Safe places a bet on dealer programs

September 16, 2004 SAN RAMON, Calif. - As one in a market of few financial backers, Safe Financial is looking to redirect its center of attention. Now, the financial assistance and service provider to the security industry has revamped its focus to expand its dealer programs further. The effort comes after the company’s decision nearly two years ago to move away from the bulk acquisition market. Now, the company has switched paths by adding additional services to focus on strengthening its relationships with installers. The company plans on accomplishing this through its existing authorized dealer program and its authorized service dealer program, which offer conventional and non-conventional funding and service options. Either way, both programs are based on the flexibility it offers to dealers. “Rather than try to fit dealers growth and business model into our concept of what a dealer program should be, we want to work with that dealer to match their needs,” Paul Sargenti, president and chief executive officer of the company, said. The dealer program provides funding options to installers, said Sargenti, and has several hundred installers on board. As members of the authorized service dealer program, dealers are not necessarily being funded by Safe, but they are part of the company’s referral program. When a customer calls Safe regarding a problem with an alarm system, Safe contacts authorized service dealers to complete the service call. Dealers receiving funding as part of the dealer program can also be part of the authorized service program. Both programs, he said have shown increased interest. “Growth in the dealer program has been robust and consistent,” he said, “and we have built a very strong infrastructure to be able to accommodate the greater frequency of dealer program fundings.” For more on this story, see the October issue of Security Systems News.