Eight Reasons Why Parents Make the Best Smart Lock Customers

People with children often have a lot on their mind — their children taking up most of that mind space. For this reason, the idea of purchasing smart locks may not be a parental priority. But for the following eight reasons, parents present a tremendous opportunity to sell smart locks. Parents just need to be made aware of smart lock benefits, especially as it relates to their children, and dealers and distributors are just the people to impart that knowledge.

Related: Kwikset Smart Connected Locks Integrate with Control4

Smart locks make parents’ lives easier. With kids, jobs, homes, and often senior parents of their own, today’s parents have their hands full. To put it succinctly, they are busy. They want security, but they also want convenient, secure lock devices that are easy to incorporate into their lives. A recent survey conducted by Parks Associates of U.S. broadband households that also own smart devices showed that 45 percent of those surveyed cited convenience as a primary purchase driver, with security running a close second at almost 38 percent.
Kids lose things. Smart lock owners can store their key away in a safe, out-of-the-way place, because they, and their kids, can use a personal user code and a touchpad or touchscreen to enter the home. With smart locks, parents don’t have to worry about their kids misplacing their key and getting locked out of the house. Even more importantly, they don’t have to worry about the keys getting into the wrong hands. All the child needs to remember is a simple user code, and each member of the family can have their own code. Family members can enter the home with a few simple button pushes, and then can lock the door with just one.This means there will be no more calls at work from kids locked out of the house, and no more kids waiting on the stoop for the arrival of a parent, relative, or friend. It also means no more hiding keys in obvious locations (to bad guys) like under the mat, or inside a fake rock. Parents can lose the fake rock, and find peace of mind.
Temporary codes are a beautiful thing. By assigning temporary codes to various parties, parents with smart locks can have more control over who has access to their home. Be it a babysitter, dogwalker, plumber, or other service provider, parental homeowners can provide individuals with temporary codes instead of keys, codes that can be deleted whenever the homeowner sees fit. The temporary code can even be set up to function during a limited, preset time — while kids are at school, for example. And parents can be notified if the service provider doesn’t leave during their scheduled time.
Knowledge is stress relief. Smart locks connected to a home automation system can be empowered to accrue and deliver important information about their use to any web-enabled device, as well as the worrying parent. In this way, smart locks can provide homeowners with an audit trail of who has been granted access to their homes, and when. Plus, homeowners can receive notifications via text message when their children and loved ones have arrived home safely.So they’ll know when the painters came and when they left. They’ll know when their 12-year-old arrived home from school. And they’ll know when their teenagers arrived home at night, whether before or after their curfew!
Parents can be in remote control. Controlling access with smart phones is not limited to the distribution and use of temporary codes. If parents have a smart lock that can be controlled through a web-enabled device, they can also lock and unlock the door and provide remote access. In this way, parents can provide access to a relative, neighbor, or friend by remotely unlocking the door, and lock the door after the invited guests have left. They can control the smart lock from any location, whether during a late meeting at the office or from the middle of a traffic jam.
Control the entire connected home. Similarly, when a smart lock is linked to a connected hub, parents can program the lock so that each family member can have a safe, personalized scenario set up for them when they punch in their user code or use their smart phone to open the door. For example, residents can program their lock so that every time they unlock the door, the foyer light foes on, the temperature rises to a set level, and the shades go up. Using their smart lock, parents can make their home safer, more welcoming, and just a bit cozier for when their family gets home.
Parents need their sleep. Parents can rest easy knowing their house is locked up for the night. From their bed, with a connected smart lock, they can use their tablet or smart phone to make sure all the access points are shut and locked tight. If the lock is part of a connected home automation system, parents can use their phone or tablet to set up a bedtime scenario of doors locked, shades drawn, lights dimmed, and alarms set — then they can roll over and get their 40 winks.
Parents can secure their home, beyond the front door. Dealers should consider and explain the security benefits of smart locks to parents, beyond the locks located at the main entrance to the home. In fact, smart locks that are paired with a wide array of home additions and special rooms, both inside and outside the home, are an intriguing option for parents.

For example, smart locks can provide exclusive adult entrance to a wine cellar, bar area, or liquor storage room. Smart locks can limit access to certain parts of the house, like in-law suites and apartments. They can be used to keep kids out of a pool equipment storage shed that’s home to cleaning supplies and chemicals, or a gun closet, or a library that’s filled with valuable books. And they bring increased privacy to workspaces, studios and home offices. The benefits of smart locks to homeowners and parents go beyond the front door, and beyond the obvious applications.

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Parents want to do everything possible to keep their children safe, even as their kids grow older and strive to explore their interests and independence. They just need to be educated about how smart locks can improve their lives. In fact, a recent study conducted by Kwikset showed that, “Super moms and dads don’t have the time to track down the latest technologies, but they’re open-minded to new trends, reading lifestyle articles, product reviews, and brand content. Likely to have connected smart products in their homes, super moms and dads have a narrow path to purchase and are influenced most by brand and price points.”

The same study found that “households that have kids 11 years of age or older present a greater opportunity for dealers to sell smart locks.”

Smart lock dealers are in a position to meet the needs of this market, educating parents and providing them with devices that deliver the security, convenience and peace of mind they desire. If you’re looking to sell more smart locks, you should consider those potential customers whose reasons for purchasing smart locks are growing every day.

As North American sales manager for Kwikset Residential Access Solutions, Nick English is responsible for management of all sales and distribution through pro security channels, including sales and performance management of territory sales managers and key account managers. English creates, develops, and manages division strategy for the security/home automation channels, and the associated national accounts, direct accounts, and distribution partners and installing dealers within each channel.