Brivo 'Buy Now' Online Campaign

Brivo has launched a new website brivopromotions.com.

Any website that actually puts "promotions" in the URL invokes images of some scammy direct-mail coupon business.  I would expect that site to try and upsell me on a Scentsy or Loularoe "business opportunity" at checkout.

Beyond the horrible (IMO) URL, I think this is a good idea. I think end users can often be frustrated at the go to market strategy of the security industry where reliable online prices are practically impossible to get without talking to a dealer first, and this at least solves that issue.

It would have been nice to see Brivo disclosure this to their dealers first. To hear from this first from IPVM doesn't sit well with me. 

wow... been having discussions about this type of business model for months with a group that wants to provide a totally online buying experience for SMB end users that includes cameras and access controls.  I've been the one pushing back hard on the viability for the very reasons stated above, i.e. that every door is different and to try to "cookie-cutter" the costing and installation of access control (especially the electric lock part) is sure madness.

So, at least Brivo is taking a stab at the sheer unknown of the door control side of their offer and chooses to take on the "risk of the unknown install".  Dilly, dilly for that.

Since us folks who install access control seem to instantly go to our worst case scenario in our minds when someone tries to discuss flat-rate pricing for door controls, I can see this being very attractive to dealers that take off the blinders to this sort of business model.  

Going in the other direction, for every pain in the butt door we do (usually main entries), there are several more that are usually simple cylindrical lever style locks. $99 still seems a bit light for those doors as well, but if Brivo is willing to pay for the unforeseen, their new program should get a fair shake to at least see if it can sustain itself.  Doing the match for the 3-year commitment surely favors a sustained business model.

If i were a Brivo dealer, I would go back to leads that were lost to a very expensive door and pitch this. 

Dean could pull this off only... if he can afford to bleed a lot of money while the business model is refined, scaled, and/or is acquired by ADT.

We were part of the Beta test for this program.

Once you really understand the program, it is a great lead generation system and an alternative option for the low tier market.   

I don't see it as a competitive threat but more as a lower barrier to entry.  

Either way - it appears that Brivo is going to bat for dealers by marketing the brand and products to End-Users and working those leads through interested dealers.  If the lead turns into a better fit for Brivo OnAir, Brivo still wins.

Hi John and IPVM readers. 

This is a very interesting post.  I wanted to address two things:

1. Retargeting

2. Price

Retargeting:

Regarding retargeting, which is the ads that John referenced above. When you visit a particular Website that has this type of online marketing campaign enabled, the proper code on their Website will cookie you as a user and add you to its database to market ads to. It is a very effective way to stay top of mind when you show interest in a particular product or service without having to buy random advertising to users that may have little to no interest in what you have to offer.  

There are many publishers that will allow you to run these types of ads including Google (majority of the Internet including the sites that John referenced above), Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Bing and many more. One thing that most don't know is that the spend is based on traffic to your Website.  Most groups in our space don't have a significant amount of monthly traffic so you'd be hard pressed to even spend $100 per month.  Also, you can pay based on a cost per impression (CPM) or cost per click (CPC). For CPM, you'll usually pay between $3 - $20 depending on the publisher you use. LinkedIn will almost always be higher than other platforms/publishers. If you are doing any marketing/advertising this is a must for you to consider. Let's just say that you generate 100 or 200 Website visitors per month. How many leads is your Website producing?  0? 1? 2? More?  Even if you are generating a handful of leads, what about all the other traffic?  This is where staying top of mind comes into play. Not to get too advanced in this thread but you are able to throttle the frequency as to not be annoying by showing up dozens of times within a 24 hour period.

Price in your Ads / Website:

I just performed a search on Google for "Home Security Systems" and note the attached screen shot:

I know you're going to say wait, Brivo is for businesses and you did a home security systems search but keep in mind that Resi vs Small Business end users aren't too off in terms of their security product knowledge nor the ways that they search.  This is the first search that I did and look what I came across?  The 1st two ads have what in common?......

....The price in the ad!  

We were recently approached by a group that wanted to do a similar Access Control solution offering and I don't believe this will be the last. We aren't the biggest proponents on selling by price because there is always a race to the bottom that we aren't interested in winning (I'll presume we're in good company here). 

Here's the bottom line. There has been a paradigm shift in the way that our customers expect to do business with us. For those of us that don't change with the times our customer bases will dry up like a raisin in the sun!  Clearly, large commercial integrations are different however what is Brivo doing here?  They're helping to generate leads.  When you take a look at your peers that have a starting at $12.99 per month, how many systems do you think they sell at $12.99 per month?  Try less than 10%!  The whole point is price does drive the needle and it is a method for you to generate leads and once you are conducting your needs assessment / pitch, asking the right questions will naturally walk your prospect into a program that best fits their needs.

Cheers!