Summer of love

PROVO, Utah--In business as a full-service alarm company for only about four years, ApxAlarm is a young company by any standard. Among the growing ranks of the summer-model alarm companies (see accompanying story on Platinum Protection, page 29), however, in sales/security terms, Apx is an elder statesman--the model, in some ways, for the summer-model surge. Apx has been around the longest and generates the most accounts annually. This summer was no different. Apx sold and installed 125,000 gross (119,000 net) accounts this summer, coming pretty close to its goal of 130,000 accounts. It sold off a "fraction" of these accounts, said Jack Inbar, Apx COO. Like its competitors, Apx considers its numbers record-breaking. "I don't think it's ever been done [selling 125,000 accounts] in such a short period of time," Inbar said. Apx's 2007 numbers are up from 90,000 sold in 2006 and 44,000 accounts sold in 2005. Inbar said he didn't think the company could sustain that rate of growth year over year, but said he expects the company to be able to sell between 150,000 and 200,000 accounts next year "and continue to do that on a regular basis for many years to come. It's a great market and it's not saturated." Apx currently owns 143,000 accounts, with third-party monitoring from the new CMS (it sold a number of accounts in 2006 and 2005). Inbar said 80 percent of the contracts sold this summer were for a 60-month term and said the "average credit score" for new 2007 customers was 700. Apx is already recruiting for the summer 2008 season. Inbar credits their success this year to their customer service and proactive programs such as the team he oversees that follows up on every alarm dispatch. They also check in on accounts with lack of usage, excessive signals, and accounts that do not have signals.