Holmes Security Systems Racks Up Resideo Connect Awards
ESA Member Holmes Security Systems of North Carolina earned multiple Resideo Connect awards in late 2019. Resideo recognized the company with its Life Safety Award, Community Service Award, Circle of Excellence, Security Marketing Excellence Award and the 2019 Medal of Honor.
According to Stephen Wheeler, president of Holmes Security Systems, his company won these awards because of the team’s dedication to involvement with a community of other electronic security integrators.
“When I look back on it, it was quite an honor to be recognized by the group for our efforts. We participate in the program 100 percent,” says Wheeler. “My staff is always advising, suggesting, or beta testing a product. We take pride in tearing a product apart and giving the engineers true feedback of what we think of the products. We go to the regional meetings, we go to any special meetings.”
For Holmes Security Systems, working together with other businesses in the industry is a key to the company’s success. Wheeler says his team is frequently engaged with other dealers in the Resideo dealer program because he sees great benefits from connecting with other dealers. He is also a past president of the NCESA and still participates actively in ESA due to the overwhelmingly positive results he sees from sharing best practices and expanding his network.
“I think that’s what a dealer program is – dealers meeting with dealers, learning what works and what doesn’t work,” says Wheeler.
“That's what it means to run a business today – to share with other people what you've done well, along with what didn't work, and learn from it to move forward.”
A Tradition of Making Connections
Wheeler’s grandfather started Holmes Security Systems in 1908 as Holmes Electric, and Wheeler acknowledges the importance of his predecessors’ influence on the business. He also feels that businesses must adapt and learn from outside their own spheres, which is reflected in his commitment to connecting with other companies through the dealer program and ESA.
“As businesses grow and change, you can learn an awful lot from your family or the leader of your own company, but if you’re not looking outside your company at what others are doing, it’s hard to lead a business forward,” says Wheeler.
He believes in the power of connections so much that he encourages his son, who is also in the business, to build relationships far and wide.
“My son has been through the ESA Rising Leaders program, where he has cultivated many relationships over the last few years across the country. And they still talk with each other; that’s what associations are all about,” says Wheeler. “The advantage of that [ESA membership] is you’re not bound with dealers who use the same product, but we’re all still security and fire dealers.”
As shown by hard work recognized by the Resideo awards, Holmes Security Systems is not content to sit on the sidelines. Wheeler’s drive is apparent as he speaks on his involvement in the industry and the passion of his employees to excel.
“You only get out of the ESA or a dealer program what you put in it. If you don’t go to the meetings, if you go and you just hear this and that, you won’t get anything out of it – you have to be involved,” says Wheeler. “I’ve learned through the years, if you’re going to do something, don’t waste your time; jump in and do it 100 percent. That’s why the Resideo program and ESA have always helped us in moving forward and that’s why I think we’re successful in our region.”
