Dynamark helping dealers open door to Web

HAGERSTOWN, Md.—Most alarm dealers know the drill about the Web. They realize they should be using it to help their business gain and maintain an edge, but where do you start? Who do you call? And what about the time and expense?

Nearly 200 dealers attending the Dynamark Security Centers convention here last week got the answer to those questions as the company made “a big push” to promote its online marketing support, said Tom Piston, vice president of sales and marketing.

“I think a lot of [dealers] know about what we can do, but we really pushed how we can help them out with things like either designing a website from scratch or refining an existing website,” Piston told Security Systems News. “By being part of our program, we bring it all together. We do it for them and with them, and a lot of it is free of charge because they are Dynamark dealers.”

Dynamark Security Centers includes Dynamark Monitoring, which earlier this year received Five Diamond certification from the Central Station Alarm Association, and the First Action Security Team, which supplies security products and training to its customers.

Piston said that although Dynamark doesn't host websites for dealers, the marketing program saves the time and effort required to find Web developers and teach them about the business of selling security.

“We already know that part of it and we're pretty good at doing Web design,” he said. “It's nothing dealers couldn't do on their own, but they are just so pushed that they don't have the time to think about doing it, whereas it's something we've already refined and something they can take advantage of very quickly.”

A week after the convention, Piston said it was obvious that dealers were responding to the opportunity.

“My phone is ringing off the hook,” he said, laughing. “I'm going to be chained to the computer for awhile helping people get some of these programs off the ground.”

The convention, which hasn't been held since 2009 but will now be an annual event, included more than 30 vendors and an open house at Dynamark's central station. There were also product training workshops by Interlogix, Honeywell, Linear, DSC, Potter Fire Systems and Pelco.

Piston said Dynamark was working on a number of bulk acquisitions and that its ongoing purchase program was starting to gain momentum.

“We really look for that to be rolling at full steam in 2013,” he said.