self serving and thereby imply that term contracts
is a practice that was created by the alarm industry as a ruse to
entrap consumers and are employed simply as an act of greed and
entrapment. When in fact, it is a business practice employed by many
industries for decades and decades. It's a viable means for a small or
medium entrepreneur to build his company up in value and/or to obtain
revenue to increase the size of his business. You portray this practice
as some sinister plan made up in back rooms and designed solely to
entrap the public and you know that's simply rubbish.
Pay high up front, low
ongoing.......pay low up front, high ongoing ! The choice is yours, but the
point is, you should have that choice - not be forced into it because there
are no other choices in the market !! And you certainly shouldn't have to
pay high at both ends as you'll soon find out dealing with the large
conglomerates !!
And YOU know that the only choice that he will find in the market place
is term agreements.
YOU know that companies have term agreements so that they can build
equity in their companies.So what exactly is it that you're trying to
do here? Do you actually think that the whole industry is going to
change, simply because you have taken up this position of misleading
consumers who come here for advice? What's your goal, to mislead each
consumer, one by one until the whole world sees term agreements through
your jaundiced colored glasses?
Even with month to month terms, I guarantee my rates in writing for five
years as you can see on my website, and this is no big deal if you know how
the monitoring market works. Prices per monitored account go down at
wholesale level the more you have monitored ! This gentleman particularily
seems to feel that I attack other dealers in the industry; however, that is
simply a reflection of his oversensitivity to the way I and many others
work. In our local area alone, there are at least five companies that I know
of working strictly on monthly term (one has 2000 accounts), and this gives
them (and me) a decided advantage over companies who insist on locking
clients in.
You call it an advantage but you fail to mention what giving that
advantage costs you.
YOU don't have term agreements.
In return, you have no equity in your company.
YOU give free service.
In return, you lose revenue and reduce your profit margin.
YOU replace parts for the life of the agreement.
Again, you lose revenue and reduce your profit margin.
So ultimately, you severely limit your business choices by strapping
your company
with the liability of no assured income, a committed on going expense
in parts and service and thereby a company of reduced value as an asset
and eventually, as a saleable business.
..
Your competition doesn't do these things but many of them give away
what are known as "FREE" alarm installation, which you complain about
as being misleading. The only difference between you and them, is that
you give away a piece of your business with every sale and they don't.
You just don't have to let your clients in on the fact that you're not
running your business in as profitable a manner as your competition.
Must be nice to have all that OTHER income to subsidize your business.
I hear the same "sour grapes" all the time from other companies
too !!
Oh yes and speaking of "SOUR GRAPES"....When doing a search under your
name using "long term contract" it comes up with a lot of nasty things
you've said about dealers who use them. "Scam", "cooked", "trapped into
signing", "forced to sign", "hold their client captive". Calling
client's "victims", "conning the public", " the long term contract is
just so much bullsh*t"
That's not "sour grapes" Hmmmmmm?
Simply disagreeing with some of what our industry does, doesn't mean
I'm attacking anyone (except in his mind...) and least of all, the industry
as a whole that I've worked in for the last 12 years ! As you say, everyone
has their unique opinion.... AND their unique way of working. Mine happens
to differ from the industry norm, but it works very well for me (and my
customers) !!
That's reeeeeallly good for you. But ..... again, just as the rest of
the people
in this group, don't push consumers who come here to SIGN term
agreements,
there's no reason for you to incessantly barrage them with your policy
of NOT
signing them. If it works for you, that's fine. There's no reason to
make it seem
that any company (which amounts to virtually ALL) who asks for term
agreements
is doing something wrong.
Yes Robert, there IS a disagreement here. Between you and the rest of
the industry.
But you do this all the time. Every time a consumer comes here, you
barrage them with your beliefs and policies and when opposed, you claim
that any objection is "sour grapes" fostered by something that's made
up? A disagreement is a disagreement, but do you interpret that as
..... once the disagreement has been discussed that it leaves you free
to continue to plague the group with your incessant ranting about what
your beliefs and policies are, and no one is supposed to object to it?
Jeeeez Robert. Isn't it amazing how the picture changes when you lay
all the cards on
the table?
It's unfortunate that the local dealers didn't call you back. That is their
loss and may be (unfortunately) ADT's gain....
You have no idea if ADT will give them good service or not.
Don't tell us you're going to start on THAT vendetta again ...... too?
))
