Complete Home is key to Guardian's California growth strategy

FRESNO, Calif.—Complete Home Security and Services, a newly authorized dealer for Guardian Protection Services, plans to expand Guardian's coverage on the West Coast in the next few months.

Complete Home is scheduled to open a second office in mid-March in Visalia, Calif., about 40 miles south of its main office here in Fresno. It also plans to open a third office in Bakersfield or Modesto, CEO David Shea told Security Systems News. He noted, though, that his first priority is to boost Guardian's presence in Northern California. Guardian is a super-regional security company based in Pennsylvania.

Shea and his partner and company CFO, Javier Alvarez, started the company in 2011; both have previous home security experience, he said.

Complete Home has about 250 in-house full-service accounts, of which 90 percent are residential. Home automation is a big part of what it does, Shea said.

The company, which employs 25, recently hired two direct marketing specialists to promote its brand and emphasize home automation as part of its security packages, he said.

“Regular folks” are getting interested in home automation, Shea said. That's because it has become more affordable and convenient, and because there's a new demographic out there who thought they couldn't afford home automation, but now can, he said.

Shea, who has six children, says he personally likes the fact, for example, that an automatic alert is sent to his smartphone when his teenage son gets home from school and deactivates the security alarm. He also likes helping clients cut down on high home heating bills by helping them remotely adjust their thermostats.

Home automation makes the security business “a lot more fun,” he said.

“I enjoy the industry a lot more now,” he said. “Our core is still 'let's protect the family, the home, the business,' but now people are getting more bang for their buck.”

Complete Home also has partnerships with GE Security and Alarm.com.

Accessibility to Guardian's senior leadership and how Guardian services its customers attracted Shea to the company, he said.

“The way the company operates in its delegation of tasks is such that there is no 'bleed over.' Calls are directed to subject matter experts within the company,” he said in a prepared statement.

Brian Helt, vice-president of the Guardian authorized dealer program, said in the statement that he wished his company could have “10 more dealers just like” Complete Home.

“They are a conservative organization, and they are seeking a long-term partnership. We like that they want to own their ZIP codes and focus on providing quality products and service to their customers. Quite simply, our goals are aligned,” he added.