Hi guys, I did a search first, and read a few interesting posts. I also noticed while reading posts that the type and number of drops being run to outlet locations varied.
I'm putting together some new package pricing and am looking for some suggestions.
For instance, I visited someones website from this forum and saw that they run the following.
Each T.V. location= 2 RG-6 & 2 Cat5E
Each tel location= 1 cat5e
Each Comp location= 2 cat5E
one of my current packages are as follows
4 locations, each location= 2 rg-6 & 2 cat5E
Addition single locations such as a tel location only is xtra.
What are some of the packages that you offer?
Also, what is your sales pitch when offering multiple cat5E and RG-6 at a single location? For instance, doing it like this will allow you to have distributed video.
I hate the term, this will future proof your home. Yeah right... But in ordered to land
some bigger structured wiring projects what do you tell your customer so far as benefits to running multiple lines?
Hope I'm making sense with how I am asking this question.
Thanks guys... Let's hear it....

www.ha-ready.org

And the fun begins...

Thanks for the reply Wesley. I think a standard is going to be hard to sell, as there are so many variables. I am more just looking for a way to sell more than 1 phone, 1 catv, and 1 comp outlet.
It seems that when I look over a new construction project with a customer, Maybe 50% will do comp network wiring, 20% say they are going wireless, and the other 30% are clueless. (just throwing numbers around) and go with just cable outlet locations, and telephone locations.
Again, I just don't buy into the term futureproofing. After all, I don't want some homeowner coming after me 10 years from now because I futureproofed his home today, and he can't get the naked women in his dvd porno collection to jump out of his 250" ultra interactive plasma screen. Know what I mean?

Sh*t, I was debating on whether or not I should start this thread...
Let's not lose site of my question...

Instalz, I would stick to the 2 rg6 and 2 cat5. not enough of us do this and it really is the best way to make sure u ran everything. 1 coax is all you need for full digital stream, so, why not eh.

thanks Glen...

I too would like to put something together like this. Ive had customers hand me "menu's" from the competition. Not sure if that's a good or bad approach, but it seems it would help streamline the proposal and site survey w the customer.

This kinda hit a sore spot today, as I just finished a site survey w a customer. I recommended all the needed cabling for dual tuner DVR's, disributed bvideo, remote location of HD boxes for flat screens, OTA, etc etc etc. An estimate was put together from HIS input. (Wanted no boxes by the TV, wanted local HD via OTA, wanted HD Plasma above a fireplace, etc.) All this time ,and he calls today to tell me all he wants now is the pre-wire from the dish to the home run. hes going to have the security guys run the extra coax for the dual tuners, casue they were $40/drop, verses my $70 (WITH phone). Hes going to use rabbit ears for OTA. HEs gonna put the boxes by the TV's, and scrapped the plasma above the FP (wife nixed the idea)

Maybe if I went in w a "menu", I could have headed this off, and not wasted my time only to get a dish pre-wire. (Although we WILL be doing the Direcway and Sat TV)

Do many of you use "menu's"? Just to give the customer a "ballpark" of what it mught cost, before you spend oodles of time puttng together a full blown proposal.

I think you guys ought to do a real thorough analysis of your ROI on structured wiring. You may find that you are acually losing money and would be better off letting the "alarm guy" do the work... Unless...

...you can actually sell the VALUE you bring, such as documented validation of all cabling, as well as pre-engineered, well documented, packaged solutions that you specify for the customer... you ARE the expert, right?

You can act like a fine restaurant or a grocery store... pick one.

I'll give you a hint... the margins are much higher in the fine dining world than in the grocery world.

Sounds like you are asking about structured wiring ideas, not turnkey systems? If so...

My main sales pitch is to get the wire in the wall during construction while it is cheap. Often I am only selling the pre-wire and painting a picture of what they can do in the future....

I always stress 2 rg6 and 2 cat5 and I always get asked why.... It comes down to options, the more wire in the wall the more options you have. Create a video distribution system, run a dual tuner sat box, network, phone, IR repeater, camera etc...

When you meet with the customer are you showing them the actual wires? I have yet to meet a customer that already had seen a banana peel cable, or 16/4 with cat5. Write your name, business name and phone number on a short piece of wire and leave it with the customer in addtion to your business card.

