The COVID-19 pandemic has completely turned our world upside down. And as unemployment rates rise, crime is surely soon to follow, making security more important than ever.

While securing one’s home, business and valuables becomes increasingly crucial, security professionals are forced to evaluate their normal security practices and the hardware and software systems they are using, and identify crucial needs that aren’t being met. You must establish yourself as a trusted partner, and someone here to help your customers.

But how do you accomplish all of this while your own business is being impacted by the instability COVID-19 has brought? There are so many factors to consider: How can you accommodate customers’ shrinking budgets? How do you work with customers remotely?

All of these answers and more lie in cloud access control: a security solution seemingly tailor-made for the post-COVID-19 world.

Cloud access control allows customers to remotely manage building security, removing the need for onsite servers and dedicated IT sources. Information is stored and managed by a third party provider using a much larger network, and you can save, download and access data directly on the hosted service.

Selling cloud access control can benefit your business in a variety of ways.

Benefit of Selling Cloud Access #1: Peace of Mind All the Time

As states issue shelter-in-place orders and social distancing becomes a common practice, the ability to manage security systems remotely is more important than ever. And as crime rates are likely to rise from high unemployment rates, keeping an eye on empty businesses is essential.

With cloud access control, customers can manage their entire solution from their smartphone or laptop. Create schedules for doors or groups of people; grant different levels of user access; change access levels as you wish; get event alerts and view real-time video; and initiate lockdowns of doors or an entire site, all while sheltering in place.

Unlike outdated on-premise systems, with a cloud-based access control platform, new solutions and capabilities are updated automatically. So, customers do not have to wait for updates to be physically installed on an on-premise server box.

Benefit of Selling Cloud Access #2: Flexible RMR Options

As the economy becomes increasingly volatile, Recurring Monthly Revenue (RMR) that your company can rely on month after month can be a business-saver. Even if new business is down, having a solid RMR revenue stream allows you to weather ups and downs in the market.

Providing unique subscription options — such as those that come with Brivo Complete — allows your customer to get what they need to secure their facilities without the high upfront payment. A low upfront subscription model removes the barrier of immediate cash flow for the customer, and helps cover initial labor and installation costs. Through this option, security professionals can grow their RMR quickly.

With Brivo Complete, profits stem from activation fees charged at the outset, plus the advance payments Brivo issues when you close the project. Profits are typically in the 20 percent range, and RMR often exceeds the profit from a traditional one-time sales approach.

Benefit of Selling Cloud Access #3: Friendly to Customers With Budget Restrictions

Most other industries are being hit harder than security by the pandemic, but if you serve those industries that are suffering, you have a duty to be understanding of their shrinking budgets. No one should be denied safety and security because of budget restrictions. As a dealer, you should offer flexible buying options for customers.

Brivo provides subscription options, giving customers the ability to install their security systems immediately, while the threat is present, without any large upfront costs. Those customers will pay a higher monthly fee that includes cloud subscription to Brivo Onair, as well as the hardware and labor costs associated with the initial installation. If they are able to and prefer to pay for the hardware and labor upfront, customers will have a low monthly cloud subscription to the Brivo platform.

Not only do flexible pricing structures like this help your customer, they also create more RMR for you. Plus, you will establish yourself as a helping hand in a time of need, making customers more likely to come to you when times are good and they need other solutions.

Benefit of Selling Cloud Access #4: Always Evolving to Keep Up With Changing Needs

The needs of end users will change coming out of the pandemic, and cloud-based access control is poised to change with them.

Cloud access expands your physical security benefits, helping you achieve better security with less work, optimize mobile convenience, deliver better visitor experiences and create an ecosystem of building automation solutions.

And the plethora of integrations available — especially those with HR and HVAC services — could be helpful to customers in the pandemic.

Cloud-based access control is flexible, constantly evolving alongside the end user’s needs.