After another successful Summit, Brinton Security Services hopes to bring a larger company contingent for the third straight year in 2018.
At last year’s Security Sales & Integration Summit in Atlanta, Jason Brinton, owner of Brinton Security Services, was one of the 68 guests who attended the inaugural event for security integrators. After experiencing the 2.5 days of best practice sharing, networking and vendor engagements, he knew immediately he needed to return for the second year, so he renewed his agreement within days.
When doing so, though, he knew he could get even more value from the experience by bringing someone else along from his company. So, he registered his company’s manager, Marshall Woodruff, to join him in Orlando.
Woodruff recalls Brinton returning to the office after attending last year’s Summit with many new ideas and plans he wanted to implement as a direct result of what he learned there. This year, the first-timer was able to experience what his boss did a year ago and see first-hand why this was such a worthwhile venture for the company. Woodruff even found the interactions with fellow integrators at the Summit different and more beneficial than at other events.
“We were able to toss around ideas because we are from different areas, and they were willing to share those,” he says. “Whereas, most of the time they think competitor. They don’t have that here. They are willing to really help you find a solution for the problems we’re having within our own company, above and beyond just seeing the product here, to add to your business.”
He also found similar knowledge was passed on by the speakers in the educational sessions, most of whom were fellow security integrators. Representing a company that works in both the residential and commercial spaces, Woodruff says he was able to take away lessons that pertain to everything from the smallest residential projects to the largest commercial contracts, particularly from the Customer Experience: The Next Competitive Battleground session.
Many of his meetings with sponsoring companies also were constructive. When presented with his schedule for the event, there were some meetings he wasn’t sure would end up being useful to him. But, even those he found worthwhile.
“Going in to a lot of those I thought, ‘Man, I don’t think I’m going to have a lot of interest,’” Woodruff recalls. “But, when I got down and sat in there for that 35, 40 minutes, I walked out of there saying, ‘Man, there’s some ideas there that I think might really benefit. We should talk about this.’ Almost every single one of them.”
And, that remains true for the companies with which Brinton already was familiar on some level. The interactions allowed Woodruff to learn much more about the offerings they could provide his business.
“Resolution Products was one of those companies,” he says. “And, ipDatatel is another that really stands out for our business model now with their Helix system. It’s something very interesting about how the market’s changed and how they’ve set themselves apart. And, with the issues we run into currently on a day-to-day basis, they have a solution for our specific market that will help our company generate more profit. So, we’re very excited and have plans to meet with them after this show.”
The Brinton team thinks the Summit was another big success for the company. So, like this year, they hope expand their presence at next year’s event in Pittsburgh, Penn. They already are looking to bring another member of their leadership team to represent their residential side in the CE Pro Summit.