Article Originally Published Here
The latest entry in our Best Advice Q&A series is Michael Hanlon, vice president of hosted and managed services for Allied Universal Technology Services. He shares the best advice he’s ever heard, how he helps security industry newcomers get acclimated and the person to whom he will never stop listening.
Security Sales & Integration: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Michael Hanlon: It is not as much advice as it was a realization. When remote video monitoring and managed services were in their early days, I had long conversations with industry pioneers, including Brad Gordon and Bill Bozeman, where we discussed the need for integrators to build a recurring monthly revenue (RMR) model.
At first, it was the understanding that integration companies sold for lower multiples than alarm companies because alarm companies had monitoring contracts to drive up their valuation. Over time, this mindset evolved and the reasoning and business modeling for hosted and managed Services grew.
But this early drive, the hard work in building a foundation and the now-tremendous trajectory would not have been possible without the pioneers and the initial vision to build something new.
SSI: What advice would you give to those looking to achieve success in the security industry?
Hanlon: Understand what your customers’ problems are. Sure, you understand technology and can explain encryption, resolution and the shift to a unified security system but what does this mean to your customer?
Focus on solutions and ask the questions and do the assessment that identifies the needs, addresses the gaps and solves the problems that the customer faces. Do this well and continue to improve and you will hit that quota, grow your business and become a resource to your customer base that is respected rather than a pitchman with a product.
SSI: If you could point to one person in the security industry and tell up-and-comers, “Make sure to listen to what they have to say,” whom would you pick and why?
Hanlon: I would never pass on an opportunity to talk to Bill Bozeman. Analog to IP, RMR, remote video monitoring; you name a transition and Bill was out in front of it. If you want to know what’s next, I suggest you talk to Bill. It helps that he is a heck of a nice guy and has always been open to talking with people, regardless of title, age, etc. Yeah, make sure you listen to Bill Bozeman.
