Pinnacle helps establish new Utah alarm management group

OREM, Utah—Pinnacle Security this week announced it is helping establish a unique industry management association in this state—one comprised of summer-sales model companies like itself.

Jason Knapp, Pinnacle executive VP of financing and the president of the new Alarm Management Association of Utah, told Security Systems News that “this association is going to hopefully be comprised of Utah companies that are in a similar market to Pinnacle, namely the summer sales, door-knocking industry. Our approach to marketing is perhaps a little different from some of the residential security companies. That's the niche that we're trying to fill.”

The new organization will be a collaborative resource, through which members can share best practices, and it will provide direction and guidance in the residential security market, according to a company press release.

“The residential security industry represents hundreds of millions of dollars to Utah's economy, provides thousands of Utah jobs and helps families across the country protect their homes, businesses and families,” said Kelly Walker, Pinnacle CEO, in a statement in the release. “We are proud of our industry and are creating this association to establish standards and practices that will further build consumer confidence, protect the industry and enable its growth.”

The membership of the nonprofit association has yet to be determined. The association's membership and structure are expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

However, Knapp said the founding members, in addition to Pinnacle, which was founded in 2001 and is one of the most established companies in the space, include Utah companies Silverline Security and Vision Security.

Knapp said the new group would “welcome any members who are willing to live by the standards of the association.”

The company said that the association's core values include: establishing best practices and sharing ideas in an environment where such topics can be discussed “without violating the confidence of others;” operating ethically; and improving the summer model companies' reputation—coming together “to promote the positive aspects of our industry and establish its professional nature.”

Summer model companies over the past few years have received a lot of negative news coverage because of problems with their sales reps. Many of the companies have made strides in addressing those problems associated with door-to-door contract employees. Pinnacle, for example, initiated an organizational culture shift last year to improve its image. Stuart Dean, Pinnacle VP of corporate communications, told SSN that Pinnacle's helping to establish the new association is a “natural progression” of that.

The group plans to hold meetings every other month on topics that will include licensing, installation, tax compliance, technology, customer service, legal issues and attrition, Pinnacle said.

Dean said, “Being a summer sales company we have unique challenges … but the fact that this organization has come together collectively with other companies in our space” around the association's core values …  “is a really a good step to help improve some of the issues we face as a group.”

Knapp stressed how important Pinnacle and other top residential security companies are to the economy of Utah, noting in a statement that they're “attracting the attention of major private equity partners across the country, reviewing potential acquisitions and building bridges to converging technology markets that will continue to bring revenue and business opportunities.”

Even though the companies in the association are competitors, he said, “we can work together to improve our industry and our niche.”