Home Security Surveys

Dedicated fax #?

Newnsie

Wow!

These are great! I have been compiling some of the ckecklists that some of the different police departments use/publish. Adding here and there. Hopefully I will come up with a good single list/script. I'd like to add this as something I can do that I would like to pitch in October (National Crime Prevention Month).

I have gotten mixed responses form other smiths some going so far as to say it is a waste of time. I am figuring it will get my foot in the door, and at least get to educate people in my local area that locksmiths are not just for when they lock their keys in teh car. Which seems to be the main prevailing attitude.

I may be grasping at straws with this, but I figure if I sell one or two deadbolts and a single rekey it should take care of all the effort.

Has anyone tried this before with any good or bad results? Am I reinventing the wheel? Am I wasting my time? Is this something that should be offered free, or perhaps for some token amount that could be applied to future service call etc...

-- Absinthe

Sorry, I don't have a fax. Best I can do is email.

ckecklists that some of

and there.

I'd like to add

October (National

so far as to say

in the door, and at

locksmiths are not just

be the main

sell one or two

the effort.

Am I reinventing

should be offered

applied to future

sounds good to me. give it a go ! I once participated in a neiborhood watch program meeting. got a few jobs from that particular neiborhood. Sure wasn't a waste of time...

good luck

Just a thought but some aspects of a security survey are best done under actual conditions. for example external lighting should be viewed at night if possible. I don't know if it was your intention to create a document the customers could use them themselves or something you would use or perhaps thirdly something with an "a" part you might do and a "b" part the customer might complete themselves. The more sophisticated the checklist becomes naturally the more time it will take and you don't want to lose money. Where you will be able to leverage your experience is in knowledge of local conditions. If for example the local PD only has 1 man on the road from midnight to 6:00am and he is covering X square miles the customer should be made aware. That's the kind of info that could lead to a nice sale of a safe for instance. As long as you are directly competing wouldn't hurt to network with local alarm guys and provide each other leads. Same with a local finish carpenter who handle door hanging and trim work. One final point if you have room on the truck to slide in piece of 1/2 plywood and a circular saw you could do on the spot emergency repairs after break-ins. As a security manager I was always looking for contractors who would step up and say "sure we can handle that" - even if they sub the work out its better than having to say "sorry we can't do that".

Do you have access to Locksmith Ledger's? There's an excellent article/sample survey for industry that may be adapted for home security. The article is in the July 1979 issue.