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April 24, 2017
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Think Protection

CFRA radio interview with Adam Matlin

Read the transcript of the CFRA radio interview between Dean Roberts and our CMO/COO Adam Matlin. Adam talks about his past marketing experience with AlarmForce, his new company – Think Protection and some of the revolutionary products it offers.

Dean Roberts: So here we go with your CFRA expert on call – Adam Matlin from Think Protection. Adam Matlin, son of Joel… How are you?

Adam Matlin: I am doing great – thank you very much.

Dean Roberts: We had dad doing a show a few months ago and we took advantage of his 45 years in the business. Is that pretty accurate?

Adam Matlin: That’s bang on. He has been around for a long time – he is the security icon for Canada.

Dean Roberts: But you are not a rookie at this either… are you?

Adam Matlin: I have a baby face but…

Dean Roberts: We have seen you on CTV and you have been around for a while. You’ve done marketing for AlarmForce – let’s face – you guys have been with AlarmForce for years and years and did a fantastic job. Then decided to do your own thing – that’s why Think Protection was born in June 2015. Is that accurate?

Adam Matlin: Yes – June 2015. I was at AlarmForce for around 7 ½ years before but growing up in the industry – I mean with my father being in the business for so long – I learned a lot just by sitting around at the dinner table so when I got to AlarmForce was like a duck taking to water. I loved working with my father and growing the company. Started in the marketing department and then transitioned to marketing and sales – eventually wanted to take on more and more responsibilities. It was a great time. When I got there we had 45,000 accounts – by the time I left we had around 140,000. But the board, and I am sure my father went into details to what happened, was not happy with us there and they had a different mandate from what we did. We wanted to grow and they wanted other things so they kicked my father and I to the curb, which it was actually quite a blessing in the skies because it let us do other things and eventually found Think Protection, which we are now rocking and rolling. We are North America’s fastest growing alarm company. Things are good.

Dean Roberts: It’s a new forward-thinking alarm company – it’s a good way to describe it I think – and it’s Canada’s fastest growing home alarm company. I am excited about the show today. I just find this business fascinating, I know nothing about it so consider this the show for dummies about alarms OK? Because I am the host and the call is with you.

Adam Matlin: You got it. I will keep it nice and easy to understand.

Dean Roberts: I do know though that you are offering the best security system at the lowest price.

Adam Matlin: Our system – the home alarm is really incredible – feature rich and advanced. Cutting-edge technology that is unbelievably easy to use and the price is $12.99 per month. There is no annual contract – you got the mobile app included for free so you can control the alarm system from your smart phone. It’s really unlike anything else out there and we are able to offer it at that revolutionary price. We are really excited about it.

Dean Roberts: State of the art, incredibly advanced, highest level of security and you can never have too much security in this day and age. This business has gone through milestones over the years. Is it not?

Adam Matlin: By leaps and bounds. It was always evolving but with the invention of the smart phone and the Internet, it let us do significantly more with significantly less. We are able to put wireless alarm systems in your house and you don’t need a home phone line while in the past you did. So you were always handcuffed. Also with a company like Think Protection since we don’t have the legacy older equipment, we are able to introduce state of the art technology and really being able to disrupt the industry with an unbelievably low, beyond competitive price point.

Dean Roberts: Unlike other alarm companies the customer owns the system – right?

Adam Matlin: Yes

Dean Roberts: No annual contract – as you said. What about if a customer is not entirely happy with the system?

Adam Matlin: Great question. The customer owns the system but we have a 30-day money back guarantee. So what would happen is you get the system and if you are unhappy for any reason within the 30 days – you send the system back to us and we will completely refund your upfront cost. The cost of the system is completely reimbursed so it’s really 100% risk-free. From that point forward if you are unhappy with the service you can cancel it – we have no contract. This is what really makes us unique in the industry.

Dean Roberts: You are the only company in Canada with a 30-day money back guarantee? Am I right?

Adam Matlin: You got it.

Dean Roberts: Three years warranty, easy to install. How easy?

Adam Matlin: Our basic package, which is a two-door contact, one motion detector and the base unit. You can install it in 20 minutes. We do it over the phone with you. We make sure that the system is completely up and running. We answer any question you have. Unbelievably simple and it comes pre-programmed. Literally you just pull the tabs off a 3M adhesive on the motion detectors, pull a plastic piece out and it's up and running. You stick it up on your wall and hold it for 30 seconds and those puppies are not falling down. Anyone can install the system. For more intricate packages or if you want to install more pieces of equipment it will take you between 30 to 45 minutes and we will walk you through over the phone.

