SAFE gets $25 million

SAN RAMON, Calif.—SAFE Security, with a recent $25 million credit facility from Prospect Capital, is planning a number of innovations to better serve its customer base, according to Paul Sargenti, president and CEO.

The loan from Prospect Capital will benefit and update SAFE's different revenue streams: bulk acquisitions and its dealer and DIY programs and its new internal sales program, which will be headed up by Babe Kilgore, the firm's new director of national sales.

“We had a unique opportunity with a very talented individual, Babe, who wanted to join SAFE and meet our desire to create a different kind of sales engine. He has vast experience,” Sargenti told Security Systems News.

Kilgore, who will be based out of SAFE's Safeguard Security branch in Scottsdale, Ariz., has “knocked on tens of thousands of doors selling products. … Kilgore has filled every position in a security company's organization, from sales rep to president. … He will bring a new level of sales and marketing help in both the security program along with the new technologies and programs we are rolling out in 2015,” Sargenti said.

SAFE's new initiatives mean it “ultimately will have a national reach with boots on the ground,” he said. The company will boost its telemarketing and door-knocking strategies to acquire more customers, he said.

“We've done that locally and regionally, successfully. This will be our effort to take that to a larger threshold,” he said.

Search engine marketing will complement its DIY outreach.

In addition to other customer initiatives, SAFE will launch a loyalty program, “very much like programs offered by airlines, hotels and businesses, where our customers can accumulate points to be used for the purchase of anything in our store, cash cards, TVs, vacations,” Sargenti said.

“It's an innovative approach that we have hope will make a lot of difference in customer satisfaction,” he said. The awards program is in the second stage of its beta testing and will be rolled out over the next 60 days, he said.

SAFE also will be expanding its security services to include prevention of identity theft. SAFEid is a full family protection plan that customers can register for at no cost, he said.