SafetyCare showcases program

HACKENSACK, N.J.--Six months after unwrapping its unique take on home security coupled with family wellness services, SafetyCare introduced an authorized partner program that will drastically expand the company's geographic reach. As an authorized partner, SafetyCare provides dealers with sales leads, installation contracts and wholesale monitoring services. Dealers will also receive marketing materials for presentations. "We wanted to make sure before we expanded that we had a successful model," commented Peter Giacalone, vice president at SafetyCare. "Now we've gone primarily with this partner program, we will be available throughout the United States." SafetyCare provides a host of traditional security services, including fire, burglary and GPS monitoring, and also provides family crisis counseling. The company maintains a staff of professionals from the medical and law enforcements fields. Based here, SafetyCare launched with a focus on the New York tri-state region and considered its territory to include the Northeast. The company until now targeted end-users directly and handled most of its own installations. To become an authorized partner, dealers will have to enter into a contract to maintain the SafetyCare brand. However, there are no exclusive territory clauses, minimum installation goals or long-term commitment policies, Giacalone said. "In all cases, when we pass a lead to a dealer, the dealer owns the account and pays SafetyCare for the wholesale monitoring," said Giacalone, adding that the dealer receives all of the revenue derived from the installation. Although SafetyCare does not maintain a sales force, company executives will pursue larger national accounts, including developers with a presence through the United States. "We have a better ability to originate that deal than an independent dealer," Giacalone explained. In this situation, the dealer collects all of the revenue from the installation and can pursue service contracts from the customer. SafetyCare, however, commands a greater share of the recurring monthly revenue than in the wholesale monitoring model due to its role in inking the deal. Company executives acknowledged earlier in the year that it had received strong interest from independent dealers to work with the company. "We were approached by people we knew in the industry--and didn't know--as a result of curiosity," said Giacalone. SafetyCare's founder, Glenn Fischer, who serves as president and chief executive officer, is well known in the industry for his work with KingAlarm, a security products distributor, and King Central, a contract-monitoring station.