How to Accurately Quote Power Assemblies Products

We’re always searching for new distributors that we believe will share similar values and would benefit from a partnership by stocking and selling Power Assemblies products. We are one of the top portable power providers and manufacturers in the country, and we sell exclusively through our distribution partners. We will never sell directly to your customers, and we will always make sure to provide our distributors with the tools they need to succeed, which is why you can trust Power Assemblies to be your long-term partner and manufacturer.

In this blog, we discuss some of the most important questions that distributors can ask their customers when quoting Power Assemblies products to be sure that you’re on track with exactly what your customers are looking for. After reading some of the questions below, you’ll also be able to narrow down whether your customer will need a standard product or if we’ll need to design a custom, tailored solution – which we guarantee will exceed your customer’s expectations.

We have a great support team to ensure that our distributors see the value in a partnership with us. In addition to this blog, Power Assemblies also has training videos and tutorials accessible to all of our distributors! These videos include tips on how to navigate our website, enter online orders, request a quote, and offers product trainings on some of our standard products.

Questions You Need to Ask When Quoting

1. What is your application?

To start off, you should always determine what your customer is trying to accomplish in order to provide a solution for their specific needs. For example, if your customer requires cables to connect his/her generator to a load, you can quote generator cables with the customer’s preferred ends – (such as camlocks or pin and sleeve devices). These are heavy-duty connectors that are capable of conducting a large supply of power to the load. Once you’ve determined the application and what they’re looking for, you can also offer complementary products that go hand in hand to simplify their job. A Generator Docking Station would be a great add-on to act as a connection point in between the cables and the load. Now that you know what they’re looking for, you need to size the product appropriately.

2. How many amps are you using?

This question is so simple, yet so important. If they need 400 Amp cables, you can quickly determine that 4/0 Type-W Generator Cables will be large enough to supply 400 amps safely. However, you should proceed to double-check with your customer. Simply confirm the size of the cable, the number of cables needed, and the colors of the connectors needed to complete the job. This will lead you to your next question, voltage ratings.

3. How many volts are you using?

Depending on the answer to this question, the voltage requirement of the project should tell you the number of cables you’ll need and the color of each end. However, you should never assume things when it comes to electrical work. At this point, if you haven’t already, please double-check with your customer by simply asking what colors and how many cables will be needed.

The answer to this question should help you determine whether this will be for a single-phase or three-phase application. We’ll display a voltage chart below explaining the most common phase-matched color codings for each voltage rating in North America.

Note: Color configurations will change depending on which country you live in.

Voltage	Color Code	Phase
120/208V	Blk/Red/Blu/White/Green	Three-Phase
120/240	Blk/Red/White/Green	Single-Phase
208V	Blk/Red/Blu/Green	Three-Phase
277/480V	Brown/Org/Yel/White/Green	Three-Phase
480V	Brown/Org/Yel/Green	Three-Phase
347/600V	Red/Blk/Blu/White/Green	Three-Phase
600V	Red/Blk/Blu/Green	Three-Phase

4. Is this going to be used inside or outside?

This question will tell you whether your customer will need Nema 1 or Nema 3R type gear. This is most commonly used to determine which type of enclosure is needed for a project. In terms of cables, all of our generator camlock cables are NEMA 3R when connected.

5. Do you have any dimension restrictions?

If you’re quoting an enclosure, you need to determine if the said enclosure will fit in the area where they plan on mounting it. If it won’t fit, you can recommend a different variation or a smaller box. This question should also help you determine where their conduits or cables will be entering the box – top, bottom, or the side. Now you can both agree on how the final box will look and figure out where the cams will need to be mounted – if any are needed.

6. How long do you need your cables to be?

If the generator is approximately 40 feet away, you and your customer can conclude that 50-foot cables would suffice. However, if they’re planning to use this on multiple job sites, you may want to suggest a longer cable, so they won’t have to buy more in just a few months’ time.

7. Do you need everything to be UL Listed?

As experts in the power distribution industry, we advise that you should always quote UL-listed products because they’ve passed industry-standard tests and can stand up to environments that non-UL-listed products cannot. However, if the customer is on a budget, they may want to stay away from the UL-listed equipment to save a bit of money. You can suggest a non-UL listed product if this is the case.

8. How many do you need?

This question will clear things up with your customer and ensure you both are on the same page. You might have assumed they wanted one, but really, they wanted 2 or 3.

9. Where are you located?

Lastly, you can determine if you need to add on an additional cost for shipping or freight, or if your customer prefers to pick it up at will-call in order to save money on shipping costs.

These are the 9 questions we always advise our distributors to ask their customers in order to help create a friendly and open conversation so that you can quote exactly what they’re looking for.

How Can Power Assemblies Benefit You?

Increase your profits with existing accounts today by partnering with Power Assemblies! If the quoting tips that you’ve learned about in this blog were not enough, we also offer one-on-ones with our engineers to further expand your knowledge of our equipment, hopefully helping you close orders. Not to mention, we can also recommend competitive price levels to help you maximize profits! Another great value-added program that we offer is the ability to brand label equipment with your company’s logo or slogan. Also, if you’re on a time crunch and would prefer us to ship direct to meet deadlines, we can accelerate the process by shipping with your packing slip.

If you enjoyed this blog and are interested in learning more about Power Assemblies products and services, please visit us online at PowerAssemblies.com or call us directly at (866)-825-8525 and we’ll start the process of getting your company verified to sell Power Assemblies innovative power solutions. We can’t wait to hear from you soon!