Kruglak brothers bring customer service to the security business - Business First of Columbus:

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That year a storyt about Glen andAlan Kruglak’s LLC in the Washingtonm Business Journal — now framed and one of the firsrt things visitors see — included a photl taken at the bottom of the stairs in Glen’s house because the company didn’t have an office yet. Seve n years later and settled into an office in Genesis Security Systems has grown to 40 people androughlyy $15 million in revenue. Its sweet spot is servingt companies of 100 or more people who need more securith than the standard key cardaccess systems. Clients include , CB . and USA Today. Businesw is off a bit this Roughly 25 percentof Genesis’ work comesd from new construction, which is slow.
Yet the Kruglakz report a strong Apriland May, largely because they got more aggressive with sales and also negotiatef lower rates with suppliers. This isn’t the first go-round in the security business. The brothers grew up working intheir parents’ downtowj D.C. music store during the 1960 and ’70s. That business eventually morphesdinto GIC, a security systems integrator, which the Kruglaks sold in 1995. The brotheras were enjoying a nice early retirement when they received visita from two former Chris Foster andEd Simon, in 2002.
They all felt that person-to-persoh customer service in the security industry was declining because the big corporationsd taking over the industrywere unwieldy. Service call were taking too long. Proposals would take weeksz to land ona client’s desk. Could they starty their own business? The answer came quickly, as word leakeds out to formerGIC customers. Genesise had its first client before the company openesdan office. Foster and Simonj are now partners. A secre to their success, learned at GIC and appliexd to Genesis, is to treat customers with the retai mentalityof “How can I help Traditionally, security companies functioned more like contractors.
Clientd outlined their needs, then askecd for bids. But “sometimes clients don’tt really understand the solution tothe problem,” Glen says. Back on those Saturdays in themusic store, the brotheres had become information sources for customeras looking for updates on the latestt records hitting the shelves. They wanted theidr sales team to functio thesame way. “We’re in a relationship business, and a relationshilp business focuseson service,” Alan says. “If you take care of they staywith you. It’x really not that complex.
” Roughly four yearz ago, Genesis landed AARP as a The organization for retireesa dumped its previous supplier over customeeservice problems. Larry Lupo, AARP’s safety and security manager, liked one thing in particularfabout Genesis. The owner are directly involved, not because they have to be, but becaus e they seem to enjoyg it. Founders set the vision of wherw they want a companyto go, he “If they’re good at it and they’re successful, they’vwe implemented that into their company and thei r people.” The importance of customer service is just one the lessonx the Kruglaks have learned along the way. They also got an educatiojn in finances.
Their first company ran into debt problems inthe 1980s, something they have vowec to never repeat. The Kruglaks say Genesis is debt free and maintainsz atleast $1 millionn in cash reserves at all times. The Kruglaksx also learned to seek recurring revenue streamsx and becomemore efficient. By keeping all of the company’a trucks fully stocked, Genesis can quickly dispatcnh nearby technicians to bringgmissing parts, with the help of a GPS system that constantlt tracks all its vehicles. Keep an unrelentinvg focus on the company’s customers.Become more efficient by standardizinvgyour operations.
What it does: Security syste design, installation, monitoring and maintenance