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Training: Day Two
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"What? How could I have been wrong? This is what we were trying to do, sell home security. Did this guy not understand his own question?"
This, my second day of training on the path to a career in home security sales and consultancy, I was determined to make count. Dressed to the nines in all black, my shoes shined and my act was together; I would be taken seriously by Mr. James, and by Mr. Santos. Today I would have answers to all my questions.
Even though I arrived as per my usual five minutes early, I waited in the parking lot until my watch struck 10:00am, then I swaggered into the building and casually strolled into the classroom. I intended to make an entrance, one that would be remembered, and it worked, sort of.
Mr. Santos was standing at the head of the “class” when I walked in, the room was silent, but for the leather on the souls of my shoes clicking on the tiled floor. I calmly apologised for interrupting and took my seat next to the large woman whom had been my desk mate the day before. All was going according to plan, Mr. Santos took notice of me, and though I thought I was the last one through the door, I wasn’t technically late. Unlike Mr. James, who hurried in the door just as I landed in my seat; even best laid plans can work out different than we would hope.
Even though I arrived as per my usual five minutes early, I waited in the parking lot until my watch struck 10:00am, then I swaggered into the building and casually strolled into the classroom. I intended to make an entrance, one that would be remembered, and it worked, sort of.
Mr. Santos was standing at the head of the “class” when I walked in, the room was silent, but for the leather on the souls of my shoes clicking on the tiled floor. I calmly apologised for interrupting and took my seat next to the large woman whom had been my desk mate the day before. All was going according to plan, Mr. Santos took notice of me, and though I thought I was the last one through the door, I wasn’t technically late. Unlike Mr. James, who hurried in the door just as I landed in my seat; even best laid plans can work out different than we would hope.
Our second day was slated to be a run-down of sales techniques, an explanation of pricing and financing, and a general demonstration of the entire process of selling an alarm system. In contrast, the curriculum seemed immense compared to the time we had available. Though, again, I had misjudged the scope of the situation.
Mr. James jumped right into the start of his presentation, asking us to pull from the folder, all of the papers regarding sales, financing and commission. He quickly wrote some figures on the white board and took a breath as he turned to face his waiting crowd.
Mr. James jumped right into the start of his presentation, asking us to pull from the folder, all of the papers regarding sales, financing and commission. He quickly wrote some figures on the white board and took a breath as he turned to face his waiting crowd.
“What is the most prominent selling feature of an alarm system?”
This was a good start to the day I thought, a real question about the real business we were getting into. Wanting to stick with my plan getting noticed, I raised my hand to answer.
"The security and piece of mind the system offers.”
"Wrong; anyone else?”
What? How could I have been wrong? This is what we were trying to do, sell home security. Did this guy not understand his own question? My face must have betrayed my feelings, as Mr. Santos, who had been seated in his chair near the door, stood and in an accusatory way effectively expressed the same confusion.
"What do you mean that’s wrong?”
I didn’t realise it immediately, but this was significant for more than one reason. I was engrossed in the vain embarrassment of getting caught by a trick question, and didn’t notice that the owner of the company, the company I was soon to be gainfully employed by, didn’t already know the answer.
"Security is an illusion.” Mr. James replied. “It isn’t real, and even the best salesman in the world would have a tough time selling an imaginary product for a living.”
The room was silent, in a way that was palpable; all eyes were glued to Mr. James, including Mr. Santos’, we, or at least I, was flabbergasted at the idea that Mr. James would come right out and say, without reservation, that security isn’t real.
"I was going to cover this later, but since it’s come up, we can talk about it now.”
Mr. James wasn’t fazed by the stunned silence, nor with the surprised look on Mr. Santos’ face, which I should have expected considering the number of times he’s likely conducted this training program.
This was a good start to the day I thought, a real question about the real business we were getting into. Wanting to stick with my plan getting noticed, I raised my hand to answer.
"The security and piece of mind the system offers.”
"Wrong; anyone else?”
What? How could I have been wrong? This is what we were trying to do, sell home security. Did this guy not understand his own question? My face must have betrayed my feelings, as Mr. Santos, who had been seated in his chair near the door, stood and in an accusatory way effectively expressed the same confusion.
"What do you mean that’s wrong?”
I didn’t realise it immediately, but this was significant for more than one reason. I was engrossed in the vain embarrassment of getting caught by a trick question, and didn’t notice that the owner of the company, the company I was soon to be gainfully employed by, didn’t already know the answer.
"Security is an illusion.” Mr. James replied. “It isn’t real, and even the best salesman in the world would have a tough time selling an imaginary product for a living.”
The room was silent, in a way that was palpable; all eyes were glued to Mr. James, including Mr. Santos’, we, or at least I, was flabbergasted at the idea that Mr. James would come right out and say, without reservation, that security isn’t real.
"I was going to cover this later, but since it’s come up, we can talk about it now.”
Mr. James wasn’t fazed by the stunned silence, nor with the surprised look on Mr. Santos’ face, which I should have expected considering the number of times he’s likely conducted this training program.
Reaching into the box of demonstrator alarm components, Mr. James picked up and tossed a small motion sensor across the room and onto the table in from of me.
"What does this device do?” He asked.
"It detects motion within its range of view.”
"Does it have arms and legs?”
"No!” I snuffed, almost insulted by the question.
"Is it equipped with handcuffs and telephone?”
"No.”
"So can it stop a burglar from breaking into someone’s house?”
