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Photo courtesy of GE Lighting
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Learning Lighting

Feb. 5, 2018
Photo courtesy of ABB
The largest manufacturers in the electrical industry are part of a global supply network that ships electrical products from the Vancouver port (shown in this photo) to Pacific Rim markets, but also to every continent on earth. And while many industry observers are most familiar with the $100 billion channel in electrical products sold in the U.S. market through electrical distributors, the biggest players source and sell products globally.
The largest manufacturers in the electrical industry are part of a global supply network that ships electrical products from the Vancouver port (shown in this photo) to Pacific Rim markets, but also to every continent on earth. And while many industry observers are most familiar with the $100 billion channel in electrical products sold in the U.S. market through electrical distributors, the biggest players source and sell products globally.
The largest manufacturers in the electrical industry are part of a global supply network that ships electrical products from the Vancouver port (shown in this photo) to Pacific Rim markets, but also to every continent on earth. And while many industry observers are most familiar with the $100 billion channel in electrical products sold in the U.S. market through electrical distributors, the biggest players source and sell products globally.
The largest manufacturers in the electrical industry are part of a global supply network that ships electrical products from the Vancouver port (shown in this photo) to Pacific Rim markets, but also to every continent on earth. And while many industry observers are most familiar with the $100 billion channel in electrical products sold in the U.S. market through electrical distributors, the biggest players source and sell products globally.
The largest manufacturers in the electrical industry are part of a global supply network that ships electrical products from the Vancouver port (shown in this photo) to Pacific Rim markets, but also to every continent on earth. And while many industry observers are most familiar with the $100 billion channel in electrical products sold in the U.S. market through electrical distributors, the biggest players source and sell products globally.
Copyright Ethan Miller, Getty Images
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Ewweb 1612 702ewresi101tech595
Ewweb 1612 702ewresi101tech595
Ewweb 1612 702ewresi101tech595
Ewweb 1612 702ewresi101tech595

Homes Get Smart

Feb. 14, 2017
Copyright Andrew Burton, Getty Images
As oil & gas companies unlock new sources of domestic oil and natural gas in North Dakota, Texas and the Marcellus Shale deposits in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, it’s having a direct business impact on the electrical market.
As oil & gas companies unlock new sources of domestic oil and natural gas in North Dakota, Texas and the Marcellus Shale deposits in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, it’s having a direct business impact on the electrical market.
As oil & gas companies unlock new sources of domestic oil and natural gas in North Dakota, Texas and the Marcellus Shale deposits in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, it’s having a direct business impact on the electrical market.
As oil & gas companies unlock new sources of domestic oil and natural gas in North Dakota, Texas and the Marcellus Shale deposits in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, it’s having a direct business impact on the electrical market.
As oil & gas companies unlock new sources of domestic oil and natural gas in North Dakota, Texas and the Marcellus Shale deposits in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, it’s having a direct business impact on the electrical market.

Schools & Universities 101

Oct. 1, 2011
Even though budgets are being slashed by many school districts and on college campuses, you should still educate yourself on the sales opportunities in this market segment.

That school down the road can provide more than an education for your town's children. For electrical distributors, independent manufacturers' reps and electrical manufacturers, schools offer a wealth of electrical product sales if you know how to work the system and get involved on the ground floor.

Most salespeople probably drive right past schools and colleges on the way to big accounts such as electrical contractors or industrial plants. And despite the fact that many school districts and universities aren't spending as much right now on new facilities or improvements to existing buildings and facilities due to budget crunches, over the next few years the educational market will still provide some exciting sales opportunities because of steadily increasing enrollments.

While the number of new students entering classrooms each fall is slowing down, it's still growing at a moderate rate. As you can see in the charts on page 36, enrollment on a national basis at both schools and universities will increase steadily through 2020, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. These increases will require consistent upgrades to existing facilities or the construction of new facilities in the market areas where population continues to increase. That being said, you really need to look at enrollment statistics on a district-by-district or college-by-college basis, because some regions of the country or colleges see enrollment trends moving in different directions. For instance, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment growth in many states in the Midwest and Northeast doesn't look nearly as strong as in some Sunbelt states.

