Introducing the Inaugural Winners of SSI’s 2021 Supplier Stellar Service Awards

In a trust-essential industry like security where positive word of mouth is vital, manufacturers, distributors and central stations must have their channel partners’ backs. According to their dealer/integrator customers, see which vendors best exemplify those virtues in SSI’s 2021 Supplier Stellar Service Awards.

Introducing the Inaugural Winners of SSI’s 2021 Supplier Stellar Service Awards

Distributor Categories

Customer Service

GOLD: ADI

One of the key drivers of our performance is our focus on our customers. And that is due to the hard work by all our teams that have a direct or indirect impact on our customer’s experience with ADI. Whether it’s in-person in one of our branches, over the phone, online through our Digital Branch, by email or behind the scenes, our teams are focused on delivering the best possible service at every interaction. — Bob Appleby, Vice President & General Manager, ADI North America

SILVER: PSA Security Network

PSA’s mission is to elevate the industries we serve by providing owners and members exceptional education, networking, services and connections with technology partners. PSA’s core values of passion, integrity, boldness and service set us apart. Likewise, our members and owners are key ingredients to our success. They are the best systems integrators in the industry, are fiercely loyal to PSA, have strong leadership and are growth oriented. Together, we achieve PSA’s vision to be the rising tide. — Matthew Barnette, CEO, PSA

BRONZE: SS&Si Dealer Network

Technical Support

GOLD: ADI

ADI has a team of experts across every product category and application so our customers can feel confident they have the best solutions for every job. All our sales team members participate in numerous trainings per year, including new product training every month. In addition to our knowledgeable sales team, our customers depend on ADI’s Systems Design Team for assistance with systems design, configuration and product selection for any project. With an average of 20 years of industry experience, our preapplication support team is dedicated to alleviating customers’ workload and making installations easier and more efficient. — Bob Appleby

SILVER: Anixter (WESCO)

BRONZE: SS&Si Dealer Network

Shipping Policies

GOLD: ScanSource

ScanSource offers some of the most competitive shipping policies in the channel, while also maintaining excellent shipping accuracy. Our distribution center stays stocked, and our dedicated team — one of the best in the business — ensures that all orders placed before 8 p.m. ET in the U.S. are shipped same day. We’re also proud of our website’s easy-to-navigate e-commerce platform, which allows our partners to find exactly what they need. In addition, we continue to add new educational tools to our website to keep our partners up to date on the latest industry trends and top solution offerings. — Tony Sorrentino, President, North America, ScanSource

SILVER: PSA

BRONZE: Security Equipment Supply (SES)

Dealer/Integrator Website

GOLD: ADI

ADI continues to make significant investments in our digital footprint and online shopping experience. We launched a series of upgrades to our Digital Branch, released a new mobile app and introduced many new features like buy online pick up in store, quote-to-order and AI-based suggested selling. These updates are delivering significant impact and enhancing the online shopping experience for customers. ADI’s ecommerce revenue in the first half of 2021 was up over 65%. — Bob Appleby

SILVER: ScanSource

BRONZE: Snap One

In 2021, we committed to making our partners’ lives easier and developing solutions and processes to streamline their businesses. For example, we released a major evolution to OvrC that firmly establishes the platform as the industry-leading remote management and monitoring service. We also offered security partners a convenient and flexible shopping experience through expansion to 30+ local branches and a world-class shopping portal. Partners can trust we’ll have their products in stock and deliver them in a timely manner. Besides manufacturing in-house brands, we continue to work with select brands to help partners consolidate purchasing and earn greater rewards. Selling exclusively to pro security installers, we protect margins and consider our partners’ needs the highest priority. — Clint Choate, Senior Director – Markets, Security, Snap One

