Everyone has their favorite season. Some love the chill of winter. Others favor the rebirth of spring. Some prefer the heat of summer or brilliant colors of autumn. But if you’re a smart lock dealer who is looking for an edge in selling smart locks, there’s really no reason to pick a favorite time of year. Every season offers homeowners reasons to purchase smart locks, just as every season offers dealers opportunities to grow their smart lock business.
Spring and Summer Vacations Mean Business
The spring and summer seasons see the weather getting warmer, with many families heeding the call to go away for long weekends or extended vacations. This is another seasonal incentive for homeowners to secure their home with a connected smart lock. The smart lock may be an attractive addition to the entrance to a home, but the remote benefits of this web-enabled device can extend clear around the world. Your customers can lock, unlock and check the status of their smart lock while lounging by the pool in Mexico or a beach on Cape Cod. Plus they can pre-set scenarios before they leave – these can include actions like doors locking and unlocking, outside and inside lights turning on, and shades opening or closing. In fact, when they are not home, they can make possible uninvited guests think that they are.
Summertime and the Renting is Easier
Summer is also a season when potential customers who own rental properties can reap the benefits of the newest connected lock products.
First, they can discover the joy of maintaining complete access control without managing dozens of keys. Fear of losing keys and having to constantly swap out hardware can become a thing of the past. With remote locking and unlocking controlled through a smartphone, tablet or Internet-connected device, property owners no longer have to take the time to come to the property to physically hand off a key. Nor do they have to put a key in a storage locker or hide it in one of those fake rocks. Also, frequent resident turnover no longer requires frequent trips to the locksmith to make new keys. And when property repairs are needed, neither the owner nor the resident needs to be at home to let the repair person inside.
Of course, having complete access control does not mean foregoing access to their property. Rental property owners can still enter their property by using their own smart phone, or via the old-fashioned way with a master key.
Perhaps even more important than the convenience is the peace of mind enjoyed by rental property owners, which comes from always knowing who is coming and going to and from their property, and when. Whether it’s a guest, house cleaner or someone else, smart locks make it easy to manage access.
During the School Year, Study Up on the Benefits to Parents
When the school years kicks off in autumn, smart locks can be a blessing to parents of school-age children – particularly working parents who may not always be home when their kids return from school. Without smart locks, kids would have to carry around physical keys which could easily be misplaced, lost or even fall into the wrong hands. With smart locks, all the child returning home needs to do is remember (or write down) a simple user code. The child, and all family members, can enter the home with a few simple button pushes, and then can lock the door with just one.
With smart locks, the end of the school day doesn’t ever have to include kids locked out of the house or waiting on the front steps for a parent, relative or friend. And even if the returning student forgets the code, smart locks are not limited to providing access control “in person” at the door. As connected locks can be controlled by any web-enabled device, parents can use their smartphone to let their child into the house, and even lock the door after the child is safely inside.
The benefits of smart locks for parents can extend beyond this access control to include a peace-of-mind enhancing information trail. Whether they are at work or on the road, parents can get an automated message when the door is unlocked. Plus, if the smart lock is paired with a video camera or video doorbells, parents can upload a video clip of their child safely entering the home.
Parents can realize that these same benefits apply when younger kids become teens or even young adults, and they start to enjoy the freedoms of their age and a less restricted world. Smart locks can “time/date stamp” a teenager or college-age child when they return from after-school activities or even night-time social activities. In other words, parents can know exactly when their teen son or daughter arrives home, whether they met their midnight curfew, and (with a video camera) whether they arrived alone.
Have Yourself Some Merry Little Smart Lock Business
Despite the dropping temperatures, most home automation and security dealers can experience a boost in smart lock sales during the winter season. The festive holidays that we all just experienced are a season of joy and, of course, giving. Most of us are aware that this season can be a wonderful time to provide customers with a gift that spreads not only joy but also security and convenience. For so many reasons, smart locks make for a greatly appreciated holiday gift.
With so many different styles and types, there’s an affordable smart lock for everyone on your customer’s holiday list. Techies love the “cool” factor – the ability to outfit their home with a product that can connect with other home automations devices like connected cameras, lights, shades and more. Design afficionados appreciate the way today’s smart locks can fit any home’s décor, be it traditional or contemporary, while offering a clean, wireless look. And family-focused homeowners welcome the many security-enhancing benefits of smart locks, including:
- Parents and their kids can use a personal user code to enter the home; no need to worry about keys getting lost or stolen;
- Temporary codes can be assigned to anyone who needs to access the home and can be set up to function during a limited, pre-set time;
- Smart locks connected to a home automation system can provide homeowners with an audit trail of who has been granted access to their home, and when;
- Homeowners can lock and unlock the door remotely – from bed before going to sleep or from faraway locations like the office, a traffic jam, or even other countries;
And residents can program their lock so that each family member can have a safe, personalized scenario set up for them when they punch in their user code – foyer lights can be turned on, shades go up or down, temperatures set to the ideal level, etc.
During the holiday season, smart locks are the gift that keep on giving convenience and peace of mind.
Protect Your Customers from Grinches
There’s another, less joyous reason why smart locks are a welcome home addition during the holiday season. Crime, including robbery and personal larceny, tends to peak during the holidays. These are often crimes of desperation, with a potential criminal’s desire to give gifts pushing up against their own financial troubles.
And this season also features crimes of opportunity. Burglars know many homes are filled with gifts; those homes that are not protected by a smart home ecosystem (which can include a combination of devices like smart locks, smart doorbells, indoor/outdoor cameras, door/window and motion sensors, alarms systems and control hubs) are likely more welcoming to burglars looking for easier theft.
Burglars are also aware that homes can be left empty during the holiday season, as families go on holiday vacations or off to visit the grandparents. An empty home is an inviting home to thieves – have you seen Home Alone?
Another enticement: packages left at the front door or on the porch draw the burglars in close proximity to a place where they can scope out the home’s security set-up. A survey conducted by Parks Associates of U.S. broadband households that also own smart devices showed that almost 38 percent of those surveyed cited security as the primary purchase driver, second only to convenience. Consumers want security products. They take comfort in the knowledge that their loved ones, valuables and, yes, holiday gifts are protected while they are away at work or school. By focusing on peace of mind during this season, as opposed to break-ins, dealers can make the purchase of smart security products a most wonderful buying experience for the homeowner.
Turn, Turn, Turn, Smart Locks Benefits into Sales
In conclusion, as a great songwriter once said: “to everything there is a season, and a time for every smart lock sale under heaven.” Or something like that. The point is, when you consider all the factors that can contribute to a smart lock sale, including those wants and needs that naturally arise from each season, you’ll be better prepared throughout the year to turn, turn, turn smart lock prospects into happy customers.
Nick English is the North American sales manager for Kwikset Residential Access Solutions, Lake Forest, CA.
