I used to train all the new sales reps at the last company I was at. At the end of training I would tell them all “You’re a rookie until you leave a house crying”. Like most jobs, when you first start in the alarm business you’re overwhelmed by product knowledge, prices, standards, testing, and then someone with all the answers is trying to teach you selling techniques. Also, like most jobs, there is a time when you start learning and you think you are on top of the world. You think you have the product knowledge. You pass all your tests because of how unbelievably smart you are. You have worked out a pitch that you could say in your sleep. You now can predict the next question out of a customer’s mouth because you are just that good.
THEN! One day it will happen. One day you will get slapped in the face about why this industry exists. All of the knowledge, comparisons, standards, and pitches will seem to feel completely irrelevant. You will be face to face with someone that has had their life completely destroyed. You will be looking at someone that is counting on you to help them sleep tonight or be the person that could possibly prevent another tragedy and you will break down.
In 12 + years I have broken down three times. Each time humbled me in different way. Each time my perspective of what I did for a living was altered in a good way. My first time was 2 years after I started in the industry.
I arrived at a home on a warm summer afternoon. A woman answered the door and asked me to come in. As I walked in, to the right was a sitting room that had been transformed into an open bedroom. There laid a teenage boy in a hospital bed. He was unresponsive and the machines in the room indicated that this was an ongoing condition. Being a father, my shoulders automatically sunk and my son came straight to mind.
I followed the woman into the living room and we sat down to talk. The home did not have a system, but she wanted one. She needed some extra options that fortunately I was versed enough in how the systems worked to insure we could program. She needed special codes programed for the nurses that came in and out every day to take care of her adopted son in the next room. She was single and had to work during the day. She worried that they would not arm the system when they left so we had to find a way for her to verify. Today all systems do this easily but back in the day this was a tall order. Her biggest worry was that someone would break in and do harm to him. She then volunteered his story. He was a survivor of a botched abortion and was confined to a bed for the rest of his life. She did not mention how she came to adopt him and take care of him his whole life and I could barely hold myself together, so I was not asking.
I then gave her my bid for the system and monitoring. Back then we had crazy low monthly monitoring, but the upfront cost was not cheap. The companies back then did not lose money on the install like today. I gave her the best deal I possibly could and told her we could break it into two payments to help. She thanked me and then asked me to provide the landlord with a certificate for the insurance discount. If you are reading this and you are in the industry you understand the gravity of that last sentence. If you’re not in the industry let me explain. The industry did not sell to renters, PERIOD END OF SENTENCE! The industry was set up to sell to home owners only. They can fulfill the 3 year agreement and don’t move every 6 months. I probably told 100 people before that day we could not sell to them because they were a renter. None was as hard as this. She then explained that she had been in her last rental for 7 years but the tornado that just came through two months ago destroyed their home and they had to move. I begged her to give me a few hours and I would call her back.
I got to my car and picked up the phone to call my boss, the owner of the company. As he answered I tried to talk and immediately started to cry uncontrollably. I was able to speak just enough to say, “I am going to have to call you back”. It took ten minutes to stop crying. When I did I called the owner and not only begged him to make an exception, but I also bought the system for the customer and told the owner I would personally guarantee that if she didn’t fulfill the three years I would pay for it. He was good enough to just let me pay for it and made the exception that one time. I went straight back and told her the news and to this day that conversation is one of my fondest work memories.
That memory is one of the reasons I am so excited about our new Atlas products. Our Atlas product line is designed for renters. Customer can now move the products from home to home and easily update their information like addresses and emergency contacts. Renters can now have peace of mind. Parents can now worry less about the kids off to college or in their first apartment. Many times, the apartments and rental properties are the most subject to life altering break ins and invasions. Until you are in a home with a young woman in tears needing help and not telling you exactly why she wants it installed today you just don’t realize how important our services are. We are excited about Atlas because we have a deep understanding about how this helps people that until now did not have any options.
Jason L Martin
General Manager
Titan Alarms