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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"Consultant fee refund."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That is what I do. I believe it to be a very
equitable arrangement. Primarily it quickly and effectively eliminates the
folks who are purely tire kickers. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Before now, I used a lot more words to describe
it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks, Joel</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Bill Loesch<BR>Solar 1 - Saint Louis
Solar</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 10:40
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [RE-wrenches] Professional
Consulting</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Well guess I wasn't complete in my definition
of a site survey. I also inspect the roof and rafter structure, the
existing electrical service condition, do the shade analysis, and create a
design and issue a proposal. That's the real goal to offer an installed cost.
It's all included in the price.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I suppose you could say the customers education is
secondary, really unnecessary if I was just being a salesman. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Jim Duncan</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></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=joel.davidson@sbcglobal.net
href="mailto:joel.davidson@sbcglobal.net">Joel Davidson</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 5:54
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [RE-wrenches] Professional
Consulting</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<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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