Power Up Your RMR Through Product and Service Upgrades

Are you taking advantage of every opportunity to generate increased RMR? Or are you and your sales people leaving money on the table by overlooking opportunities to sell product and service upgrades to new and existing customers?

The explosion of new technologies available to the alarm industry offers the potential for increased RMR from product and service upgrades – and the best part is that customers want and are willing to buy those enhanced products and services!

Here are some tips for taking advantage of the opportunities to power up your RMR.

One key to successfully selling new technologies and services is to understand the problems, challenges or desires of your customers, and then providing products and services to meet those needs. One of today’s largest growth areas in the residential market is home automation – the ability for homeowners to control the heating and cooling, lighting, door locks and other environmental aspects of their homes from their panel, smartphone or tablet. Remote or mobile device-based control capabilities are another topic for product and service upgrades, as is video technology. In the commercial market, automation, mobile, access control, cellular communication and video are lucrative areas for increasing RMR, as is inspection, testing and maintenance services.

The opportunities are there, but not everyone is taking advantage of them. Why?

Successfully selling product and service upgrades often requires a cultural shift in the way that sales people approach both new and existing customers. It requires a change in mindset away from selling traditional security products and services, with an upsell of the add-ons at the end of the pitch, to highlighting those products and services to meet customer needs and wants as part of an integrated package from the beginning of the sales process. This shift in mindset comes much more easily and comfortably if sales people are up to date and knowledgeable about the technology and how it complements traditional security services.

Finally, marketing can play a key role in generating more RMR through product and service upgrades by communicating what your company actually offers. Your target audience – your existing customers and prospects – may only think of you as a traditional alarm company and may not know that you can offer them home automation, access control, remote or mobile control, or video services. Actively marketing your product and service upgrades on your website and through other customer communications, such as e-mails, paper bill inserts, newsletters, makes consumers aware of these products and services, and creates a sales opportunity increasing RMR. Don’t forget that your installers can help spread the word about product and service upgrades, too.

Read more about generating additional RMR through product and service upgrades in these industry publications. (SS&I and SDM)