On a national basis, construction spending on schools during the past 12 months has been sluggish. The U.S. Census Bureau says spending in July 2011 on construction of K-12 schools declined 16.2 percent to $38.9 billion compared to July 2010, and that construction spending for colleges and universities declined 4.2 percent to $22.4 billion over that same time period.

Despite these declines, huge opportunities are ahead in new school construction, particularly in the retrofit of existing schools. According to some government statistics, 75 percent of all public schools are at least 25 years old, and in many school districts the building stock is badly in need of renovations to lighting, HVAC and voice-data-video (VDV) and security systems. Electrically speaking, this means a ton of potential sales in the upgrade of equipment, from load centers at the service entrance to the power wiring and various low-voltage systems throughout the entire building. The core distribution systems in schools require many of the same products used in the commercial, retail, government or industrial facilities with which electrical distributors are more familiar. But the school market requires a slightly different package of products because of how schools operate and the many learning activities the electrical and electronic systems at that educational facility must support.

Another stimulant that you must add to the market mix is the move to LEED certification for educational facilities. LEED, a standard developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Washington, D.C., certifies that a building meets some tough green construction codes. Along with the obvious energy-saving benefits inherent with LEED certification are the P.R. benefits that “going green” offers schools and universities. Green is a big issue with educational construction because it plays so well to administrators, students, parents and other members of the educational community. Some universities have embraced green with both arms. For instance, according to a recent article in Architectural Record magazine, Harvard University has 53 LEED-certified buildings, the most in the nation. According to Jerry Yudelson, principal, Yudelson Associates, Tuscon, Ariz., there are almost 600 LEED-certified projects on U.S. campuses.

The chart on pages 34 and 35 highlights some of the key products that distributors can sell to schools. Of the products listed, most of the action is in the following product areas:

  • Energy-efficient lighting systems and related products

  • Dimming systems

  • Wireway, surface raceway and underfloor duct

  • Upgraded grounding systems to protect computer equipment from interference from power wiring and other equipment

  • VDV wiring systems for computers, local-area networks (LANs), video, television, security, intercom, fire alarms and telephones

  • Surge suppressors and power conditioning equipment to protect electronic equipment

  • Vandal-proof lighting

The school market is seldom an area in which a distributor develops a specialty because the day-to-day sales potential just isn't as high as with core customers such as electrical contractors or industrial plants. But when a new school is being built, an addition to existing facilities is underway or a lighting or VDV upgrade is on the drawing boards, distributors should know what will be expected of them if they win the bid. Following are the key strategies that electrical distributors should focus on to build a business in the school market.

Familiarize yourself with the bidding process

Because most major construction projects at public schools are financed by local or state funds, an open bidding process is used. Once the architect and engineering firm complete their plans and those plans are approved by the school district, general contractors bid the job. The general contractor that wins the bid then requests bid proposals from the various trades. If he or she believes the bids are realistic, the subcontracts are awarded; if not, the subcontractors bid again. The contractor that wins the bid for the electrical work then puts out his bid for materials to electrical distributors. VDV work on a project is often treated as a separate bid. Performance clauses regarding maintenance of the power wiring or low-voltage wiring and other specific services are now often part of the contract, as are 24-hour-emergency service clauses, a two-hour-response time for fixing problems or a technical-support hotline.

Treat a school system as you would any other key account

The school construction market many never represent a large portion of your business. But it's so close to the core customer groups for many electrical distributors that it makes sense to service it just like you would other key accounts, with a salesperson consistently calling on the key buying influences in the market and at the school system.

Tap into your community's grapevine for early news of a school project

Your network of local contacts in the community can also help you get an early lead on new school projects. The new construction or retrofit work at schools is often well publicized through town meetings and local newspapers' coverage of those meetings. Most of the time this work has to go to vote before the community for approval, so you will find out about an approved project far in advance of when the work starts.

