Business Software Is Like a Holster — It Needs to Fit Just Right

A friend recently told me an anecdote about weapon holsters — something I know little about. Years ago, as a police officer, he had excellent holsters for his shoulder, waistband and ankle. Each was comfortable and well-designed. Then, he purchased an “all-in-one” that purported to work for all three areas, at a lower cost. 

The new holsters always felt awkward. Design and functionality were forfeited for convenient purchase and price. He continually twisted his body and adjusted the holsters’ positions and finally gave up. He realized that spending the right money for the right solution prioritized job safety and enabled doing his job right.

What does this have to do with security business software?

This retired officer now owns a security integration firm, and he told me this story to make a point: Some situations merit a best-of-breed, purpose-built product — whether we’re talking holsters or software that runs your business.

He’s right! Security companies make two common mistakes when evaluating software for their businesses:

1. They underappreciate how specialized our industry is. They presume that software solutions designed for generic businesses will work just as well for one that sells security systems and services.
2. They think they can leverage an “all-in-one” Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, even those designed for our industry, to handle specialty processes — like sales — sacrificing sales accuracy at greater cost downstream. 

A Unique Sales Model

Security integrators sell complex solutions and need flexibility. In addition to the size of an ever-changing parts database, each project includes some combination of security hardware, cabling, infrastructure, software, labor types and hours, training, maintenance, monitoring and inspection services. Some sales encompass all these things!

Because of complexity, software that supports every business function — from sales to purchasing, accounting, inventory management, job management, scheduling and service — requires a high degree of specialization, plus additional customization based on specific workflows. There are many brand-name, sector-agnostic business solutions on the market, but security companies ultimately find that getting them to function at a baseline level is expensive, time-consuming and frustrating. They must hire a VAR (value added reseller) to keep up with customizations and programming needs, and the VAR often lacks industry experience and knowledge, making for a frustrating and inefficient process.

Taylor Sears, COO of Silent Guard, explains, “When I worked outside the security industry, the company I was with used Salesforce, and I loved it. When I came to Silent Guard, Salesforce was my benchmark. However, we needed something that would work better for our niche products, including monitoring services. Given the unique nature of security sales, Salesforce would have fallen short or been difficult to use.”

Shantel Summers, Director of Operations at Mountain Alarm, a subsidiary of Pye-Barker, expresses the same sentiment. She says, “We could use many products out there, but we prefer to work with software companies who understand the security business. Those relationships are integral to our success.”   

Too Many Compromises

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is the backbone of most modern businesses. There are even ERP solutions designed specifically for the security industry.

However, as well as they may manage accounting, purchasing, inventory and job costing functions, they fall short in other areas critical to a company's profitability and growth. Their many other capabilities are like the story of my friend’s ‘all-in-one’ holster, convenient purchase, fewer systems, but doesn’t get the job done right, or at least as well as it could be done.  Is that worth the risk?  

Here are some things ERPs don't do well:

• They're not designed to maintain a database of prospect information, sales goals and activities not yet associated with accounts. For that, you need CRM software.
• ERPs don't support flexible, creative quoting – the very essence of security sales. They're rigid by design because they're used for invoicing, filing taxes and performing other regimented processes. Rather than using an ERP to quote, explore security sales software that integrates with your ERP. 
• They do not support estimating labor in a variety of ways.  Labor is often categorized as a ‘part’. In the security industry labor has an enormous impact on sales profit margin accuracy and job costing in delivery.
• ERPs can't automate quote approvals or at best, may automate simple approvals. ERPs can automate workflows, but only those related to existing customers and projects. Quotes happen before a project enters an ERP database. Just like you need a CRM tool to manage prospects, you need sales management software to include pre-proposal review and approval based on a variety of triggers with clear audit trail automation.
• They can’t estimate commissions as quotes are created and often do not support calculations based on a variety of sales scenarios, profit margins, monthly volume, recurring revenue and contract term. These represent a sample of factors that promote higher earnings and closing more deals. 
• ERPs don’t support multi-system sales, sales revisions and change orders. These are daily needs in the life of security sales teams.
• They lack a polished proposal generation tool that will separate you from your competition. This is where sales management software shines. Professionally branded, comprehensive proposal packages that include a company background, an executive summary, customized scope of work, site drawings, pricing and payment terms speak directly to your customer's needs and demonstrate your company's commitment to delivering a high-quality customer experience. Plus, automating contract generation includes integration with solutions, like turnkey financing and electronic document signing, that help close deals.

Narrow Your Search

There are security-specific software solutions that can help your business thrive. Start your search by contacting fellow members of professional organizations, like PSA, ESA, AiN Group and SIA, to find out what they're using. Let their experiences save you from repeating their mistakes.

As Jim Fairbanks, Director of Sales and Support – Technology for Prosegur Security USA, explains, "We needed business software geared for how security companies go to market. When a software company can take the lead in building best practices into their system configuration, security companies benefit tremendously in the long run."