For some of my fellow music lovers, the phrase “it’s electric” probably conjures up that classic ear-worm song from the ’70s, The Electric Boogie, and if it didn’t, I apologize for getting that song stuck in your head now. But I digress, once again, in my edit page for a musical reference and segway.
Now back to show … In reaching out to locksmiths for my Upgrading to Electronics feature (page 12), I quickly realized that this is a topic that keeps growing in importance for locksmiths, and one that has proven to be paramount to the continued success of the locksmith industry. This is evidenced in our State of the Industry survey (keep an eye out for 2024 survey coming soon) and report, as well as in our discussions with locksmiths, distributors, manufacturers and associations.
For many locksmiths, the sounds of higher markups, bigger jobs and recurring revenue have them doing the “electric slide,” as they are bringing in more revenue and profits. Locksmiths today are in an excellent position to take advantage of the many opportunities to upgrade their customers to electronic access control solutions, as they already have the trust of those customers, who are much more educated on, and aware of what is available to them today.
“I used to have to be the one to try and upsell, or say, ‘by the way, did you know we can also do this,’ but now the common commercial customer seems to know some of the electronic solutions that are available to them,” says Joshua Sands, owner of Key City Locksmith and Security in Kansas City, Mo., and vice-president and director of education for the Missouri-Kansas Locksmith Association. “We've gone from them not knowing to them knowing about it, and now we're seeing probably about a 20- to 30-percent increase of actually closing those electronic sales.”
As Sands points out, many times he will go to do a small job, like a rekey of one or two doors, and it turns into a much bigger electronic access control job instead, bringing in thousands instead of just hundreds for the rekey.
Add to that the recurring revenue opportunities that are available, and a locksmith can expect to add about $30 to $40 per month, or $3,000 to $4,000 per year, just for one customer based on the type of product installed and warranty provided. As Sands points out, not only does it give the customer peace of mind knowing they have that support just a phone call away, but it also provides a new revenue stream for basically doing nothing. And with so much that can done remotely to troubleshoot and help with any issues on the customer side, it means no truck rolls for the locksmith.
With so many locksmiths making the transition to offering electronic control solutions, I look forward to making my “Upgrading to Electronics” feature a recurring series, as there is so much good content coming from locksmiths and others in the industry who want to share their successes and provide best practices and advice for others following in their path.
