Security entrepreneur unveils new website

SOUTHBURY, Conn.—Three years after launching SecuritySpecifiers.com, security industry entrepreneur Ray Coulombe is introducing RepsforSecurity.com, a database-driven website that helps manufacturers identify security reps who can optimize their sales presence in a given region or market.

As with SecuritySpecifiers.com, Coulombe believes the new website fills an industry void, allowing manufacturers to use reps to augment an existing sales force or, in other cases, be deployed in lieu of it.

“I think it's going to help facilitate the commerce of security for a variety of people,” Coulombe said. “For example, many manufacturers have some territory holes, and they want to know who may be a potential rep, and who belongs to their competitor.”

RepsforSecurity.com, which debuted around December 2013, profiles reps by the territories in which they operate, as well as by the manufacturers and products they represent. This information drives the website's primary function, which Coulombe says is to “provide a comprehensive rep/manufacturer and product coverage profile.”

Coulombe believes manufacturers pursuing business in non-primary markets will be able to leverage the resource to find reps with expertise in that area. For some companies, using a single rep in lieu of a sales force can be advantageous if they want to do business outside their core model but “don't want to devote feet on the street to a special niche market,” he said.

Manufacturers will also be drawn to the website to find reps that can supplement a sales or applications team that's already well established in a certain territory, according to Coulombe.

He emphasized that the website isn't just a tool for big manufacturers with enormous budgets. Smaller businesses and startups can also find value from the site, he said. “If you're a young, small tech company and don't have the wherewithal, financial resources or cash flow, this can save you the payroll and angst involved with deploying a direct sales force,” Coulombe said.

As part of the website's next phase, Coulombe intends to mail out best practices materials on proper protocols and other supplementary documentation that underscores why reps are an important component of a sales strategy. He hopes these efforts, together with the website as a whole, will help “shine light on an area that needs to be better understood by the industry.”

“This brings a little or not-very-well understood sector of the marketplace to life,” he said. “[Reps] have a tremendous number of relations, and they drive sales.”