“If distributors get in on the ground floor, they can not only help with the construction phase, but with the MRO,” says one electrical manufacturer. “For a distributor it should be a constant goldmine,” he says. “A typical school room has a television monitor, fire-alarm, intercom and time systems, a computer for the teacher, and more computers at work stations for the kids. There are always renovations, too. For instance, with a wire management system in a school, the ‘go-with’ opportunities are tremendous. Not only are you selling a surface wiring system, but you have to have a proper grounding system and better separation between clean and dirty power.”

Find out which manufacturers are calling on your market's buying influences

Lighting manufacturers, VDV companies and other manufacturers are focusing on the school market as a still-vibrant sales opportunity. They often have field engineers calling on specifying engineers in your market to get their products specified. If you haven't met these field engineers, make it a point to do so.

Talk to the right people in the school district

For the big project work and retrofits, you have to find out who calls the shots on equipment purchases. The person with this purchasing power often reports to the superintendent and may be called the “business manager” or “energy manager,” says John Wilson, formerly a senior executive with Osram Sylvania Inc., Danvers, Mass. “Don't just talk to the maintenance guy at the local high school who is working on a budget. You have to get to the business manager or the energy manager. Some schools are more sophisticated and have an engineer.”

Get on the preferred vendor list and then sell up

If a school construction project is state-funded, there may be a preferred or recommended vendor list set at the state level that the local school districts follow. In some product areas, notably lamps, getting on state contracts is a one-way ticket to low-margin business. However, the local municipalities or school districts often can still choose their own brands if they so desire, says Wilson. “They may say, ‘We want to bid locally. We don't want the state brand.’ This gives the schools that option.”

If a distributor does opt to go for the lamp contract and has to service it at a relatively low margin, they can still use that business as a door-opener to sell the schools other products, hopefully at higher margins, he says.

Sell the dollars-and-cents savings of energy-efficient lighting systems

Schools are particularly receptive to the concept of slashing operating costs by installing more efficient lighting systems. It's probably going to be your contractor who has the direct contact with the specifying engineers designing a school project or the school administrators that approve it. But you still should be prepared to offer yourself as a local source of lighting knowledge if that's an area of expertise for your company.

Lighting retrofits are one of the very top facility improvements that schools invest in and rank right up there with installing air conditioning and carpeting. T-8 and LED lighting systems, big-time dimming systems, vandal-resistant lighting, theater and sports lighting and energy-efficient exit sign lighting are a few of the top lighting opportunities.

Don't be surprised if you or your contractor customers find yourselves competing with energy-service companies (ESCOs) on lighting bids

ESCOs bid jobs by offering a one-stop solution to the design, installation and supply of products for not only the electrical portion of the job, but the HVAC segment as well.

Think low-voltage

Computer learning is as big a part of the curriculum as reading, writing and arithmetic. This is great news for any distributors considering a move into the low-voltage wiring market, or companies that already have established businesses in this area. While wireless classrooms and hotspots are now commonplace in classrooms and on campuses — potentially offering new sales opportunities in routers, range extenders and repeaters — distributors' customers are pulling miles of spaghetti wire through the ceiling tiles to link computer labs to classrooms, and classrooms to the front office or Internet. And once a base of computer equipment is installed in a school, distributors can expect repeat business as the school reconfigures, updates or adds to its computer network. The surge of interest in teaching computer skills and computer-based learning has made the market for low-voltage wiring, connectors, wall jacks and all the related VDV equipment one of the top opportunities in the school market.

Focus on selling surge suppressors and other power-protection products

Find out what manufacturers of surge suppressors and other power protection products are doing to get this equipment specified on school construction jobs in your market. Schools store data such as grades, test results and other student records on their computer networks, and they need the proper protection so they don't lose this valuable information. Engineers are specifying surge protection equipment and uninterruptible power systems (UPS) to protect this information. Many retrofit jobs now have surge suppression devices at the subpanel and at the equipment outlet, especially in older buildings.

If school enrollment is on the rise in your market, you will be hearing more about new construction and retrofit work at schools. With the basic sales and marketing strategies discussed in this article, you can be ready for these opportunities when they develop.