Dean Roberts: Your website is thinkprotection.com and the number to call is…

Adam Matlin: 1-855-768-4465. We are anywhere from Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland to Vancouver down in the States as well. It’s a very unique type of company where are able to ship the system to you, get you up and running regardless where you are, make sure you're happy and work our tails off because we don't have that contract. Since we don’t have a contract, the consumer has a peace of mind knowing that if they are unhappy they can cancel but you know where we're in business to keep our customers so we work unbelievably harder than other companies especially those that have long-term home alarm contracts.

Dean Roberts: Adam Matlin – here is an obvious question – what questions do I ask to any security company when I choose an alarm system?

Adam Matlin: That is actually a great question and it’s not so obvious because people don’t really think about what questions to ask. First question to ask is what am I getting? You want to know that the technology is new and that is not a system that has been around for 10-15 years because technology has advanced so much. You want to ask what's the monthly price? What will the price be 3 years from now? What is the contract length? Virtually every other company out there, especially the ones that you know off the top of your head have a long-term contract and in the fine print of their contract the right to raise prices anytime so they might introduce at a 25 or $30 price point per month which is ridiculously high but it is what it is and at the end of the three years you might spend $35-$40 per month because they have that escalator. So you want to ask about that and you want to read the contract before you sign anything. Ask also if you get the mobile app included for free. You have a smart phone and you want to be able to use it right? You want to use it without having to pay more for the monthly monitoring.

Dean Roberts: Let me guess – some companies will try to sell you so much more than you really need in your particular situation… but not Think Protection.

Adam Matlin: To be honest and I'm sure my father said this when he was on the phone, the alarm industry has been historically greedy and there's has been no shortage of people in our industry that talk to a customer telling them they need every window to have a window contact, every door to have this and that – to really plaster your home or your house like it was a fortress but in truth you don't. If you talk to someone that is educated in the industry likes our sales reps are they can customize a solution that is very affordable that doesn't cover every window since you are not more protected by having every window with a contact on it. That’s the truth. So what we will do is protect your house in the most efficient, effective way, make sure you are happy, really save you money and make sure you get top-level service.

Dean Roberts: My mother, who is 92, had a system through your former company. Right? You have a product I think she might be interested…

Adam Matlin: One hundred percent! It’s a products that she will love and give her tremendous peace of mind and you will love it as well just knowing that she'll be protected with such a fantastic forward-thinking product that will really take care for both inside and outside the house.

Dean Roberts: What is called?

Adam Matlin: It’s called Think Alert. It is a pendant that she can wear around her neck or on her arm like a wristwatch or also on her waist like a pager. There is a single button on it where you press it and it will connect to our Central Station. Nothing special so far with what I've been saying. But here's the amazing part… with the pendant there is a speaker and in that speaker – full two-way voice so she could talk directly with our Central Station being able to say if there's an emergency situation whether it's health related or in any situation and will be able to then notify either EMS or First Responders if necessary. The beauty of it is that this pendant has a cellular chip so she could use it inside or outside her house – literally anywhere there is cellular reception in the world. On top of that has a GPS in it so if she's, let’s say, out getting groceries and she presses the button not only we will know where she is through her GPS coordinates but also it will send a text message to a list of emergency contacts so could be you Dean or could be other siblings or could be a caregiver that will let you know that she pressed it and where she is. It is a tremendous peace of mind. It's waterproof that he can wear it in the shower on top of that it has the ability to add fall detection in it. So if she's out again getting groceries and she falls, which once you have a fall and you're over the age of 70, there's tremendous likelihood that you are going to have another, it give you that peace of mind that that if she does have that fall, it will automatically trigger that two-way voice call to our Central Station so we'll be able to notify emergency contacts and First Responders or EMS to get her taken care of her as quickly as possible.

Dean Roberts: You must see so many gratifying stories and you haven't been with his company that long, since June 2015, of people who have had to use everything you're talking about and everything turned out great.

Adam Matlin: We heard of unbelievable situations of people who have used it at home because we had an emergency system – it’s called the personal emergency response type system – so we had a system that worked in the house but we haven't had one up until now that works outside the house. So this really is revolutionary because you know just because you're aging doesn’t mean you should be confined just in your house. Seniors are more and more active, people with medical conditions are more and more active and they want the peace of mind of knowing that if they are out at any instant they can just press the button and be connected to our Central Station and also that their children or their caregivers can have the peace of mind of knowing that the senior needs help at that instance. Think Alert is really revolutionary, the unit itself is a nice discreet-looking unit so again just because a senior may need the extra piece of mind it doesn't have to be a clunky, ugly unit that they wear. So it’s a nice looking unit, it blends in, it is discreet, it’s a little black unit, lightweight so it's not going to weigh them down and the battery life in there is four days although we recommend they charge it every night. It comes with the docking station so you literally take if off your neck, plop it right onto that docking station and it will charge. It’s the most unbelievable product I am incredibly excited to get it out and I notice when you give seniors everywhere unbelievable freedom and peace of mind.

