ASG makes four buys, details sales-force segmentation plan

BELTSVILLE, Md.—ASG Security announced two “year-end” buys in November but made four more purchases before 2012 ended.

Expect the acquisitions to continue apace in 2013, ASG CEO Joe Nuccio told Security Systems News.

ASG expects to add another $1 million in RMR, bringing it to $9 million in RMR by the end of 2013. “That's based on our plan and what we have in the hopper today,” Nuccio said.

The super-regional bought Sembera Security Systems of Cypress, Texas and Sentry Installations of Rockville, Md. It also did two tuck-in, account-only acquisitions, one in Texas and one closer to its headquarters here.

“We continue to be able to find companies that have been around for a long, long time, who have long-term customers and low attrition within our regions,” Nuccio said.

The four deals bring in accounts that are 14 percent commercial and 86 percent residential. They also bring 20 new employees, including Robert Lintz, the former owner of Sentry Installations.

Fred Sembera, the former owner of Sembera Security, is an entrepreneur who is involved in several other businesses and chose to divest from the security business.

ASG's RMR growth in 2012 was derived from “the same split [we expect in 2013],” said Ralph Masino, CFO of ASG. “Seventy percent is created internally and 30 percent is acquired.”

To continue the company's “hyper growth,” ASG is continuing to segment its sales force in more markets. That means having “separate, highly focused salespeople who go after residential, small business or commercial exclusively,” explained Bob Ryan, ASG SVP of sales and marketing.

It's a matter of increasing head count, including hiring separate sales managers for the three different channels.

“Focusing on market segmentations will provide an enhanced platform for growth,” Ryan said.

ASG has already segmented the sales force in some markets and it will realign sales in more markets this year. “It's a divide-and-conquer approach,” he said.

“In 24 months, every single branch will have a separate and highly focused sales group [for] every market segment we operate in,” Ryan explained.

Will the resi salespeople do more door knocking? That's part of the puzzle, Ryan said, but “we're not a one-trick pony. Our residential salespeople are 12-month career-oriented salespeople.” ASG's strategy is to employ both short-term (door knocking) and long-term (sphere of influence) sales tactics, Ryan explained.

ASG, which moved into a new region (New Orleans) in November, expects to close a number of acquisitions this quarter and enter a new region early in 2013.

Nuccio is fond of saying that at ASG, “the strategy never changes.” He said, “The opportunities get bigger as we get bigger … the acquisitions [just allow us] to leverage the infrastructure to create more organic sales.”