Best-selling author Mark Victor Hansen makes a point during the opening session of Honeywell Security's First Alert Professional convention last November in Las Vegas.

Ben Cornett, president of Honeywell Security, Louisville, Ky., which owns First Alert Professional Security Systems, noted at the opening session that the number of dealers selling Honeywell products across the company’s three main product lines increased threefold in 2005. There are approximately 350 First Alert Professional dealers.

Joe Sausa, First Alert Professional president, emceed the convention. The keynote speaker at the opening session was Mark Victor Hansen, best-selling author of a series of Chicken Soup for the Soul books along with others, such as The Power of Focus, Dare to Win, and his new book, The One-minute Millionaire: The Enlightened Way to Wealth.

Hansen encouraged attendees to concentrate on gaining residual income, or recurring monthly revenue (RMR), because of its wealth-creating possibilities. He also advised working with an assistant who is strong in your weaknesses, such as an organized assistant for a more intuitive person.

Erik Jones, an engineer with the Las Vegas Fire Department, won the Life Safety Award for saving a total of seven people involved in two separate auto accidents while off-duty. Jones was introduced by broadcaster Larry King on video.

During the two-day convention, sessions were held on a variety of topics relating to sales, management and products, including voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), home automation, sales strategies, the builder market, lease financing and lead generation.

John Jennings, CEO of Safeguard Security and Communications, Scottsdale, Ariz., revealed techniques he has used to build up his company. Among them were concentrating on a company’s core discipline, which he called his “hedgehog.” Jennings told of acquisitions he had made and ones on which he had passed based on how the company’s business fit his company’s hedgehog. “Acquisitions should always be strategic to what you are trying to accomplish,” he emphasized. “Can you add market share or add a core discipline?” he asked.

Joel Gordon of Secure US, Morgantown, W.Va., receives from Joe Sausa, First Alert Professional president, an oversized $2,000 check to represent his winning the sales consultant award.

His name was pulled from a drum with the names of all those salespeople who had accumulated during the contest year a minimum of 100,000 points. Points are awarded based on the number of systems sold and the dollar value of each sale.

Protectron Security Systems, Quebec, Canada, won a Mini-Cooper automobile in a drawing. Dominique Levesque accepted the award for the company.

Next year’s First Alert Professional convention will be Oct. 5-8 in Boca Raton, Fla.