Editor’s Note: This article about NSCA and its presence at ISC East first published on Oct. 15. We updated it on Oct. 23.
The security industry is by no means a new focus for the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA), nor is the life safety space or even the IT world.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based association is typically thought of as a go-to destination for everything in the audiovisual integration space. However, the truth is, NSCA has long had members from all corners of the integration world. Now, they’re reminding people about that.
At ISC East in New York City, NSCA executive director Tom LeBlanc will join VectorFirm founder Chris Peterson for a 90-minute integration business sales workshop that’s an abbreviated version of the NSCA Biz Skills package.
VectorFirm is, of course, a sales and marketing, consulting and training business. It focuses on the systems integration industry, with security at its core. The company is part of the NSCA Advisory Council.
The NSCA Biz Skills portfolio “is full of a lot of a lot of the hardcore fundamentals of sales that have been around for centuries,” says Peterson. He adds, “What we do is we build modern ways of selling and marketing that match the modern way of buying.”
The workshop will look at some core concepts of around business-to-business selling and buying today and “comparing what works today versus what used to work” and “how a lot of the core fundamentals are still core fundamentals, but they’re done differently,” he says.
Among the areas Peterson will highlight is the evolution of cold calls and outbound touches.
“When I first started, the core fundamental was about persistence, was about volume,” he says. “It was about a numbers game, because you had to knock on so many doors to get so many appointments, which would lead to so many sales and the more that you did, the more persistent you were, the better you were.
“Today, you still have to be persistent but it’s different. The source of the information used to be the salesperson. Today, they can get information without a salesperson,” says Peterson.
“You have to be smart about it today,” he says. “Prospecting is about becoming known as a subject matter expert. Here’s what is still fundamentally clear on both the old way and a new way: It’s still a numbers game.”
Salespeople need to convince their customers to make an emotional decision to “buy your stuff, whatever your stuff is,” says Peterson.
More NSCA Involvement at ISC East
In addition, LeBlanc will lead “Emerging Technologies That Will Reshape the Role of an Integrator.” This 45-minute ISC East discussion will look more closely at how artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things and more fit in the security installer’s toolbox.
“NSCA is a trade association with a very specific purpose,” says LeBlanc. “We provide resources and help and consulting for integrators to help them run their businesses, better help them get started in their businesses or help them to take their businesses to the next level. We’re very business-centric trade association.
“I think there is a perception out there that NSCA is an association that’s for the AV integration industry and certainly we have a lot of AV integrator members, great NSCA members, but NSCA is really a very agnostic association when it comes to the type of integration company that is a member and that we serve,” he says.
NSCA has members “across the technology spectrum,” says LeBlanc. “The common denominator is that they’re all integration companies and they are looking for some kind of resource to help them with their businesses.”
LeBlanc sees now as the perfect time for NSCA to get more involved with the security industry. Indeed, he wants to emphasize the resources it can offer the people and the companies within it.
“We hadn’t done a lot of work with ISC East or West in the recent past so we’re trying to rectify that by getting a little bit more involved in the ISC shows,” he says.
What Security Integrators Can Learn
NSCA Biz Skills, says LeBlanc, are a set of curriculums that are “very tried and true,” meaning they are based on core principles and not tied to a specific time period, although they are regularly updated.
The full slate of NSCA Biz Skills workshops include lessons on finance, operations, project management and sales. NSCA has done Biz Skills lessons at InfoComm and other trade shows across various industries.
“Integration companies want to send their techs to these trade shows and they want them to learn about new technologies, get some training and also learn about new products,” says LeBlanc. “But, boy, they get a lot more ROI if they also get some business training while they’re there. And that’s kind of the idea.”
NSCA could expand its Biz Skills offerings at future ISC events, says LeBlanc.
As for the emerging technologies workshop, the goal is to help security pros understand how technology can “catalyze how integration companies need to evolve their businesses and be nimble and prepare to be relevant for their customers,” says LeBlanc.
While the ISC East sessions will target security integrators’ industry-specific challenges, LeBlanc says there are some universal truths across NSCA’s membership.
“Every integration company is struggling with things like, ‘how do I incorporate AI into my sales strategy and is it right to do so?’ and ‘what are some of the legal and intellectual rights impacts we could take in leveraging AI?’ ‘What are some of the advantages, but also weighing some of the concerns,” he says.
“Chris is very cognizant of what security integrators are going through and how that is unique compared to what other companies, for instance, AV integration companies, are going through so we’re going to try to tap into that as much as possible,” says LeBlanc.
Security integrators can expect to see more of an NSCA presence at future industry events, says LeBlanc.
“We see this as a great step in the right direction,” he says. “We would like to play a bigger role in a show like ISC. We think it’s a really strong show for integrators, particularly security integrators, and would like to spend more time in that environment, talking to more security integrators, helping more security integrators with their businesses.”