Celebrating 35 Years of Connelly Security Systems
Whooosh! Did 35 years just fly past there? I’m Paul Connelly and yes I look far too young to have been running Connelly Security Systems (CSS) for 35 years. Joking aside I would like to tell you about who we are and how we think at Connelly Security Systems.
CSS has grown from humble beginnings to become the leading independent security systems company in Scotland.
How many companies have endured in a competitive marketplace for over a generation? CSS has.
Here at CSS our business is 35 years established this year. I have personally been involved in the electronic security industry for almost 42 years, a one-trick pony so to speak, or as Clint Eastwood said in one of his movies, “man’s gotta know his limitations”.
A family business from the start
The achievements of our family business have been wide and varied over such a long time, almost half a lifetime working in the same business. Before we (my brother Pat, who retired in 2018, brother Jim who died in 1998, and me) embarked on setting out I knew nothing about business.
Starting out on the road to success
Channel 4 had launched as a new station around 1982 and they put out a TV show called ‘Be Your Own Boss’ hosted by the former British and Commonwealth boxing champion Sir Henry Cooper. I sent a small fee for their “Be Your Own Boss” pamphlet where I hoped I’d learn from that and countless other publications on how to be a success. This was the catalyst for our family to launch our own business. Of course today there are literally thousands of business books, self-help guides, how to get ahead in life courses, internet chat forums, TED talks, LinkedIn forums and more. They are all selling the dream of becoming successful, rich, satisfied, how to be a go-getter, become a millionaire, blah blah blah.
At times I think these books are a reshuffle of previous authors’ works that are re-packaged updated and all selling the pipe dream… that anyone can do it. Of course, this is highly unlikely because if everyone could become a success the country would be full of more people making lots of money and more successful people than those perhaps not. Success of course, can be measured in many ways, not just how much is in the bank. I know many people i business that are cash rich and are utterly miserable and dour.
Customer service is our priority
I have been fortunate to share with people what has made our business thrive over others within our sector whom for various reasons have not managed to survive for the long-term. In fact, in the time that CSS has been in business, over 500 similar enterprises offering services we provide have closed down. I was astounded that on average 14 businesses in our sector failed each year.
When we at CSS undertake our market research, a process we have followed for over twenty years or so, we gather feedback asking why our customers continue to use us as their preferred fire and security systems provider. The answer is twofold: the first is they like our people, that’s our staff from back office support to the front line engineering support and through to the sales department, etc. I believe we have nurtured a good culture and we respect all our people as they do us. It pays immense dividends to the customer experience and why they support us year on year. The second and more rewarding replies we receive from the research is our customers like how much we provide an exemplary service. It’s now part of CSS’s DNA responding quickly to their security needs, be that an emergency call administered from our onsite 24hr call centre or perhaps an accounts query needing to be resolved quickly.
Learning from mistakes and being realistic
Our business is not the King of the Castle nor do we profess to be so. We make mistakes, plenty of them, but we don’t shy away and like others sweep them under the carpet. We learn from them, act fast and put them right. Nothing makes me feel better than seeing a customer happy when we fix our errors, even at a cost to us. It is having a culture of ‘can do’, ‘want to do’, ‘can help, want to help’ that sets businesses up to move up, not down.
A great start for us way back when setting out as three brothers was that we had instilled within us to know exactly what was right and what was wrong, to treat people the way we expected to be treated ourselves. We lived by powerful buzzwords – ‘under promise and over deliver’, ‘say what you mean and mean what you say’. From the beginning we wanted to look people in the eye, keep promises and never let them down. Our clients had to feel they paid for good service and a great service is what they received. Of course, lots of this you would think is simply common sense however as stated above the number of businesses that fail is because they find it hard to deliver what would seem common sense.
Change we must
As we embark on another year ahead after what has been one of the most difficult for many of us, we go forward knowing that change once again will be a big part of it. We understand if we are not changing the we are standing still. Some of our key people have retired and we have many new people, with different thoughts and ideas and fresh approaches all coming along in the journey ahead. Our products and services continue to develop as an innovative business we can’t stand still.
Thank you to our customers
If you have supported us for a number of years, our staff would like to thank you for your loyalty to our business and supporting so many jobs. Please note we do not take your custom for granted, we depend on you and you do us. If you are new to our extended family, welcome aboard, we appreciate your business. If you’re not a customer of CSS, please get in touch and join over 35,000 existing valued accounts where service and support is at the top of our list.
Paul Connelly
Managing Director, Connelly Group Holdings
