The 2017 Guardian Protection Services Authorized Dealer Conference took place in conjunction with ISC West on April 5 at Encore Resort in Las Vegas. The theme of the conference was “Elevate.” Guardian wanted this theme to be so ingrained in representing who they are and what their dealers should be achieving that the word was literally carved into the ice plates used for one of the dinner’s courses.

The evening began with a sponsor showcase during which attendees could mingle, have drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and visit sponsor booths. Each attendee had a chance to fill a card with stickers from each booth for a chance to win one of three cash prizes of $500, $1,000 or $1,500.

Dinner followed the sponsor showcase, where nearly all of Guardian Protection’s 30 authorized dealers were represented. “The dealers represent a fairly significant portion of our account generation — last year a major portion of our total accounts were generated by our dealers, so they are a very important group to us,” said Bob Haskins, Guardian Protection’s vice president of strategy and business development.

Edwin Arroyave, CEO, Skyline Security Management Inc., winner of both the first place Production Award and the President’s Award, described what being a Guardian Protection dealer means to his company: “It literally feels like a partnership. I feel they have our best interest, and they are very transparent about everything. It is evident that every move they make is for the long term. We want to be around long term, so it’s nice to know we have a partner that thinks the same way.”

The room decoration and videos that played before each award was presented were of various extreme sports such as skydiving, rock climbing, mountain biking and parkour in keeping with the Elevate theme.

Haskins said the conference theme of Elevate means rising to a whole new level. Additionally, he said, the conference had two underlying themes, the first of which was growth with quality. “We beat it into our dealers to make sure that we don’t have any deceptive practices,” Haskins said. “We don’t want bad accounts; we want accounts that fit into our parameters, so while we want to grow, quality is really the more overriding factor in account generation than growth for growth purposes.”

That theme was woven into the entire conference, including even in the announcement of awards in which many included praise for the dealer having received no complaints of deceptive sales practices.

The other secondary theme was customer experience. “Our overall vision is to provide a superior customer experience,” Haskins said, calling the dealers the “genesis of that first experience” customers have with Guardian Protection. These themes came up again and again throughout the evening in speeches, awards and presentations.

Arroyave believes the Production Awards are an important motivator for the dealers. “We can all grow as a team because if Guardian grows with their dealer program, then we all grow,” Arroyave said. “I think if you’re not growing you’re contracting, and you’re going to lose some of your top guys because they’ll get eaten up by people who are growing. So for us, in the last six or seven years we’ve continued to grow every year.”

The evening’s awards went to:

Production Awards

First Place — Skyline Security Management Inc.

Second Place — AMP Security

Third Place — Ranger Technology Solutions

Fourth Place — AAA Home Security

Fifth Place — Avant Smart Home LLC

Focus Awards

Highest Average 60 Month Agreement — AMP Security

Highest Average Credit Score — Eagle Alarm

Lowest Chargeback Percentage — Kansas City Security Systems

Highest Average ACH Percentage — Home Guard LLC

President’s Award — Skyline Security Management Inc.

Executive Award — Complete Home Security and Services, LLC

Rookie of the Year — AAA Home Security.

Following the awards, Guardian Protection’s President Joseph Colosimo recognized Bob Haskins’ service to the company. After the conference, Colosimo said of Haskins, “Bob joined us in 2013 fresh out of retirement from GE to help Guardian with business development and the implementation of an organizational restructure. While successfully accomplishing these, Bob also shared his expertise during our brand refresh, and in the last few years, he has had a tremendously positive impact on our authorized dealer program. For me, Bob was the first person we brought into Guardian who I truly consider a mentor. His industry experience and business acumen are off the charts. I will always have a great deal of personal gratitude for Bob’s time here at Guardian.” 

The evening ended with everyone surprising Colosimo by singing Happy Birthday to recognize his birthday.

The company was definitely focused on maintaining a momentum they intend to continue into 2017 and beyond with the relentless desire to Elevate, and that momentum seems to be infectious among the dealers, creating a culture of quality from the top down. — By Tim Scally, SDM Associate Editor