How do you advertise?

[Tyler J. Thomas]

In all seriousness, NSPs are a good source of work. As Cledry said, you gotta be willing to jump through hoops. Some locksmiths refuse, some don't. A good number of guys on ClearStar despise them. That's fine. I've found them to be no more unrealistic than large commercial accounts I've handled directly.

It's usually simple stuff but sometimes you get to quote on and win larger jobs. I enjoy the work, personally. It's usually storefront work with the occasional exit alarm or access control issue.

The trick with NSPs is to develop a repertoire with their staff. They won't hassle you over trivial stuff if you give them reasonable response times, pricing, and quality of work. They'll also treat you like a colleague instead of just a name on a computer screen. They usually have multiple contacts (your competition) in a given service area. Give them exceptional service and they won't even bother with the other guys. Do that with as many NSPs as possible and you'll be golden.

[jeffmoss26]

I know, I work in IT for one

[Tyler J. Thomas]

I know, I work in IT for one

I just did a job for that one on Monday too!

[cledry]

I know, I work in IT for one

Still getting jobs from you guys but not as much as from the other NSPs. I know it seems to run in cycles.

[Foulke62]

Which NSP is a good one to contact first? I currently work as a locksmith in a facility but am looking to go out on my own.

[cledry]

Which NSP is a good one to contact first? I currently work as a locksmith in a facility but am looking to go out on my own.

Get your insurance in order first. Then be sure you want to be available 24/7. Lastly make sure if you are a 1 man show that you can tackle most of the calls they may send. Most jobs are simple, some require two men though, occasionally 3 men. They won't mind if you say you cannot handle those sorts of jobs if they know you are working alone. Oh and they all say no subcontractors. At least 1 or 2 jobs a week for us is a safe. So try and learn safe work if you haven't already.

If you aren't available or cannot do the jobs you get moved down the list of companies that they call.

That said, in no particular order, Genesis, Miner, NSBS, DWM, Bass, Global are the primary NSPs we work for. Then there are about a dozen more that we work for but not as frequently. There are a few on my no go list but I won't say on a public forum.

One thing to be careful of. It used to be a work order was kept open until completed, the NSP would increase the NTE. Lately a couple on the list above have changed tactics. They will issue completely new work orders with the same work order number. I feel with 1 company mentioned it is a tactic to try and avoid paying for services. They are about to be dumped by us for this reason. The other company will keep the same work order number but issue multiple PO numbers. This I can live with but it does create a lot more paperwork.

[victorylocksmith]

can you be more specific what a NSP is? how do you go about getting more jobs from these guys and how exactly do we contact them? the names you have listed are pretty generic and I cannot find any leads via google. I am assuming it is some type of contract work where you work other contractors and they pay you after they are paid by their clients by adding a bit to the amount you have charged or they are some sort of direct dealer to the clients and do not have many or any technicians in the field.

i currently do similar work for amsec but would be happy to hear about more way to drum up more business.