Per Mar buys Streff, will offer customers new services

DAVENPORT, Iowa—Per Mar Security Services has acquired Streff Security of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Brad Tolliver, VP of Per Mar's Electronic Security Division, told Security Systems News that the 250 acquired accounts are 70 percent small commercial and include retail, manufacturing and convenience stores.

Tolliver declined to discuss terms of the deal. The operations will be rolled into Per Mar's Cedar Rapids office. Streff Security was previously part of Streff Electric.

“They branched out into security about three years ago and now [Nick Streff Sr., the owner] is looking to retire. They were looking to narrow their focus [and shed the security business] and have other family members run the [electronics] core of their business,” Tolliver explained.

“It's a nice clean acquisition for us and an opportunity to expand some additional services to the new customer base,” he said.

Tolliver has high hopes for additional interactive services for residential and small-business customers. He touted Per Mar's 54 percent conversion rate over the past year. “With any new systems sold [in the past year] 54 percent have opted to go with [Honeywell's] Total Connect, or Total Connect video,” he said.

“We're going to continue to drive that up in 2013 by going back to our existing customer base [and new customers who came with the Streff acquisition] and help educate customers about what technology we offer today,” he said.

That way, when customers see security technology advertised on television commercials, “or a summer-model company comes knocking at their door … they know we offer the same things,” Tolliver said.

Revisiting existing customers will “keep attrition down, allow us to sell upgrades and additional services and grow RMR,” he added.

This week, Tolliver said Per Mar is holding three regional meetings to train all of its sales personnel on z-wave home automation technology—control of lights and appliances—that's part of Honeywell's LYNX Touch 5100 platform.

Per Mar does business throughout the Midwest and has 20 branch offices in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska.