ESX 2019 full of passion from start to finish

From the showroom floor and education sessions to motivational speakers, one-on-one interviews and central stage talks lead by SSN as the premier media sponsor of ESX, the goal of #PassionateSecurity was more than fulfilled. In my opinion, this passion for security was best seen as industry peers openly shared their experiences with others via conversations, interactive education sessions, networking events and receptions—even if that meant sharing with the competition, all in the name of keeping security as top priority.

One of the unique things that happens at industry events is an overarching theme will emerge, one in which “everyone” seems to be talking about. At ESX 2019, that was the customer and employee experience. This takes empathy and the ability for security professionals to put themselves into the shoes of their customers as well as their employees to understand how they feel and what they truly need. The result? Employees feel appreciated, leading them to embrace a “servant” mentality toward customers, doing whatever it takes to ensure nothing but greatness, which fosters excellent customer experiences when working with your company. (Hence, #PassionateSecurity.)

Case in point: I was honored to moderate the education session “Sales vs. Operations: 6 Ways to Turn Conflict into Collaboration,” where Jeremy Bates of Bates Security, Paul Hevesy of Stanley Security; and Suvankar Roy of Xfinity Home shared some amazing tips on how to bond together sales and ops teams so that the customer benefits. One easy-to-implement tip presented was “Thankful Thursdays,” where people on the sales team identify someone they are thankful for on the ops team and why, and of course, the ops team does the same for the sales team, and then voice this during cross departmental meetings. This fosters a culture of appreciation and gratitude within the company, which spills over into customer interactions by sales and ops team members, and helps to enhance the overall customer experience.

And, speaking of unique � this year at ESX, SSN live-broadcasted the central stage talks, hosted by Editor Paul Ragusa, via Twitter. Below you will find a list of informative quotes that emerged from each on-stage security professional. Simply click on their name to be transported to their specific talk to gather even more valuable tips, tricks and insights. It's like sitting in your living room with knowledgeable security professionals, sharing a cup of coffee and chatting about the industry! In fact, grab a cup of coffee and sip along as you view! And, please don't forget to “like,” share and comment on each one.

ESX 2019 Central Stage Talks

“The two touchpoints today are the voice of the customer and the customer experience. At the end of the day, I think it's the personal relationships that are going to differentiate those well-sought-after companies.”

—Ivan Spector, president, TMA

“They [the customer] want the latest video camera, door locks, but at the same time they don't want to have 50,000 apps. They want simplicity.”

—Celia Besore, executive director, TMA

“Really what we need are salespeople who can ask better questions: what's the problem we're trying to solve? What is it that they [the customer] is trying to accomplish? Not just be so product oriented but solution oriented.”

—Gretchen Gordon, president, Braveheart Sales Performance

“One of the strategies we use is to let citizens know how a policy like verified response, which means that it confirms some criminal or attempted criminal activity before the police will respond, will affect them.”

—Stan Martin, executive director, SIAC

“Almost all the features that we do in our panel, all the technologies that we put in there, are a direct result of listening to our customer's feedback.”

— Jeremy Mclerran, senior director of marketing at Qolsys Inc.

“ � there's DIY and DIT, “do it together,” and I think dealers are figuring out how that's going to work � customers are taking some responsibility for their systems � I think the more that there is opportunity for the consumer to become aware of their security system and some of the features it delivers for them, whether it be convenience featured of peace of mind features, the more they're willing to spend to add onto and grow, I think that will grow our entire industry.”

—Mark Hillenburg, executive director of marketing, DMP

“On average, consumers spend four hours or more installing their DIY security system in the home, so the market tends to push toward 'do it for me.'”

—Dina Abdelrazik, senior analyst, Parks Associates

“We [ESA] are launching an assessment exam which I think is something we've needed in the industry for a long time � because we have so many training courses, we have this vast array of test questions. So, we took all that information and put it together in a software package; we can actually have a technician take an exam, and that will give us the information we need to understand where their strengths are from a technical standpoint and where their weaknesses are. And, then we can develop a roadmap for the member to put that technician on a path to improve their weaknesses and maybe even accentuate their strengths.”

—Merlin, Guilbeau, executive director, ESA

“One of the great things around the smart home being more common and more useful is it brings a lot of awareness. It wasn't too long ago, we'd have to explain to a client or prospective client what was possible with their system; whereas now, people understand you could control your lights with your phone. You can decide whether or not that's of interest to you.”

—Mike Jagger, president, Provident Security

“On the commercial side, it's really all about cameras; it's really about video and everything that video can do � that's not just driven by market demand, but it's also driven by legislation and local governance.”

—Steve Firestone, president, Select Security

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