ORLANDO, Fla. — Honeywell hosted all three of its dealer organizations, First Alert Professional (FAP), Commercial Security Systems (CSS) and Honeywell Integrated Security (HIS) last week in Orlando for its CONNECT 2014 conference. In addition to a large number of educational sessions and keynotes, the company honored its top dealers and officially announced that it will be revamping the structure of all three dealer programs.
“Before, it was one size fits all,” explained Marek Robinson, Honeywell’s President of Authorized Dealer Programs. “Now we are moving to a tiered structure based on the current HIS program. The goal is to allow you to continue to earn more and help all our partner companies grow.”
Robinson went on to briefly outline the tiered structure, which will classify each dealer at platinum, gold and silver levels. Benefits range from increased co-op and rebates, to buyer’s rewards, to increased training support and lead generation — in addition to individualized strategic planning opportunities.
Robinson said that Honeywell would be reaching out to and visiting its dealers over the course of the next year to explain the details and answer any questions and concerns. This will include an education campaign consisting of webinars and face-to-face visits. “Nothing will be impacted in 2015,” Robinson assured the dealers.
Connecting to Today’s Technology
Much of the event’s keynote addresses focused on how dealers can and should adopt and use the latest in “connected technology” — both for smart homes and smart businesses and facilities. “We have been waiting for this trend for a long time in our industry,” said Ron Rothman, president of Honeywell’s security group.
According to Alex Ismail, president and CEO of Honeywell Automation & Control Solutions, the company is poised to increase its spending on research and development “by about 30 percent” — which will translate into three times more new product launches in the next five years. “We want to become the Apple of industrial companies,” Ismail added. “It’s a pretty ambitious goal, and there is still a lot of work to be done.”
He went on to say that the $4 billion connected home market is predicted to double by 2019.
“What’s the risk of not changing, and standing on the sidelines to see what happens?” Robinson asked the packed audience. He went on to point out that Blockbuster was one company that took this stance — and we all know where that led them. “Nobody wants to be the next Blockbuster,” Robinson said.
The event included more than 60 different educational sessions that ranged from sales, marketing and business strategies, to dealing with the 2G sunset, to the Internet of Things and beyond. Keynote speaker Jeffrey Gitomer, a best-selling author and sales expert, delivered an engaging and entertaining presentation on sales techniques with a special focus on leveraging social media to increase brand awareness, attract new customers and promotion.
Dealer Awards
A staple of the Connect Conference is the dealer awards. In addition to honoring its very top dealers in each organization, Honeywell also honored dealers who reached the 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year mark as partners. Honeywell also recognized a multitude of dealers for community service and outreach programs.
The top award winners for each organization were:
- CSS Dealer of the Year — Source 1 Solutions, Clearwater, Fla.
- FAP Dealer of the Year — Interface Security Systems, Earth City, Mo.
- HIS Dealer of the Year — Advantech, Dover, Del.
Another annual award tradition is Honeywell’s annual life safety award. This year’s presentation centered around first responders and a young boy who helped save a drowning girl. Before calling the group onstage, Larry King told the audience the whole story via video — click here to check it out.
Next year’s Honeywell Connect conference will take place on Oct. 22-25, 2015, at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. It is truly a must-attend event for any Honeywell Authorized Dealer. For more information, visit www.connect.honeywell.com.
Paul Rothman is Editor-in-Chief of Security Dealer & Integrator magazine (www.secdealer.com).
