What lies ahead for Distributors in the Security Solutions Industry – with Norbain SD
As we speed through Q2 of 2022, the UK Security Industry continues to face both uncertainty and opportunity and perhaps nowhere is this better displayed than in the security distribution market.
As the UK’s most successful distributor of IP Video, CCTV, Access Control and Intruder Detection solutions, Norbain SD has successfully weathered the storm of the Coronavirus Pandemic. However, the company looks a little different than it did at the start of 2020.
For one thing, since March 2021 Norbain has had a new Managing Director, Mark Field. Mark has been with Norbain for several years and is keen to capitalise on the changes and opportunities he sees ahead for the industry.
He comments, “We recognise that there continues to be significant demand in the UK for electronic security solutions and our job is to ensure we provide those solutions to our customers at the right price, the right time, and in the right way. Ultimately, it’s about supporting them to increase their profit margins, enhance efficiency and create recurring business revenues.
“However, it’s safe to say that Norbain doesn’t look much like it did back in 2019, so we can’t afford to assume that our customers’ businesses look like they did either.”
Adapting to a changing landscape
To this end, the business has recently undertaken a rigorous customer research exercise to ensure they understand what their customers are looking for from a distribution partner – both today and going forward into the next few years.
This has provided valuable insights into how different groups of customers are operating and how Norbain can make their lives easier; the ultimate goal.
There was a time when security distributors controlled the marketplace with regard to bringing new products to the market. They controlled the flow of information and acted as gatekeepers between the manufacturers and customers – both security specialists and end consumers.
Of course, this landscape is constantly evolving but, particularly over the last 12-15 years, the balance of knowledge has tipped in favour of the manufacturer. The internet now provides easy access to information and the manufacturers themselves have recognised the value in having large marketing and partner management teams.
As Mark explains, “For some time, security manufacturers have known that they need to influence the end user customers themselves. But we know our customers still value our wider, impartial view of the marketplace and are, in many ways, actually overloaded with the information available out there, as well as being time-poor.
“What our recent survey of security installers confirmed is that, in the main, they are very operationally focused. They have to concern themselves first and foremost with consistently delivering what their customers want, having enough engineers employed to carry out the work, and adequate cashflow to keep everyone happy.
“So, they need to be able to trust that the basics will be in place from their distributor. They want stock to be available, and deliveries to arrive on time, correctly despatched. They need to be able to get hold of their account manager or someone who knows their business requirements quickly. But there’s so much more we can offer than that. Customers value a distributor’s relationship with multiple manufacturers and also that we understand those manufacturers inside and out. We see what’s going on across the whole industry.
“Of course, we want to sell what’s on our forecourt, but it’s in everyone’s interests that what we sell is fit for purpose. And because we have such a broad choice of great manufacturers as partners, we can offer our installers options along with the best impartial advice”.
Increasingly, the security sector is moving towards embracing fully integrated solutions spanning IP Video, CCTV, Access Control, and Intruder Detection solutions. A good distributor can ensure customers’ needs are fully identified and ensure real benefits are delivered.
Why distributors will always be relevant
There are other consistent factors at play that underpin the vital role of the distributor in the security marketplace too.
A distributor’s financial relationship with customers tends to be stronger than those that customers perhaps have with manufacturers.
As Mark expands, “We understand the financial pressures our customers face because of our wider knowledge of their business. This allows us better context and underlines why our relationship is often stronger. And customers like the fact that an established distributor such as Norbain can be relied upon to support them should any issues transpire during the purchase or installation process”.
Distribution works at a much faster pace also, so if you want a price today, you’re going to come to a distributor like Norbain to discuss your requirements and get your quote. This ties in with the feedback the company received from many customers – they want a one-stop ‘distribution’ shop. Customers want to buy from as few places as possible, giving distributors a huge role in helping them simplify how they do business.
Norbain has both project experience and cross-brand integration expertise. And, of course, they want to offer their customers the best value at the same time as maintaining quality.
Another aspect that sounds old hat but was again evident in the survey answers Norbain received was the high-value customers still place in using a distributor as a trusted advisor. As Norbain’s Security Solutions Expert, Buzz Coates, so eloquently puts it, “Everyone’s under the cosh for time, they can’t all afford independent experts, so we can offer a sounding board, someone to look at their project design spec and advise on alternative solutions that we know from experience will work”.
Looking to the future
Norbain are about to roll out a number of strategies to meet the needs of different customer groups. It was clearly evident how important an effective account manager relationship is to customers, and Norbain are empowering their customer teams to be responsive, accessible, consistent, proactive, and knowledgeable.
