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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello Jim,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If I understand correctly, you charge
a consultant fee to teach a client about site selection and other
subjects. You also provide information about your product/service to a
prospect as part of the sales process.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Some of the reasons why opinions differ
about charging a site survey fee are: competitor do it for free, how
detailed is the information, how much time and expense the information costs or
is worth, what the market will bear, etc. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Let's
say you sell cars. You have to give product information and instructions
during the sales process even if you sell conventional cars. If you
sell high performance cars or electric vehicles, you have to give more
information so the prospect can make an informed buying decision. You may
even have to take the prospect to a track and teach him or her how to drive the
car before they can make a buying decision, thus blurring the line between
teaching and selling. The same distinction can occur with consulting and
prescribing physicians, but most people pay their general practitioner for both
services.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think it is important to clearly
distinguish consulting from selling. Offering
a consultant fee refund to clients who buy PV from
you can be an attractive incentive. I tell my consultant clients that I
will not sell them PV, but they are welcome to buy it from me or from anyone
else. Some buy from me; some buy from other vendors; some do not buy at
all.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>BTW - I think selling is part the
"nuts-and-bolts" of running a business as compared to marketing which has a
broader definition. See <A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing</A> But
I'm ok with it if Michael or other wrenches think selling practices and
professional conduct should roll over to RE-Marketing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joel Davidson</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ntrei@earthlink.net href="mailto:ntrei@earthlink.net">North Texas
Renewable Energy Inc</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">RE-wrenches</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 06, 2009 9:01
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [RE-wrenches] Professional
Consulting</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joel wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> 3 goals. ....or they can pay me a
consultant fee to teach them</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I assume that every Site Survey must include a
basic education on the fundamentals of PV. </FONT><FONT
face=Arial>This includes mythbusting and re-education. It helps that
most clients are genuinely interested in learning more before they decide
to invest. I have based my 'consultation' on that goal and have a 3
ring binder/flipchart with a multitude of photos, charts, graphs, important
quotes etc that I can refer to to emphasize a point. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The handful of incentive providers in Texas, just like
the ITC, offer almost no guidelines to potential customers for choosing a
quality installer, unlike the California program. I have seen numerous
examples of poor PV installations already in this still infant market and
documented many. I have pictures describing "bad installation practices" in
the binder and emphasize them. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>So I consider my face time spent to be valuable to
both the client and me. So the question I have mulled over for some time
is, do I continue to charge a one-time fee for this service? It's refunded
upon closing a deal.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Discussions on this site, in the past, seem to be
divided. While increased competition may lean away from the practice
of charging a fee, the "educational" value justifies one. I'll
assume I'm one of several quotes and I want to be remembered as the
one that was the most informative and helpful. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Jim Duncan<BR>North Texas Renewable Energy
Inc<BR>817.917.0527<BR><A
href="mailto:ntrei@earthlink.net">ntrei@earthlink.net</A><BR><A
href="http://www.ntrei.com">www.ntrei.com</A> </FONT></DIV>
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