Locksmith Specialties: How to stand out in the industry.
When most people think of a locksmith they immediately think of an expensive lock repair shop or a way to get into your home or car when you’ve misplaced your keys. Locksmiths can actually do much more than what you think, and although not widely known, locksmiths fit more into your life than you would think.
More than just cutting keys!
Locksmithing is a really diverse career with vast areas of specialties. Many of the locksmiths you will find will do ‘regular’ activities like cutting keys or re-keying locks, but will also specialize in certain areas of the field. No one locksmith can learn everything there is to know about each area of expertise the field will bring, but they can be an authority on one or even several areas. When you combine several locksmiths into a company you will get a greater range of the capabilities the company as a whole can do. Some of the average skills a locksmith can bring to the table is the ability to open locks for you, re-keying or changing the pins in a lock to make your current keys no longer work, cutting keys accurately, and just about any other type of lock maintenance you can drum up.
Specialty areas of the field are vast in and of themselves and generally require lots of time and dedication to learn and become proficient at, not to mention the specialty equipment investment and the constant learning curve of staying current on your knowledge. These reasons usually cause locksmiths to choose a ‘path’ or niche in the field and strive to become a master in it. Large shops usually hire locksmiths based on specialties because they add more to what the shop is capable of doing, and with several people specializing in multiple areas of the industry allows for excellent cross training of the staff.
Some of the specialty areas of the industry include:
- Automotive: Including but not limited to lock repair, chip key programming, and even programming car remotes.
- Residential: Including but not limited to lock repair, installation, re-keying, and security surveys.
- Commercial: Including but not limited to lock repair, installation, re-keying, security surveys, and master key systems.
- Safe Work: Including but not limited to safe repair, combination changes, general safe maintenance, and safe opening.
- Access Control and CCTV: Including but not limited to digital keypad entry systems, swipe and proximity card readers, magnetic door locks, and the installation and maintenance of security cameras and recording devices.
When choosing a locksmith, ask what areas they cover to help better understand the capabilities of that particular business.
Justin from McGuire Lock & Safe
