Tips and Tricks
Surcharging for Life Safety Companies: How to Avoid the Hassle
With inflation driving up operating costs recently, more life safety companies are opting to add surcharges to customers that pay by credit card. Surcharges are simply fees that a business can add to recover its merchant fee expenses. Say you have a customer that pays a $100 quarterly monitoring invoice, and your company has adopted…
Read MoreThe Value Of Integrations!
Cornerstone added its first integration about 13 years ago—with the US Post Office site. That was a simple integration that confirmed the address for a newly added account, including zip + 4. Since then we’ve added over a dozen integrations, with central stations, collection agencies, and other software providers. Here’s a partial list: https://alarmbills.com/integrations/ Integrations…
Read MoreReduce Stress: Invest in Expertise for Effortless Collections
Most of the office managers we work with would rather have a root canal than try collecting money from past-due customers! It’s stressful to put pressure on customers you worked so hard to find and win. Well, Cornerstone has a solution that takes the pressure off. Cornerstone’s Solution – Billing Plus! Our Billing Plus service…
Read MoreUpdate Part Costs Instantly! With Portal.io and Cornerstone Billing.
One of the biggest headaches for our life safety customers is this: keeping inventory costs CURRENT in their alarm business software. Especially with the inflation of the last few years, part prices are changing constantly. Well, Cornerstone Billing Solutions has solved the problem with our newest alarm business software integration. The payoff for our customers…
Read MoreG/L vs. Alarm Company Software: Why Integration Can Be Risky
In the dynamic world of business technology, the life safety software decisions you make can be the linchpin for your company’s success. One pivotal decision that businesses often grapple with is whether to integrate their General Ledger (GL) with their Customer Management Software (CRM). While the allure of an all-in-one solution is strong, there are compelling…
Read MoreLabor Shortage? DO LESS! With Alarm Software
Not shocking news: we’re in the tightest labor market in over 20 years. Security alarm dealers, and many other industries, are having real trouble finding enough people to get all the work done. What’s a business owner to do? Until the labor market improves, here are some ideas that may help. You’ve heard the adage,…
Read MoreManagement: Many Flavors
To state the obvious: effectively managing your small business is difficult! It’s easy to get derailed. Whether that’s getting hit by a big surprise problem, losing a large customer you thought was happy, losing a key person, battling inflation-driven cost increases, and so on. Management is a very broad term, and it may be better…
Read MoreRecurring Credit Card Transactions: Painful to Comply
Over the last few years, the credit card industry has adopted new rules that make it tough for small companies to stay in compliance. Including for recurring payments charged by security alarm companies. IF your company accepts Visa and Master Card for recurring subscription invoices, please review your processes versus the list below. Does your…
Read MoreCustomer Acquisition Cost: Do you Know Yours?
How much does it cost you to acquire a new customer? Most security companies don’t really know – but they should. If you’ve ever seen an episode of “Shark Tank”, one of the most common questions from the Sharks is: what’s your customer acquisition cost? It’s a key metric for any business, and one you…
Read More6 Tips for Improving Alarm Company Office Communication
Security dealers usually have different departments—sales, service, administration, accounting, and so on. Because these departments are in regular contact, interoffice communication is a crucial factor for success. Technology tools can facilitate easier office communication. Cornerstone Billing Solutions, as a cloud-based company, has used a work-from-home office model for over 20 years. We understand that poor…
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