We live in an era of data — some might even say data overload. Every industry conference and tradeshow I have attended recently focused heavily on the need to do more with data, use it more effectively, gather, collate and act on it in a way that helps not only security but also business processes — both for customers and security providers.
Well, this year’s Dealer of the Year really has its metrics and data game together. Guardian Alarm measures everything from potential employee personality types and strengths, to current employee happiness, customer satisfaction and even which customers are at risk to cancel.
But more than just having the data, the key to the company’s success is in what they do with it, says Vice President of Marketing Matthew Mowat.
“What is different about Guardian is limiting it to the most important, strategic goals and cascading those metrics down to the organization in ways that link together,” he says. “Maybe there is an EBITDA goal at the top but each level understands the role they are playing in that larger metric. … My previous companies tended to focus on metrics that may seem important but aren’t really the key drivers of the business. Keeping it simple by focusing on the right metrics and going deeper into how they apply at each level is key.”
“The data, whether it is in operations, sales or people metrics, really helps take the emotion out of it and you are able to look at facts to come up with the best path forward.”
Beyond the metrics, Guardian’s story is an interesting read because it shows how a 90-year-old family business can transform in just a few short years after selling to a private equity firm in 2017, while still honoring the parts of the company culture and branding that made it a great company in the first place. After an interim leadership the PE firm put in to handle the initial transition, in late 2020 the company brought in a new CEO, Brent Uhl, who set about creating his own leadership team and completely transforming the company culture from one that was more siloed to a collaborative “One Team” approach.
This new team, comprised of some previous leadership and some new, hit the ground running starting early in 2021 to redefine the company’s mission, the way the company works together and how they ensure that both employees and customers are happy, engaged and want to stay.
They do this, of course, by measuring all of it.
As Uhl says in the article, “Any organization I have been a part of, when we measure something, we have been able to improve it.”
Vice President of People and Culture Jennifer James is the only member of the leadership team that has seen the company transform from family-owned through to today, and she says the data has made all the difference.
“You would be remiss as a company if you did not look at your metrics. What it has done for us is it takes away that gut feeling. … The data, whether it is in operations, sales or people metrics, really helps take the emotion out of it and you are able to look at facts to come up with the best path forward.”