I always stress structured wiring and getting a lot of wire in the wall for the future. As a result, I have a ton of unused wire in many homes. I keep detailed documentation of every job, if new business every slows down I have tons of existing opportunity.

By no means is structured wiring my desire. My goal here was to get my "foot in the door". He originally called for pre-wiring for the internet and satellite TV. I led the conversation to the other options, and he seemed to bite. He may end up using us for the H/T when he finishes his basement, but we'l see. Oh well.

As far as the menu. The ones I have seen were not just for pre-wiring, but for various DA, CCTV, security options, etc as well. Ive seen these ideas presented at various trainings, etc as well. Just curious if guys use them, or just "qualify" the customer properly (which Im not too good at) before spending time putting somethibg together.

Sounds like yer talkin' 'bout Salesmanship 101! On the other hand you will never win em' all & maybe you don't want to. It is like playin' poker! Sometimes you play the hand out too far & wish you had folded early on but your too deep in the pot & just have to keep playin' that bad hand. I try to hand pick my customers. By that I mean I am not not trying to get all the business, just the biz I want. I wait for the awsome refferals & the repeat business & the people I meet face to face in different situations. I definately cherry pick. I ain't gettin' rich, but I make a good living & work about 35-55 hours a week, meet some really cool people & for the most part have a good time. Learn from that lost sale & fine tune what you want to do & for who. I had tongue cancer last year & went through 8 months of hell! Kinda makes you reflect on things from a different perspective. Over the years we had built up a pretty rockin' retail car/home audio biz & used to take everything that walked in the door no matter what, we wer'e open 6 days a week & worked 8, kinda had too with huge overhead, payroll, etc. Ahh! Life is so much simpler now. No storefront, no employees, no real nut to crack every month. Man did I ramble on or what? Sorry! Point is, there are plenty o' people out there that just want you to take care of them & do not care about $40 vs. $70 a drop. You just have to find them & then take care of them.

my $.02...... we do structured wiring but not as a package. we listen to customer and do a design build approach. this way we are not competing against sparky, the security guy or some other idiot that says i can do that cheaper and cheaper is the key word.... also we only use cat6 for phone and data.

we dont do the job if they want a per drop price. if they are busting our chops over this approach they probably dont have the money to pay us and thus we just saved ourself a tone of time and money.

our typical structured wiring package is 20 phone jacks, 20 network jacks and 20 coax jacks....wireless networks still require a wired backbone. plus wireless is not the best way to deal with things...again if people want to be cheap.......let them be cheap with someone else

Thanks for all the info guys. Frank, I've had that happen to me also. Spend time putting a system together on paper only to have the customer change their minds.
After reading what everyone wrote, it helped me to look at things a bit differently.

One of the problems I encounter is, when walking thru a job with the customer, and trying to explain the different scenerios and what they could do with the proper wiring, they look like a deer in headlights. even when trying to explain it, they don't always understand, and opt out of anything other than catv, and phone. Anyway, what I think I am going to do is put together some literature on the advantages of structured wiring.
This way, they don't feel pressured, or put on the spot. They will come into it having an idea of what I am talking about.
Thanks again guys, Bobby...

Canyon,
That is an excellent idea, showing the customer the actual cable. I will definately be doing this.
rguy,
I have talked with allot of CI's who think like you. They pick and choose their jobs. Maybe someday I will be able to do that. I think that being able to do it depends on your market. I have spent the last year and a half pushing my services, digging and clawing my way up. I still have the mentality that I want every job that comes my way.
Crazy huh?
ceied,
I haven't been able to squeeze in the xtra cost for the cat6. I would have to raise my per drop rate, and I don't think that would fly. I do have some schools that I pull wire for that are asking about cat6, and when they want it, I will do it. But for the residential market, and the fact that I do compete with sparky, whom some are still pulling cat3, I can't compete $$$ wise.
I do sell complete turn key packages. In fact, I never just do a prewire, my jobs are from begining to end.
Trip109,
Thanks for the input. McDonalds does a pretty good stroke of business.. LOL...