Defender Direct, Inc. Uses The Successful Life Course To Fuel It’s Astonishing Growth
Defender Direct, Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a privately held company that sells and installs ADT security systems and Dish Network Satellite TV to homeowners across the U.S. Its President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dave Lindsey started the business out of his home in 1998, making the transition to entrepreneur from security sales. He used $30,000 of his and his wife’s personal savings to fund the start-up, which he called Defender Security Company.
Since its humble beginnings in the Lindseys’ spare bedroom, Defender has become one of the largest security and satellite dealers in the Midwest, experiencing an average annual growth rate of 60 percent over ten years. In 2008, Defender generated $78.1 million in revenues, and earned the rank of 387 on the Inc. 500 list of “America’s Fastest-Growing Companies. With 1,500 employees, the company had a national footprint of 120 offices in 40 states.
Dave Lindsey explains, “Defender has grown faster than its peers not because we are better at selling and installing security systems, but because our people have grown. Our sales have doubled because the capacity and talents of our leaders have doubled. A few years ago we stopped trying to double our business and realized the way to grow was to double our team members’ enthusiasm, optimism and skills. Send people to seminars, leadership conferences and self-help programs. Build a culture on purpose, not by accident.”
Defender is now sending a total of 30 people (15 employees plus a spouse, significant other, parent, or other guest of their choice) to participate in each session of the SUCCESSFUL LIFE Course. Dave attributes Defender’s success to its culture, which he has built around each employee’s “personal growth.” As he says, “Another word is TERRIFIC. We talk about being terrific every day, and we choose to be that way. We coined a saying,
“Businesses don’t grow—people do.”
I don’t want this to become a cliché around Defender because it’s been our secret sauce. All of us had to grow. We’ve accomplished this reinvention through good books, good tapes and networking with good people motivated and inspired through the SUCCESSFUL LIFE Course. Our ability to forgive each other is one of our greatest strengths and it’s the glue that allows us to stay at this breakneck speed.”
The SUCCESSFUL LIFE Course can be the secret ingredient to inspiring your team to be and do all that they are capable of accomplishing. Other clients, including BWI Inc.; Ferguson Integrated Services; Quality Care; Rinderle Door Company, Caterpillar, Milliken Textiles, et al, have also contracted to send their people to each session of this life-enriching experience. Join us soon for a session to see for yourself why business leaders from throughout the world are so enthusiastic about the results they, and their teams, have achieved as a result of applying these successful daily living principles to their business and personal lives!
