SentryNet to host 23rd SentryCon

BILOXI, Miss.—As SentryNet is preparing to host its 23rd annual SentryCon, in Biloxi, Miss., from April 23-26, I thought it would be a good time to hear more about the event, its history and what the company is planning for this year. Peggy Page, marketing manager for SentryNet, and Julie Beach, STANLEY Security's vice president of Sonitrol and SentryNet dealers sales, each shared their perspective on the upcoming conference.

Speakers come from both in- and outside of the industry, according to Page. “We bring speakers in from not only the industry but from the business world as well, to teach them not only how to install a product—because we do have a lot of vendors that participate—but how to build their business, how to grow their business, how to hire employees, how to keep employees, how to face attrition and compete against the big-box companies,” she said.

This year's speakers include Mark Brown, professional speaker from Southwest Consulting. Brown will discuss recognizing challenges and how to overcome them. Ron Davis, president of Davis Mergers and Acquisitions Group, will address the current concerns of alarm dealers.

Bob Harris, president of Attrition Busters, is another speaker for this year's SentryCon. “He's a great speaker. He spoke at SentryCon last year, too, and he did such a good job [that] we asked him to come back and give us another presentation on attrition management,” Beach said.

In addition to speaking at SentryCon, Harris will also give a presentation at SentryNet's ISC West booth this year.

“We have a select group of dealers that we invite to be on our dealer advisory board every year,” Beach said, and a dealer advisory board meeting is held in conjunction with SentryCon each year. “The purpose of our dealer advisory board meeting is just to talk about any trends that we're seeing in the market, any new type of technologies, maybe new threats. … And then we also talk about enhancements to what SentryNet does.”

Beach added, “It's a really good opportunity for them to network with each other and learn from each other, and even though a lot of them might be competing in the same markets, they've really come to form a pretty good working relationship.”

The dealer advisory board was introduced following SentryNet's acquisition by STANLEY in 2015.

Time management will be a topic at this year's SentryCon, according to Page. “One of the biggest complaints of installers is they don't have time. They don't have time to learn the new technology, they don't have time to train new employees, they don't have time to seek new employees. And it's not necessarily [that] they don't have time, they're just not managing their time very well.”

The event also includes social events tailored to the area around the conference, including a baseball game, fishing and golf outings and skeet shooting.

Last year, SentryCon hosted 200 professionals, which has been typical of the past five years, according to Page. “I'm actually thinking attendance is going to be a little higher this year,” she said. Now have over 225 people registered to attend, Beach said about a month prior to the event.

SentryNet has about 765 dealers, spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico, according to Page.

“Originally, SentryCon was part of the Mississippi Alarm Association annual event. We hosted jointly with them for probably the first three or four years before we broke off and made it our own event,” said Page.

What do you most hope attendees walk away from the conference with? “That change isn't as scary as we think it is, and … that if you're willing to change with the industry, you're going to be a lot more successful,” Page responded.

Beach said, “I hope that they walk away with something that they didn't know already, … something that's going to help them grow their business or do something to keep their business relevant in this fast-changing market.”