Honeywell’s John Lorenty (second from left) presents the Holloway family and Security Corp. with its CSS Dealer of the Year award at the annual Forum in Las Vegas on Tuesday. PHOTO BY SDM STAFF

Honeywell held its annual, day-long CSS Forum on Tuesday at the Venetian Hotel, demonstrating through its well-crafted agenda the strong support it offers dealers who are part of the company’s Commercial Security Systems program.

The attendance at the CSS Forum was the best yet, with about 120 people from 60 dealer companies present, said Wayne Bro, dealer development manager, Honeywell Authorized Dealer Network, CSS.

“It is exciting to see how fast the Honeywell CSS program is growing,” commented JoAnna Sohovich, president, Honeywell Security & Communications, Americas Region. ”The dealers are very much engaged in driving business growth through new technology and business operations improvement programs.

“We’ve heard testimonies from dealers who benefitted from Honeywell’s integrated lead generation programs and multiple RMR opportunities, and we intend to continue to invest in these areas for our CSS partners. In addition to the testimonies, I am very impressed by the free sharing of ideas and best practices that can help each and every dealer in the program,” Sohovich said.

The sharing of best practices among dealers was just one of many sessions that took place at the CSS Forum, which also included a presentation on risk allocation in security contracts by attorney Eric Pritchard; new business opportunities in houses of worship; internet marketing and lead generation, and more.

Wayne Bro covered trends in managed services, stressing how in the current economy there are fewer jobs and those installations are less profitable — the message to dealers being, “We need to be growing our RMR.”

Honeywell’s Gordon Hope and Dean Mason discussed the changing landscape of alarm and fire communication; and Hope presented the streamlined look and feel of the new Total Connect 2.0.

The Forum was a place for acknowledgement and recognition, as well. Among the many awards announced was the Honeywell CSS Dealer of the Year, which was given to Security Corp., Novi, Mich. Honeywell’s president of CSS, John Lorenty, said there were three strong candidates for the award, but “Security Corp. had outstanding year-over-year growth,” and being located in Detroit made the company’s growth all the more impressive.