'Don't be the next Blockbuster'

ORLANDO, Fla.—Nobody in the security industry wants to be the next Blockbuster, according to Marek Robinson, president of Honeywell's dealer groups. That's why they need to embrace change, even if it can be unnerving, he said.

Embracing change was the predominant theme at Honeywell's Connect2014 event for dealers, held here Nov. 13-16. Top executives outlined the company's plan to take on the changes it faces, including taking advantage of users' increasing mobile device habits and putting a primary focus on customer service.

“Has anyone rented a movie from Blockbuster lately,” Robinson asked the more than 900 people attending the event.

Blockbuster, the movie and video game rental super chain that reached its peak 10 years ago with more than 9,000 stores and 60,000 employees, chose a “wait-and-see attitude” when DVD-by-mail innovator Netflix came on the scene.

That didn't work out so well for Blockbuster, Robinson said. It filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and has since closed.

“Nobody wants to be the next Blockbuster. We need to embrace change. Change is good. Change is exciting,” Robinson reiterated.

“If you do the same thing, you'll get the same results but only if everything else stays the same, too,” he said.

And things haven't stayed the same, he emphasized.

People are using their mobile devices anywhere from three to five hours per day, said Ron Rothman, Honeywell Security president. “They are inundated with technology.”

As a globally recognized brand, Honeywell is poised to take advantage of that trend, Rothman said, especially with its Connected Home line. Honeywell's position will benefit its dealers and its consumers, he said.

Customer satisfaction and loyalty will lead the way, said Alex Ismail, Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions president and CEO. Honeywell aspires to be the “Apple of industrial companies” when it comes to those parameters, he said.

“Connectivity is the next megatrend and an opportunity for us to fundamentally shift the customer experience and grow,” Ismail said.

A five-star Honeywell User Experience [HUE] is the way to achieve that, he and other Honeywell executives said.

HUE applies to dealers along with the dealers' customers.

Honeywell introduced HUE, its approach to the design and development of new products and services, earlier this year. It starts with the customer experience and deploys rapid prototyping and other design principles that enable faster cycle time and lead to increased customer value and loyalty, the company said. It aims to make Honeywell products “easier to use, more intuitive, more efficient and more productive,” the company has said.

Honeywell has 200 designers at nine global studios.