Guardian Protection's new VP of sales unveils 'multi-dimensional' plans

WARRENDALE, Pa.—Guardian Protection Services, a super-regional based here, recently announced plans to create “a multi-dimensional inside sales center.”

Barry Bruce, the company's new senior VP, corporate sales, will lead the effort to establish the center, the company said.

Bruce, who was VP of national sales for Devcon Security before being hired by Guardian in October, told Security Systems News that the new sales center would build on the company's existing inbound call center to include outbound calls.

“That's the model we would like to put in place. Instead of just having a true inbound center, we would like down the road to have an inbound and outbound call center,” Bruce said. “We believe there's a lot more opportunity out there than just waiting for the phone to ring.”

He said plans include “driving more leads into the call center.”

Bruce was with Broadview Security, formerly Brink's Home Security, for 12 years. He was vice president of nationwide sales for more than six years. In that role, he managed 70-plus managers and 600 sales representatives, as well as the inbound and outbound call centers, according to Guardian.

Bruce joined Devcon in January 2011 and left last August, according to his LinkedIn resume. The private equity firm that owns Devcon, a Florida-based super-regional, is considering selling that company, Devcon's CEO recently said.

At Guardian, which provides security and home automation services to more than 260,000 subscribers, Bruce will oversee sales activities and initiatives in Guardian's five business units: residential, builder, commercial, national accounts and dealer.

Bruce said he plans to expand all the divisions “by adding new dealers, builder partners, residential partners and national accounts.”

He noted that new technology, such as interactive and home automation services, presents new opportunities for the industry and Guardian. That means that sales representatives accustomed to just selling security for years need to have “a little bit of a change of habit” and do more to promote home automation services.

“We feel like we want to aggressively move toward the home automation piece,” he said. “…When you can lay in some of the additional home automation pieces, there's no question it makes the product significantly stickier from a consumer standpoint.”

Guardian said that one of its most important strategic objectives in the upcoming year is to “design, develop and implement a comprehensive plan to effectively and efficiently improve our ability to market these new products and services to new and existing customers.” It said Bruce “will be responsible for leading this critical effort,” which includes expanding the inside sales center.

Bruce said he's very excited to be part of Guardian, which he described as a “solid company … poised with the way we operate to really take advantage of some of the changes [in the industry] out there.”