"Ye…” I almost fell for it, but caught myself before finishing the thought. “No, I suppose it can’t.”
Mr James reached back into the box and pulled out a keypad console and held it up for everyone to see.
"How about this, can it stop someone from kicking in a door and invading someone’s home?”
The whole room answered simultaneously with a resounding ‘no’.
"So then what’s the point of putting one in your home?”
"What does this device do?” He asked.
"It detects motion within its range of view.”
"Does it have arms and legs?”
"No!” I snuffed, almost insulted by the question.
"Is it equipped with handcuffs and telephone?”
"No.”
"So can it stop a burglar from breaking into someone’s house?”
"Ye…” I almost fell for it, but caught myself before finishing the thought. “No, I suppose it can’t.”
Mr James reached back into the box and pulled out a keypad console and held it up for everyone to see.
"How about this, can it stop someone from kicking in a door and invading someone’s home?”
The whole room answered simultaneously with a resounding ‘no’.
"So then what’s the point of putting one in your home?”
“Because, when you put them all together in a system, they make robbers choose a different house.” The eager beaver in the front row was really getting into the groove of the lesson now.
Visibly unimpressed with the answer, Mr. James once again reached into the box and pulled out an ADT lawn sign and planted it on the desk top in front of him with a bang.
"This sign provides more actual security than any alarm system in the world.” He exclaimed with a strange sense of pride in his voice. “Think about that for a minute and we’ll come back to it.”
Visibly unimpressed with the answer, Mr. James once again reached into the box and pulled out an ADT lawn sign and planted it on the desk top in front of him with a bang.
"This sign provides more actual security than any alarm system in the world.” He exclaimed with a strange sense of pride in his voice. “Think about that for a minute and we’ll come back to it.”
His point, which at the time made little sense to me or anyone else in the room, was the tip of a fundamental truth in the alarm industry and in the security industry as a whole; but no one saw where he was going next.
“There is one reason and one reason only, why anyone should ever pay any money for an alarm system for their home.” He said, punctuating the statement by tossing the yard sign back into the box. “Insurance.” He lowered his voice and furled his brow, as though he was about to reveal some deep dark national secret.
"An alarm system in your home will do one thing for you…it’ll reduce your homeowners insurance by up to 30%.”
And there it was, the iceberg of truth was exposed for all to see. I’m sure some in the room originally thought he meant something akin to packing heat while on the wrong side of the tracks, but it sunk in for me almost instantly. It makes all the sense in the world too; money makes the world go round, it’s the reason we were sitting in the room, it’s the reason Weston Security Inc existed in the first place, it’s even the reason anyone ever worries about security at all.
Now that we were at the heart of the issue, things were beginning to come into perspective. The alarm sales business, like any other, is about making money; fast turn-around, low overhead and production costs, cheap labour and high volume. There’s a formula, almost like the word play Mr. James had laid out for us the previous day; if every element of the equation is satisfied the outcome is achieved, but in a business where your product is irrelevant beyond satisfying some home insurance rider, how do you bring your business to market without a little creative marketing?
This is when the real product made its appearance; from behind the podium, Mr. James produced a yellow, three layer, carbon copy contract form, and held it up for everyone to see.
“There is one reason and one reason only, why anyone should ever pay any money for an alarm system for their home.” He said, punctuating the statement by tossing the yard sign back into the box. “Insurance.” He lowered his voice and furled his brow, as though he was about to reveal some deep dark national secret.
"An alarm system in your home will do one thing for you…it’ll reduce your homeowners insurance by up to 30%.”
And there it was, the iceberg of truth was exposed for all to see. I’m sure some in the room originally thought he meant something akin to packing heat while on the wrong side of the tracks, but it sunk in for me almost instantly. It makes all the sense in the world too; money makes the world go round, it’s the reason we were sitting in the room, it’s the reason Weston Security Inc existed in the first place, it’s even the reason anyone ever worries about security at all.
Now that we were at the heart of the issue, things were beginning to come into perspective. The alarm sales business, like any other, is about making money; fast turn-around, low overhead and production costs, cheap labour and high volume. There’s a formula, almost like the word play Mr. James had laid out for us the previous day; if every element of the equation is satisfied the outcome is achieved, but in a business where your product is irrelevant beyond satisfying some home insurance rider, how do you bring your business to market without a little creative marketing?
This is when the real product made its appearance; from behind the podium, Mr. James produced a yellow, three layer, carbon copy contract form, and held it up for everyone to see.
“This is what our customers are actually buying.” He said, as though he had just woven straw into gold.
In his hand was an alarm monitoring contract, with its little boxes and fine print carefully worded and placed. It was a single piece of paper that would bind our clients to God knows what, for God knows how long. And in that moment, some of the smoke cleared from this hall of mirrors.
He offered the contract to one of the trainees at the front of the room, asking him to pass it around, and as we each examined the contract, like lawyers in a discovery meeting, he went on to explain the “freebie catch”.
In his hand was an alarm monitoring contract, with its little boxes and fine print carefully worded and placed. It was a single piece of paper that would bind our clients to God knows what, for God knows how long. And in that moment, some of the smoke cleared from this hall of mirrors.
He offered the contract to one of the trainees at the front of the room, asking him to pass it around, and as we each examined the contract, like lawyers in a discovery meeting, he went on to explain the “freebie catch”.
“This is what our customers are actually buying.” He said, as though he had just woven straw into gold.
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