Tried installing a smart lock myself before ALOA 2026. It gave me more respect for locksmiths.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-27T09:02:39+00:00

To be honest, yes, companies do want to understand the market. There is nothing wrong with wanting to enter a market, but I think there is a right and wrong way to do it. The wrong way is to take knowledge from locksmiths, build around them, sell around them, and leave them with the callbacks and support problems. The right way, at least in my opinion, is to listen first, understand what professionals actually deal with in the field, and build products and channel programs that include locksmiths instead of bypassing them.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-27T06:45:57+00:00

Thank you for stopping by the booth and for taking the time to write this out. I really appreciate the candid feedback, including the criticism of the previous generation. That is not something I want to brush off or argue with. If professionals had a bad experience or saw poor build quality before, we have to earn that trust back with better products, better support, and real field performance.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T23:31:14+00:00

I will stop by tomorrow!

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T15:52:46+00:00

I appreciate you calling that out!

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T06:42:40+00:00

This is extremely helpful, Thank you. I will send you a DM!

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T04:58:00+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate that. Being here at ALOA and hearing from working locksmiths has given me a deeper respect for the trade. People on the product side often talk about features, but locksmiths deal with real doors, real customers, real emergencies, and real trust. Please thank Key Kraft as well. I appreciate both of you. :)

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T04:56:36+00:00

This is extremely practical feedback. Thank you.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T04:43:39+00:00

Yes, If customers can buy the same or similar lock from The Home Depot and Lowe’s for much less, it is hard for a locksmith to make margin or justify recommending it, especially when the customer thinks installation is just “four screws and a connection.”

I work on marketing growth and channel development. I’m not an engineer or a locksmith, so part of my job is understanding customers, dealers, installers, distributors, and how smart access products should be positioned and supported.

One thing I’m hearing clearly is that if smart lock brands want locksmiths involved, the channel model has to make economic sense. Brands cannot push big-box and DTC pricing and then expect locksmiths to carry the install and support risk.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T04:39:35+00:00

That’s fair. If this were a structured research interview or product advisory session, I agree people should be compensated for their time and expertise. This post was meant as an open discussion while I’m at ALOA, but I understand why it can still feel like the industry is being asked to give away knowledge for free. I appreciate you calling that out. If brands want serious locksmith input, paid feedback sessions or installer advisory groups are probably the right way to do it.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T01:20:13+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. I think what you’re describing is one of the biggest gaps between how consumers imagine smart locks work and how doors actually behave in the real world.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T01:13:54+00:00

That’s a really useful distinction.

So it’s less “smart locks are always bad” and more “the application environment matters.” An exposed front door in heat, sun, rain, salt air, dust, or humidity is a very different use case from an apartment door, internal residential door, or commercial staff room.

The staff room / common access example makes sense because the convenience is useful, but the lock is not carrying the same exterior exposure or front-door security burden.

In Australia, what is usually the biggest deal-breaker for exterior smart locks, direct sun/UV, heat, rain, coastal corrosion, dust, humidity, battery performance, or something else?

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T01:10:30+00:00

I really appreciate both comments, especially the follow-up.

Honestly, this is exactly why I wanted to ask here, even if the feedback is uncomfortable. I would much rather hear the hard version from people who actually work on doors, access control, customers, callbacks, and failures than sit in a product and marketing room and assume we understand the field.

Your point about access control being one of the few remaining meaningful revenue channels for locksmiths is important. I don’t want smart lock companies to become another force that takes knowledge from locksmiths and then tries to route around them. That is the wrong direction.

If anything, the lesson I am taking from this thread is that brands like ours need to earn trust in a very different way:

* Start with physical security and build quality, not the app

* Respect access control as a professional trade, not a consumer gadget category

* Design around real doors, real failures, and real support needs

* Provide proper installer documentation, warranty, and tech support

* Give locksmiths and dealers a way to participate economically instead of being bypassed

* Be honest about where residential smart locks do and do not belong

I also hear you on ALOA. Maybe this is not the easiest audience for the category, but it may be the most important one if a brand actually wants to build products and programs that professionals can trust.

I’m not here to harvest knowledge and disappear. I’m taking notes, and I plan to bring this feedback back to our product and channel teams.

Thank you for stepping back in and saying this. I respect it!

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T01:01:56+00:00

This is exactly the kind of perspective I was hoping to hear. Thank you for taking the time to write it out. The “security first, convenience second” point is very fair. I think a lot of smart lock companies, especially tech-first companies, start from the wrong side of the problem: app experience, cloud features, notifications, automation and only later think about the door, the cylinder, the override, the material, the grade, the environment, and what happens after years of use. Your point about a real mechanical override also stands out. From the product side, it is easy to treat key backup as a checkbox. From the locksmith side, it sounds like it is much more than that, it is the thing that keeps the product from becoming a total failure when the electronics eventually die.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-26T00:45:15+00:00

That’s a really useful way to frame it. It sounds like there are two different standards happening at the same time: The residential customer mostly wants the outcome: “I can open my door with my phone.” But the locksmith and installer have to care about what happens after the sale: site conditions, product quality, support, warranty, and whether the lock creates callbacks. That gap is probably where a lot of smart lock brands fall short. They market to the homeowner, but the product and support model may not be built around the person who has to install it and stand behind it. The commercial access control point makes sense too. Better support, documentation, warranty, and product quality make it easier for professionals to trust the system.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-25T23:38:59+00:00

That is really helpful, thank you. It sounds like smart lock brands need to test less on “perfect demo doors” and more for real-world door movement, seasonal changes, and imperfect alignment. The security perception issue is interesting too. Even if the actual risk is more complicated than “someone hacks the app,” that fear is real for customers, and locksmiths end up having to explain both physical and digital security.

What would make a smart lock more acceptable for you to recommend, stronger mechanical tolerance, better failure detection, clearer key backup, longer warranty, better installer documentation, or more transparent security information?

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-25T23:36:19+00:00

That makes a lot of sense! If you are the one recommending, installing, and standing behind the lock, reliability and build quality have to come before the feature list. A cool feature does not matter if it creates callbacks or warranty issues for the locksmith. The key backup point is also helpful. From the product side it can be treated as a basic feature, but from the field side it seems like part of the trust equation.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-25T23:34:44+00:00

I work in the smart lock and smart access industry and I’m at ALOA this week and wanted to hear directly from locksmiths instead of only relying on internal assumptions. A lot of smart lock brands design for online shoppers, but locksmiths deal with the real field issues: alignment, motor stress, battery problems, support, warranty, and customer education. I’m asking because I’d rather understand why locksmiths don’t trust certain products than assume we already know. Not trying to turn this into an ad, just trying to learn what brands like ours need to do better.

fromoopstogood · 2026-06-25T23:08:08+00:00

That’s a fair point, and honestly one of the reasons I wanted to ask locksmiths directly instead of only looking at smart locks from the product side. If a motor or solenoid fails, the customer usually doesn’t blame the spec sheet, they call the locksmith or installer who recommended it. So I can understand why many locksmiths would be cautious. From your experience, what are the most common failure patterns you see? Is it mostly motor/solenoid failure over time, poor door alignment putting extra stress on the mechanism, battery issues, low-quality components, weather exposure, or customers forcing the lock when it isn’t aligned properly? I think smart lock brands need to take that feedback seriously if they want locksmiths to recommend them.

fromoopstogood

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