TRAINING
SPONSORED BY ALDRIDGE SECURITY
Training: why
locksmiths need
to stay ahead
of the game
Keeping up with the latest market
developments can be a time consuming
business. In today’s environment where
technology influences all walks of life,
GRANT MACDONALD, Managing Director
of Codelocks, looks at why it is important for
all locksmiths to stay ahead of the game.
During the last couple of
years, we have had more than
150 locksmiths attend the
free training courses that we
run at our HQ in Newbury.
The majority leave with new
skills and fresh ideas on how
to improve the commercial
success of their business.
As a product manufacturer,
we have a lot to gain from the
feedback we receive when
the locksmiths are here, and
during this time we have built
up some great relationships.
Locksmiths have day-to-day
contact with end users and
by tapping into this resource,
manufacturers such as us can
gain valuable insights into the
types of applications for which
digital locks are used.
The people who attend
our courses range from
locksmiths who are ‘oneman-bands’ or run small
businesses, to those who
work in larger organisations
and who are responsible for
maintaining the building’s
access control. All of the
attendees have one thing in
common: they understand
that in order to remain
competitive, you have to keep
up to date with new products
and technology.
There is no doubt that
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MAR/APR 2014
technology is having a huge
impact on the range and type
of products that locksmiths
can specify and it’s for this
reason the access control
market is such an exciting
place to be at the moment. A
few years ago if you wanted
access control features such as
audit trail or PC-based control,
the only option was to install
an RFID system or equivalent.
Thanks to advances in
technology, electronic digital
locks are now equally as
capable and this presents the
locksmith with a host of new
opportunities.
Locksmith Darrel Walters,
founder of LocksOnline.
co.uk, agrees, “It is clear
that in a few years’ time
products incorporating
electronic technology will far
outweigh mechanical ones.
As technology moves on,
it is important to be on the
look-out for new products
that will enable you to drive
your business forward. If you
are proactive, it will give you
a unique selling point against
your competitors.”
This sentiment is also
shared by Craig Myatt, of CM
Locksmiths who says: “If you
are a locksmith who keeps up
to date with what is happening
Grant MacDonald
in the market, you can really
reap the rewards. Technology
is changing the profession fast,
so it cannot be ignored, and
we need the manufacturers
to help us stay ahead of the
game.”
So what more can Codelocks
do to help? Our training
courses have been designed
to help locksmiths give their
customers a better service.
If a locksmith can specify
products that save their
customers time and money,
while also giving them greater
control and flexibility, then
everyone is a winner. This year
we are looking to extend our
training course to include the
more advanced capabilities
of electronic digital locks
with the features mentioned
above.
FINDING THE TIME...
When you run your own
business though, finding
the time for training can
be difficult. Today’s most
common ‘go to’ training
resource is, of course, the
Internet. It provides a great
source of both written and
visual material and can
be viewed at a convenient
time.
In our industry, ‘how to’
videos such as the ones on our
website are particularly useful
and can help locksmiths learn
how to install and program
new products. Whether it is
online or face-to-face, the
feedback we have been getting
suggests that locksmiths see
training as an investment in
the long term success of their
business - and judging from
To read more, visit www.locksmithjournal.co.uk