third Party Installations [RE-wrenches]

Joel Davidson joeldavidson at earthlink.net
Tue Nov 6 14:35:06 PST 2001


Well said, Allan. I really like your web site and the fact that you post your
rates.

Allan Sindelar wrote:

> Joel,
> > The smart plumber tells his customer, "Sure, I can sell you the Home Depot
> water
> > heater at the same price as Home Depot." Then he either buys the heater at
> Home Depot
> > or buys it at a discount from another supplier or tells his customer why
> he should
> > buy the brand heater that he sells.
>
> What am I missing here? Why would a plumber buy the water heater from Home
> Depot at the same price the homeowner would pay, and then sell it to the
> homeowner at that price? For that matter, he will typically pay about the
> same from HD as a plumbing wholesaler for many standard products.
>
> > Plumbers, electricians, PV installers, etc. are competing with Home Depot
> and other parts suppliers. So learn how to compete. Make your equipment
> prices competitive.
>
> You may be competing with HD, but we're not. When they moved in two years
> ago, we decided to stop carrying Philips compact fluorescents, because their
> retail price was less than what we paid wholesale. We tell customers to go
> there first for CFs, then come to us for specialty needs. But that's
> ordinary merchandise, not PV systems.
>
> We sell solutions, not hardware. Our primary products are our knowledge and
> service. The hardware is secondary. That's why internet discounters have not
> proven to be a major threat to us. We generally sell our hardware at list
> price. We'll occasionally discount if asked, and if it's to someone who
> knows what they want and won't need lots of face time.  But when we design
> and quote a power system, we give a single package price for the components
> we specify. It's not an itemized quote with line item prices, because that
> serves no useful purpose. In some cases, we won't even include a component
> list, because many customers don't need that, they need a power system
> specific to their application. The customer isn't looking for a hardware
> list. They want a system that meets their needs.
>
> When someone asks our price on standard products, and isn't seeking our
> advice, we will sometimes suggest that internet discounters or HP
> advertisers can supply what they need cheaper than we can. Sometimes we'll
> suggest that there's a better product than the one they're asking for a
> price for, just to see if they want guidance or already know everything.
>
> Allan @+E
>
> - - - -
> To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>
> Archive of previous messages: http://www.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/
>
> List rules & etiquette: http://www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquete.htm
>
> Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html
>
> Hosted by Home Power magazine
>
> Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com
>

- - - -
To send a message: RE-wrenches at topica.com

Archive of previous messages: http://www.topica.com/lists/RE-wrenches/

List rules & etiquette: http://www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/etiquete.htm

Check out participant bios: www.mrsharkey.com/wrenches/index.html

Hosted by Home Power magazine

Moderator: michael.welch at homepower.com

==^================================================================
This email was sent to: michael.welch at homepower.com

EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9
Or send an email to: RE-wrenches-unsubscribe at topica.com
<A HREF=" http://topica.com/u/?bz8Qcs.bz9JC9 ">
AOL users click here.</A>

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================





More information about the RE-wrenches mailing list