Debunking ESA’s Top 3 Membership Myths

Debunking ESA’s Top 3 Membership Myths
Electronic Security Association — March 18, 2024

As with any sort of member-based business there are always myths when it comes to memberships, benefits and more. Here at ESA, we are not immune to these myths and hear them daily. Let’s take a moment to go through the most common membership myths we hear and the facts that make them myths.

Myth: Only companies in the residential market are ESA members

We hear this a lot at ESA and simply put it is not even close to the truth. We can see how some might think so though so let us investigate the facts. The truth is only 5% of ESA Integrator members report being residential only installation/ integration operations whereas 71% reported that residential was one of the multiple markets they do business in! So, we do have many members that offer residential but that is not where their offering stops. They often operate in multiple markets ranging from residential, commercial, industrial, government and schools/institutions. Meaning ESA members come from all types of markets and are not exclusively residential.

Myth: Companies that do not install fire alarm systems will not fit in

This one always hurts to hear. ESA supports all sides of the security and life safety industry. Yes, this includes fire alarms although a company that does not install fire alarms will fit in just as well. When looking into our numbers more than half of ESA integrator members report offering fire alarm installation among other instillation services but 45% of integrator members said they do not install any fire alarms and only 2% of members report that they only offer fire Installations. So, those that do not install fire alarms are not alone and with almost half of our members not installing any fire alarms there is plenty of room to fit in here at ESA.

Myth: “Our company is too big to receive significant value through membership”

ESA collaborates with companies of all sizes. We have members ranging from small businesses to larger corporations. We are not one size fits all which means you do not need a handful of employees to gain value from an ESA membership. We support all businesses in the security industry. When reviewing memberships, we found that 41% of integrator members have more than twenty-six employees and 23% have more than fifty-one employees. Here at ESA, there is room for everyone regardless of the size. Our vison is “to be indispensable and relevant in an ever-changing industry.” Which means we are forever evolving within the security and life safety industry to support businesses and the important work they do to keep our communities safe regardless of business size.

As we mentioned before, with any business, especially membership based, there will always be myths. We hope that the facts we presented put our most heard myths to rest and answered some of your questions along the way.

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