Overheard a GC tell a homeowner alarms are just 'noise machines' last Tuesday

I was at a job in Oak Park last week, finishing up a hardwired DSC system in a new build, and the general contractor walks past with the homeowner and says 'these alarm systems are just noise machines, don't expect much more than that.' I was standing right there with my tools out. He had no idea I was the installer, I guess. It got me thinking how many people actually think that way because they've never seen a system catch a real break-in or a fire early. How do you guys handle clients who are clearly skeptical from the start, maybe from someone else's bad experience?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia4214d ago

Oh man, that's rough. I feel you, that's gotta sting hearing that right in the middle of your install. I mean, it's one thing if a homeowner is skeptical because they've had bad luck or a crappy system in the past, but hearing it from the GC who's supposed to be on the same team? That's just disrespectful. It's like people think alarms are just for show until something actually happens, and by then it's too late. I've definitely had clients come in with that same "noise machine" attitude, and it's tough because you want to prove them wrong but you can't just invent a break-in to show them it works. Best you can do is just be honest about what your system can do and hope they give it a real chance.

rivera.jake14d ago

I mean, what finally worked for me was just being straight up with people. I had this one job where the GC was making comments the whole time, kinda like what you dealt with. So I just stopped what I was doing, turned around, and told him, "Look man, I get it, you've seen a lot of these get installed and never get used. But I've also seen the ones that did their job and saved someone's whole house or business." Then I walked him through the specific things my system could catch that his guys might miss, like a window sensor on a basement window that's easy to pry open. He kind of shut up after that and actually asked me a couple questions. Sometimes folks just need you to call it like it is, not try and be all salesy.