Cable Pros, what would you charge for this?
Getting a little push back on a quote from an IT company asking for 19 cat6 FT6 rated because 6 drops are going to the same location and 4 desks getting a duplex. I've been cheaper than soup for 10 years compared to my colleagues and am finally getting a bit more aggressive. Quote also includes mounting a TV, minor but included in my per cable price of 155. They think its a bit "excessive". Stand firm?
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Right? Short runs or multiple runs going to the same spot is supposed to be a win for me, not the customer imo.
In addition, I assume you are quoting separately for rack and bonding / grounding IAW TIA standards? I also assume you are only providing Verification testing at this price. The Qualification and Certification testing would add substantially to that pricing.
Cheers
John
Cheers
John
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71 Posts
Cable quote is just labor, cables, jacks and consumables / total cables. Doesn't include rack etc and I don't have a certifiable tester so I don't warranty for 25 years.
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Yes, new customer.
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6,000 Posts
Can you come to Winnipeg? I have 62 drops that ill clear 6k if you do. Ill even pay for the permit.
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You know, as someone who has consistently struggled with pricing work the right way over the years, I 100% agree with this.
Here’s where I think the problem starts: a lot of guys start out in construction. That’s where everything is literally the easiest and everything is wide open. So many companies in this area get comfortable bidding stuff like $XXXper drop, $XXX per device, ect. and when the average guy gets his license and starts out, he immediately thinks that this is the way to bid work. He thinks real quick, I can have that job done in 20-30 minutes tops, maybe spend $50-$75 in materials. BAM. I just made 5x the amount of money I was working at Butthole Electric! I’m a rich man!
……there’s a sad realization that comes at the end of the year when you see what it costs to be in business and how much you actually get to take home. That’s one thing that used to kill me the first 2 times I was in business and I’m still trying to be very aware now that EVERY job needs to bring a profit.
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I also assume you are only providing Verification testing at this price. The Qualification and Certification testing would add substantially to that pricing. Please elaborate . We certify all our installs as SOP. 2 guys can knock out testing those 19 cables in 15 minutes barring any problems.
Actual certification with one of them expensive fluke certification units?
I've never even laid my hands on one, but I know that the it's an extra charge for most companies, because not everyone wants their cables certified, and those who do will pay.
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20,187 Posts
This isn't your customer, they want a moonlighter. Run!! Its not you.
Tell them to pay you for this one and you'll give them a discount for the next one.
Seriously, stand by your price.
I wanted to kiss the dockbuilder when he would tell the customer that Lou does this for money.
Generally the terms Verification, Qualification and Certification seem to be used interchangeably but actually mean different things.
Verification is used by almost everybody, basically means it is an end-to-end test
Qualification means that the installation is verified to meet a specific set of criteria that is an industry standard topology
Certification means that the installation will meet the OEM standards and determine warranty rights (usually 25 years).
The Qualification and Certification tools are very expensive (especially for fibre) and not every customer needs to have that level of performance or warranty. Those tests, tools and warrenties cost substantially more then "15 minutes of testing" with a Verification tester.
If you are Qualifying / Certifying on every install, you are leaving money on the table.
Cheers
John
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Interesting post.
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We Qualify and Certify using a Fluke 5000. It only takes a minute to set up the tester and a minute to test the cable.
The tests include wire map, electrical properties of the cable, NEXT and more. The time consuming parts is the walking to each drop, 2 guys speeds up the process. What would your price difference be between Verifing (wire map) and Qualifing and Certifing ?
The tests include wire map, electrical properties of the cable, NEXT and more. The time consuming parts is the walking to each drop, 2 guys speeds up the process. What would your price difference be between Verifing (wire map) and Qualifing and Certifing ?
Generally we don't Qualify or Certify anything under 100 drops... unless it is an additional drop(s) going into an existing system.
The 25yr warranty usually runs about $30K for the first 100 drops, then is reduced (per drop) from there; the next 100 drops might only be $25K or whatever is in the contract, etc. If you are getting into very large installations, the contract is by address and not number of drops. As an example a university campus will have 10,000s of drops, but likely will have different installation dates and conditions in which each building will have a different contract.
That is roughly 25 years of warranty (or more) lability that has to be accounted for in the liabilities of the company and needs to be transferred to new owners if the company is sold and has an overall impact on the valuation of the corporate entity.
Cheers
John
The 25yr warranty usually runs about $30K for the first 100 drops, then is reduced (per drop) from there; the next 100 drops might only be $25K or whatever is in the contract, etc. If you are getting into very large installations, the contract is by address and not number of drops. As an example a university campus will have 10,000s of drops, but likely will have different installation dates and conditions in which each building will have a different contract.
That is roughly 25 years of warranty (or more) lability that has to be accounted for in the liabilities of the company and needs to be transferred to new owners if the company is sold and has an overall impact on the valuation of the corporate entity.
Cheers
John
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