Training Programs

GOLD: SES

SILVER: ADI

Training and education have always been a major focus at ADI, as customers rely on us to help them learn about the latest technologies. During the pandemic, we ramped up our online and webinar offerings to keep dealers updated on the key products and opportunities available. And with new safety measures in place, we’re happy to resume hosting ADI Expos in select cities across North America, and work with our supplier partners to provide local training opportunities in our branches. Additionally, our on-demand training platform, ADI Academy, gives customers the opportunity to participate in product and industry training anytime, anywhere. — Bob Appleby

BRONZE: PSA

Dealer Programs/Incentives

GOLD: SS&Si Dealer Network

Our focus on promoting our partners’ brands separates us from the competition. We put our dealers’ branding front and center with free private labeling of equipment and customized marketing materials. And our Innovate conferences bring dealers from noncompeting territories together to learn from each other. — Jake Voll, President, SS&Si Dealer Network

SILVER: SES

BRONZE: ADI

Trade Show Presence

GOLD: ADI

Tradeshows and events are important as they provide us with an opportunity to interact with customers and our industry peers. Whether virtual or in-person, our tradeshow presence is carefully designed to help customers learn about ADI’s products and services offering that is available to help them drive new sales opportunities. — Bob Appleby

SILVER: PSA

BRONZE: SES

Central Station Categories

Customer Service

GOLD: COPS Monitoring

We have a profound respect for the enormous trust our dealers place in us to support their businesses and to protect their hard-earned reputation. More than just reliable technology, redundancy, and fast response times, our service is characterized by the laser focus we place on cultivating a team of dedicated caring professionals who are always there as a lifeline when their customers need us most. Being recognized for Best Customer Service by dealers and integrators in SSI’s Stellar Service Awards is an extraordinary honor that pays tribute to the hard work and dedication of every one of our teammates. — Jim McMullen, President, COPS Monitoring

SILVER: National Monitoring Center (NMC, Netwatch)

BRONZE: Rapid Response Monitoring Services

End-User Support

GOLD: Criticom Monitoring Services (CMS)

CMS’ superior end-user support starts with the hiring and training process. Our monitoring managers are extremely selective when hiring new representatives, followed by training that goes beyond industry standards. The CMS training program is intensive, and “hands-on,” meaning no online computer modules. Quality is just as important to us as response time. All calls are monitored for quality assurance to make sure CMS operators are living up to the high expectations we set. MyAlarms.com is CMS’ end-user account portal that utilizes the same easy-to-use format as CMS Compass and may be customized with an alarm company’s logo. — Jennifer Marshall, Marketing & Communications Manager, CMS

SILVER: Acadian Monitoring

Acadian Monitoring Services looks for new and innovative solutions to offer its dealer partners. While we’re part of a very large company we’re still very much a small division, thus we can create special integrations with new products or startup companies we believe in and that some of our competitors might not have the time or resources to devote to. We offer a large number of unique services, such as video concierge services and IoT device monitoring. We recently implemented a vehicle tracking product that allows us to offer fleet management services to smaller companies. We also provide a wide range of video services we can customize to our dealers. — Michelle Trahan, Division Coordinator, AMS

BRONZE: Quick Response

Technical Support

GOLD: NMC

SILVER: COPS

BRONZE: CMS

CMS’ dealer support team focuses solely on providing customer service for dealers. Representatives are available seven days a week to assist via phone or email. Reps are specially trained to help dealers manage their account base, along with a dedicated tech support team that is available to help with panel communications. CMS also offers dealers access to an online library of technical resources. This Tech Help Tool was created by CMS for techs on the go and office staff assisting customers with technical issues. CMS dealers can easily access it from the quick access link in the menu bar of CMS Compass desktop and mobile. — Jennifer Marshall

RMR Support Programs

GOLD: Affiliated Monitoring

We are honored to be recognized by SSI and their readers for both our RMR Support Program and Trade Show Presence. We continue to work hard to exceed the expectations of our partners and we feel that awards like these, along with the accolades we have received from industry groups such as The Monitoring Association, demonstrate our commitment to excellence and remaining best in class. We are especially proud of our Partner Success team who are dedicated to the growth of RMR and profitability for every one of our partners. — Michael Zydor, Managing Director, Affiliated Monitoring

