Be spec-tacular!

Very few installers realise how much work and money they are losing by not getting the best out of their quotes and specs and, crucially, just how much they are leaving themselves open to litigation when the whole thing goes pear shaped.

I admit that in the past I have been guilty of the same thing, asking myself if I really need all this paperwork. But as I get older and learn more and hear the opinions of the insurance people and the police as well as hearing horror stories from the installer Vs customer end of the business I have been forced to "readjust my position" so to speak.

With the initial quote sent out I would reckon that at least 80 per cent of installation companies try to blow their own trumpet instead of saying what the customer wants to hear.

Let me give you an example: Open the average quote sent out and it will start "Thank you for the opportunity to quote for your security" or words to that effect. That ‘s a good start. Then they go and ruin it by stating in the very next line "We are the ..." and tell the customer all about their own company and how good they are. Carry on like this and you will have the customer yawning after the third paragraph.

Tell them what they want to hear
Let's cut the crap. The customer is not interested in you or the company, all they want is to secure their property at the cheapest price, so why not tell them what they want to hear – or what we want them to hear dressed up in what they want to hear. If you start the second paragraph with something like, “The object of this quotation is to offer you the best possible system at the most competitive price …" then we are telling the customer what they want to hear.

Now we can sneak in a plug for ourselves. How about: "Whilst offering you the most cost effective (and/or) competitive price, X Security (or whatever your name) realises the need to offer suitable and adequate coverage to your property without compromising your security by offering you reduced cover or inferior equipment."

In the past I have quoted against a company that stated in their quotation "Ten reasons for using X Security”. (He’s now sold up and gone). Each of the ten points started "X Security is …" or "Only at X Security can you get …"

The points he was raising were good valid points but he made them in such as way that he came across as the great "I am”, egotistical and arrogant. It only served to put the customer off. I won a lot of business off him. The point I am making is that you need to be very careful how you word your original quote.

So, back at the quote we have already suggested to the customer that we are going to be very competitive but we are not going to cut corners. You will also note that we have not yet given a price. Wait – you need to convince the customer that yours is the right company before hitting them with the price. The price should come at the end of the quote, not on the first page!

Keep that first page simple. Don't labour the point. You can, however, round off the page by inviting the customer to call back and discuss any points that they think are not clear. Try, above all else, to make the letter friendly and focused on the customer and not how good your company is.

Next we need to look at the actual proposed specification. Here we can start with another plug for our company dressed up as being the best for the customer. Or, if the customer has decided (during the survey visit) to reduce the cover, we can start the first half of our get-out statement.

Start with: "It is in the best interests of the customer and the customer's insurer for X Security to offer full and adequate cover. We are therefore pleased to offer the following for your consideration". Or, "This specification is as agreed between the customer Mr Y and the X Security surveyor Mr Z”. The idea is to cover your back. If you specify a system that does NOT give reasonable and adequate cover then you could be held liable for any losses. If the customer wants to reduce cover to reduce costs then you are on thin ice so you need to state that the spec is "as required by the customer" and put his name in it, or "as agreed between …"

If you do that, however, you need to further cover your back by adding an extra bit at the end of the proposed spec, something like: "It is the opinion of X Security that the levels of detection for this building are not complete without the following, these are offered as an optional extra." Then you can list the extras that you believe are essential to give adequate coverage.

You may note at this stage that I have not used the word "protect", I have always held the opinion that a security system does not protect a property, it only deters, informs and warns. Locks and keys, bars and bolts protect because they offer a physical barrier. We tend to used the word "protect" far too often and in the wrong context, despite the fact that the British Standard also uses the word where they refer to "the protected area”. Should the situation ever come to court, the man in the white wig will "prove" you are not even familiar with what your own system does. He will make you look a complete bozo – all for choosing the wrong word. (The new Euro standard refers to "supervised" area rather than "protected")

The customer is not interested in you or your company ... all they want is to secure their property

Now to the spec itself. Contrary to popular belief the current BS 4737 only asks for the exact locations of equipment on the final or "as fitted" spec, so why not take the opportunity to make your quote simple and understandable and therefore more attractive to the customer?

For example: We almost always fit a magnetic switch to the main entrance door, so, why not say: "Main entrance door: A magnetic reed switch will be fitted to the leading edge of the main entrance door to detect when the door opens more that 100mm, this should not be visible when the door is closed. Note: This switch will be used to start the time delay when entering and as the final set point of the system when leaving. This detection point will not be omittable by the user".

At this point there is no need to list the zone it will be on, that may change later. Here is another point that most installers miss … the omittable option. It is a requirement of BS that the customer is informed of the parts that they can/cannot omit. It is best to do that up front so they can't argue the point with you later.

"Reception area: A Passive Infrared detector will be fitted in reception to detect movement in the general area. This detector will be omittable by the user". Once again at this stage there is no need to list the zone, a final location or the make and model number of detector. To cover this, at the head of the specification you can state: "The final locations of all detectors will be agreed between the customer and the installer at the time of fitting."

Tell the customer what he is getting and what area it will cover. Do it simply in a way that a layman can understand and get the job. The only time you need to list the zones and the final locations up front is when you are dealing with a larger company with their own consultant or manager or sending copies to insurers. The insurance company and the security manager will understand the implications of final locations and model numbers, the normal buyer would not – so don't confuse him with technical jargon.

The next big mistake made by many of the smaller companies is not getting a signature for the acceptance of the system. Take the order over the phone by all means but send an acceptance to the customer or take one with you when you go and get it signed before starting or you risk not getting paid. If you have a signed acceptance you have effectively been given permission to enter the property and start doing damage by drilling holes in the building. The worst case scenario is where the owner of the building says, (after the system is fitted) "I did not authorise this install and I am not paying for it. You have damaged my building and I am going to sue for damages. You cannot have permission to enter the property and remove your equipment". All this for the sake of one signature doesn't add up. So cover your back.

Eventually we have to produce a "final spec". and we have to be accurate. You can start again and produce a new "finished" spec or you can add a technical sheet to the original. You are at liberty to do it your own way as long as you get all the details accurate. You will need an exact location for all the equipment including controls, power supplies and bell boxes, not just detectors.

Why you need an accurate spec
The logic is simple : If you have to send a new engineer out to the system he should be able to find all the equipment easily. That saves you time on servicing and repairs. There is also the problem of other tradesmen moving the equipment about, something we all suffer from time to time.

If they move any equipment then the guarantee is null and void. If they move the detectors then you may become liable for losses if the system fails to detect. In both cases you need to be able to prove that the kit has been moved, hence the need for an accurate spec. Worse still – and I saw an example of this only last week – if someone moves the fuse spur and you haven't recorded an exact location you may become liable for the electrocution of the customer.

Here's what I saw: The fused spur (in the airing cupboard) had been moved and reconnected by another company (fitting a new bathroom suite on the other side of the wall) to make way for new water pipes. They had lost one of the screws for the lid and the back plate was only fixed with one screw. The supply had been added to a different point in flexible cable which was wrapped around the hot water pipes.

Neither the In or Out supply cables were fixed at the ends or in the middle. The spur was a dead liability, obviously not the work of the company that installed it first. The cables could have melted round the hot water pipes and created a short and made the pipes live (they probably did not bother to earth them). The cables could have been snagged by the customer removing clothes from the airing cupboard and ended up with a live cable in their hand. Just because the company did not issue a mains certificate and record an exact location they could have had to carrying the can.

So, here's Michael's tip of the month … Why not buy a cheap digital camera and take a snapshot of all the equipment you fit. It will not save you doing the spec but it may drag you out of the mire if a dispute arises.