Last month, Norbain also welcomed onboard their new Sales Director, Paul Isaacs, who has joined the business from Canon (UK). Paul brings with him a wealth of experience in leading sales teams and has a strong focus on building relationships and working with customers to develop opportunities. Coupled with his great track record in coaching and developing his teams, he’s the ideal fit for a company that places such importance on people.
They are also launching a brand-new website in early Summer 2022, something that’s been fast-tracked by the business since remote working became more common practice. Again, customers fed back the importance of being able to do business round the clock. The new site will be much more intuitive and support customers’ desire to research quickly and easily online, see stock availability, order painlessly and then track their orders from despatch to delivery.
Mark explains: “This will free up more of our Account Managers’ time to proactively help customers grow their businesses, increase profit margins, and enhance efficiencies.
“To this end, we’ve also been developing some great content over the past couple of years, in both written and video formats, which we believe our customers can use to supplement their own knowledge, that of their engineers and, sometimes, even the end customer too”.
“If you’ve not been amused by Pocket-size Buzz yet, take a look at our YouTube channel – Norbain TV - and watch him in action,” chuckles Mark.
Of course, Norbain’s focus is always going to be on relationships, so it’s not just the virtual environment that they’re investing in. To this end, they’re busily planning a ‘mini-festival’ at the end of June to bring together customers, suppliers and staff to network in a relaxed setting.
Norbain customers wishing to attend can head to Norbain.com to book their ticket or speak with their account manager to find out more.
Logistical and Economic Opportunities
Stock availability is of course an ongoing challenge for some manufacturers in the security industry and as one customer’s response indicated:, “New technologies mean nothing to customers if no-one is meeting their basic security needs!”
This is why Norbain will continue to hold the largest amount of stock in the industry, so they can support customers through challenges with inventory shortages.
Globally of course, the coronavirus pandemic continues to have different impacts in different countries. That, in conjunction with the company’s understanding of the worldwide shortages of raw materials and components, mean that Mark and the team anticipates some further disruption to supply chains. Shipping costs are currently dropping again after reaching quite dizzying heights, but regional restrictions in China in particular could yet cause challenges, so the business is keeping a watchful eye on the situation.
Another aspect that’s affected the industry significantly over the last 15 years has been the changes to the logistical landscape.
These have been two-fold. “We’re down to just five or six main B2B carriers in the UK who have the infrastructure to deliver security solutions for us. This has allowed those companies to pick and choose what they’ll carry and there is now often no single carrier who will deliver a complete order. This presents a huge challenge for the security solutions industry as a whole”, Operations Director, Alan Heath explains.
“Of course, customers don’t want to hear that, they want to be able to place an order and have it delivered next day or within 48 hours. As a result of the pandemic, buying habits have altered and we’ve got used to quick turnaround of orders both professionally and in our personal lives.
“Add to this the shortage of engineers across the security industry and we’re seeing that many of our customers just don’t have the luxury of planning ahead, they have more work on offer than they can install”.
Subsequently, Norbain is in discussions with a variety of suppliers and fulfillment alternatives, looking at delivery options to best suit the differing needs of customers. The company intends to engage fully with a cross-section of customers through research to ensure whatever alternatives are rolled out really will make their lives easier – which, ultimately, is one of Norbain’s primary objectives.
Norbain’s pre-configuration service is something their customers already benefit from. Security equipment can be configured to customer specifications before despatch, saving engineers time on site and reducing risk as well thanks to the testing carried out during the process.
NEW: More than 25 years ago, Norbain established a simple and efficient returns process along with an industry-leading repair service. However, the uptake of these benefits – in particular repairs – has decreased dramatically in recent years in line with the so-called ‘throwaway culture’ and society’s acceptance of reduced quality and replacing what is broken.
However, at some point, Norbain anticipates that the pendulum will swing the other way, as environmental and financial pressures grow on UK businesses. Their reverse logistics structure is geared up to support this growing trend.
Another challenge Norbain has met head-on during the last few years is the impact of Brexit. They have several overseas customers as well as UK customers who install outside of the UK, and Brexit has presented them with challenges, especially in the form of increased administration and timelines.
Norbain has taken on additional resources in the form of export documentation specialists, to support customers fulfilling contracts across Ireland and the EU.
To sum it all up
Over the last couple of years, the security industry has shown that it can adapt, innovate, and respond quickly in times of crisis and plays a key role in keeping the UK economy moving. Norbain, as a distributor within this sector, is no different and, having successfully weathered the storm, is extremely busy ensuring they can make the lives of their customers easier.
Companies like Norbain are key in working closely with suppliers and customers to deliver those solutions. Distribution will continue to play a vital role in maximising the speed at which the security industry can evolve, and embrace new technology and ways of doing business.
We'd like to thank Security Journal UK on this lovely peice on Norbain.