Dean Roberts: So combine that with your new forward-thinking Think Protection and you have your security take care of. Are there any statistics out there that talk about how many homes are hooked up to security systems now?

Adam Matlin: They say it’s between 20 to 25% of houses that have home alarm systems.

Dean Roberts: It is really low… isn’t it?

Adam Matlin: It’s unbelievable low and here is the thing. It's important for people to understand that no home is not vulnerable to a break-in. That is the sad reality. I don't want everyone living in fear going “Oh my God, Oh my God, my house is going to be broke into” because also that is not the case. But it's shown that houses with home alarm systems are three times less likely we have a break-in. Because if you are a burglar and you see two houses next to each others, one of them has a home alarm system, you see the sign on the lawn and the decals around the house and the other doesn't… which one are you going to break into? Most likely you're going to break into the one without because guess what, you're going to learn something that's going to blow your mind Dean, burglars don't want to get caught and houses with home alarm systems there's a greater chance of them getting caught because of the home alarm.

Dean Roberts: And burglary is up all the times…

Adam Matlin: It is going up. In some areas is going up dramatically, in others it’s not. Every neighborhood is different so I don't want to make a blanket statement like “Live in fear… get a home alarm system!” – it’s not the truth and it is not they way our company operates – other companies do operate that way. We don’t. The thing is you want to have the peace of mind of knowing that your house has the best protection possible and also you want to do it at the most efficient price.

Dean Roberts: Well $12.99 a month… is that what it is?

Adam Matlin: $12.99 a month and you get all the bells and whistles with it but what's important to understand Dean, if you have a home alarm system you are going to get a reduction on your homeowners insurance so it's like you know the reason why they give out by the way it's because home alarms work. Usually the amount you'll be saving if you look at it over an annual basis more than cover the cost of the alarm system.

Dean Roberts: Are there cases that you know of, where your alarms went off at a client’s home and they've actually caught the burglars in the act?

Adam Matlin: Yes, I know of a few cases like that but here's the biggest thing and this is the truth. If a burglar wants to break-in into you house they are going to break into the house. Right? Unless you have a moat around your house like one of those old castles with the drawbridge or bars on your windows, if someone really wants to get into your house, they will get in. What a home alarm does it gets the burglar out fast because of the deterrents, the siren, the ability with our system if the alarm goes off the customer gets a text message saying their alarm has been tripped so you get instant notifications. On top of that we call three emergency numbers, maybe the homeowner, maybe the neighbor you know. The peace of mind of knowing that it's a real monitored home alarm system that get burglars out significantly faster because like I said they can get in if they want to but you want to get them out fast and this is what home alarms do.

Dean Roberts: Can we get back to the mobile app for a second? It is included for free, right?

Adam Matlin: Yes the app is included for free. You get a home alarm system, you're paying the $12 99 monitoring and you are able through our app at no additional cost to turn your system on and off, see a full history of alarm events and change certain setting to your alarm. It’s really amazing. Here is the cool thing. If the customer wants to add Home Automation they can do that easily. There's an upfront charge for the Home Automation cheap and that's put into the system. That's $50 and you only paying it one time and then it's an additional $1.99 per month for the app and that gives you the ability to control your lights through it, to control your thermostat, to open and close your front door locks. Granted, each piece of equipment has to be added but just when you have the thermostat you are not paying an additional monthly charge on top of the $1.99. It's unbelievable it's really the future of smartphones and we do it at a cost that really can't be beat anywhere else.

Dean Roberts: You understand that the customer doesn’t want to be tied to a long-term monitoring contract so…

Adam Matlin: You got it! We have no contract. Here is the frustrating thing and we've all experienced it, whether it's with an alarm company in the past or a cell phone company or a cable company. You sign up for the system, you hear about a great deal that has been offered, obviously you go with them because you think the service is going to be fantastic and then you end up five months in and just being thoroughly frustrated with the service you're getting, you want to cancel, you call up to cancel and they say sorry but you can’t. If you do want to cancel, you are going to have to pay off the remainder of your contract terms or if you don’t want to do that then too bad. You are handcuffed. We knew right away when we started Think Protection we don't want to be one of those companies. We want to offer customers a no-contract security solution, be able to put a price on there that would keep them happy, able to put a service staff in here that will keep people happy. You know at the end of the today if you're offering a better value at a better price customers aren’t going to leave you, regardless of the contract.

Dean Roberts: And they give you referrals too…

Adam Matlin: It’s exactly right. I am happy to say that our referral base is fantastic. Our customers are unbelievably happy with us and you can see online. We use a service called TrustPilot where people can write positive or negative reviews - we don't vet it and shows a level of stars and we are at around 4 ½ stars out of 5 in regards to customer satisfaction which for the industry is pretty darn high and it's getting higher every day because our customers are very happy with the value and service we are giving them.