SILVER: Security Central

At Security Central, our tech support team has passion to always protect what you value. Each person on the team loves to interact with our dealer network and ensure they have a diamond level experience. We are committed to being a true partner with our dealers. Together, we learn, we grow, we succeed. They are part of our family. Through our tech team we’re able to expand beyond traditional monitoring services and offer the newest technologies, equipment programs and troubleshooting with technicians in real-time. Each person on our technical support team brings a unique perspective and skillset to offer the best interaction possible. We are always listening at Security Central. — Caroline Brown, Vice President of Business Development, Security Central

BRONZE: COPS 

Website/Dealer Portal

GOLD: CMS

CMS’ exclusive dealer portal, CMS Compass, helps alarm companies and their staff navigate their businesses more efficiently. Available in desktop or mobile versions, Compass provides account access 24/7, with real-time data changes for existing and new accounts. Administrators can manage user access, customize security levels and view a list of users who made changes to data, when those changes occurred and what changes were made. Users can also easily access a variety of reports and view multiple locations simultaneously in one browser session. Compass’ interactive dashboards allow dealers to view current alarm activity and provides unique tools that may help reduce attrition and manage high activity. — Jennifer Marshall

SILVER: Rapid Response

BRONZE: Quick Response

Dealer Program/Incentives

GOLD: Rapid Response

Since Rapid Response’s founding, we have always leveraged our experience in protecting life and property and combined that with advanced technologies to deliver a superior professional monitoring services lineup. We continuously develop customized interfaces, applications and workflows that are based on our dealers’ businesses, their customers’ needs, device capabilities, and go-to-market strategies. Our focus is always on the future and finding innovative ways to deliver monitoring services that position our dealers for ongoing success. We’re dedicated to delivering the very best for our dealers and we are honored to receive this recognition. — Christopher Denniston, Director of Marketing & Contract Development, Rapid Response

SILVER: NMC

BRONZE: COPS

Trade Show Presence

GOLD: COPS

We are both honored and humbled to be recognized by SSI’s dealer and integrator audience for our Trade Show Presence. For us, trade shows are all about exploring new relationships and strengthening the bonds we have with our loyal partners. To that end, we established a longstanding tradition of hosting “dealer appreciation events,” which coincide with most trade shows. From small intimate gatherings to over-the-top parties with over 1,000 guests, they’re our way of saying “thank you” to our current and future customers and partners. We couldn’t be happier that dealers and integrators recognize our events as a distinguishing characteristic of COPS and that they’ve been so well received. — Jim McMullen

SILVER: Rapid Response

BRONZE: Affiliated

‘Stellar Supplies That Stepped Up During the Pandemic’

Here are some direct quotes from voters of this year’s program.

▶ “Napco always had stock and never shut down.”

▶ “Openpath was on top of things right out of the gate. They hosted countless webinars on creating a touchless workplace, best practices and general safety overall.”

▶ “ADI offered curbside pick-up; able to purchase products online.”

▶ “Resideo worked hard to keep us in product when items were short. They also updated everyone on COVID issues as it related to the industry.”

▶ “No manufacturer had a better or more complete response to assist with their partners’ growth than Dahua USA. Dahua launched the first full blackbody solutions for thermal temperature screening and offered complete training to all of their partners.”

▶ “Eagle Eye Networks ramped up its product development team to offer body cams for delivery services first and foremost, but that type of product offering now can be advantageous to many industries affected by COVID-19 operational changes.”

▶ “AlarMax was there when we needed extra product last year when the pandemic first hit. They made sure we were going to have enough product to last for several months.”

▶ “Brivo instituted the ability to do self-guided tours.”

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About the Author

Contact:

Scott Goldfine is the marketing director for Elite Interactive Solutions. He is the former editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He can be reached at [email protected].

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