United front ahead for GE Security

ANAHEIM, Calif. - GE Security is continuing with its push to unite its security business. For the first time, the company held a global sales meeting bringing together not just its North American security sales force but also those from Europe and Asia, to implement a full market basket selling approach across the entire company. Approximately 400 people attended the week-long sales event, which also included GE’s Iontrack business. “We’re really structuring so that we make better sense to our customer,” said Jay Pinkert, communications director of GE Security. “They’ve been asking, ‘Why can’t I buy my access control from the video guy?’” The full market basket selling approach began in the United States last year. Now, the company’s European and Asian sales force will also embrace the concept, which is expected to increase the company’s reach in the market. Jiri Modry, senior vice president of Global Sales for GE Security, said the company will have a sales force that recommends a total solution “rather than coming in to say, ‘I’m here to talk to you about some sensors,’ and then another day someone comes in and says, ‘I’m here to talk about surveillance cameras.’” Modry expects the company to double its market reach as a result. The global full market basket selling approach is the latest initiative by GE Security. Earlier this year the company adopted the name GE Security to capitalize upon the strong brand recognition of its parent company, General Electric, and dropped the name Interlogix from its moniker. The company also aligned itself by solutions sets, such as the retail, banking and financial, transportation, government and industrial, and by grouping products by category instead of brand names. The company now offers its suite of products under titles such as access control, intrusion and fire detection and video surveillance, which then encompasses brands names like Kalatel, Info-Graphic and Casi. Modry said now that GE Security is more customer centric than product centric, the company has set its sites on being No. 1 in the security market.