Professionals FAQ

Let’s begin by defining “Professional” customers.  A Professional customer is not the end-user.  A Professional customer is a company or organization that wishes to partner with Energy Inc. and TED in efforts of providing their customer, or customer’s customer the best possible energy monitoring solution available.  Let’s look into this in greater detail:

• Who qualifies as a Professional customer?
  • A business or organization as evidenced by the presence of a Federal Tax Identification Number, who is not the end-user, but intends to provide TED solutions to their customer, or customer’s customer. 
• Why would a Professional customer want to partner with Energy Inc. and TED?
  • Quite simply, TED works!  End users looking for energy monitoring solutions find what they are looking for in TED.  The TED Solution is simple to install, easy to use, extremely accurate, and requires no maintenance.  As a result, there is market demand! 
• What is the level of commitment required to become a Professional customer?
  • None.  Energy Inc. has intentionally lowered the barrier to become one of our Professional customers.  We know end-users desire a solution to their energy monitoring needs, and we know TED Solutions meet and exceed these desires.  We are merely trying to get TED solutions into the hands of the end-users as effectively as possible.  For us to do this, we must rely heavily on our Professional partners…it does not help either side to make this process difficult, so we don’t!
• There are several types of “professionals” out there; How does Energy Inc. address this?
  • First of all, we separate Professional customers into three main categories:
    • Wholesale Partner – Generally speaking, very infrequent purchases; no full commitment or business plan in place regarding TED
    • Non-Stocking Partner – Somewhat routine repetitive orders (1 order/quarter), although no set frequency or quantity; limited business plan for TED; to be evaluated over time
    • Stocking Partner – Typically frequent ordering (1 order/month) of relatively consistent quantities; definitive business plan with solid focus and commitment to selling/promoting TED
• How does Energy Inc. assign each Professional customer to the appropriate category?
  • No one business is the same as any other.  Every business is unique with its own needs, goals, abilities, strategies, etc.  With this in mind, we handle each customer individually.  The categories provide a beginning point.  Our intent is to partner with each customer individually based upon their specific needs, and assist them in any way possible. 
• What is the pricing per category?
  • We do have base-level pricing per category; however, the pricing per category varies dependent upon the level of commitment and subsequent order volumes.  This can only be determined after we have had an opportunity to speak with one another and better understand the level and type of fit between our two organizations.
• Can Professional customers change classification?
  • Absolutely.  Again, the goal of Energy Inc. is to partner with our Professional customers.  We can and will support our customers to help them achieve their business objectives!  If a customer begins at the Wholesale level, we certainly would want to assist them in growing to the Stocking Partner Level.  Moving up a level clearly implies the customer is purchasing more, but more importantly it means the customer is selling more…this is a win-win for all parties, and our ultimate goal!
  • A customer can also move back a level.  This can and will happen, and if so, we will continue our individual support as we would any other customer.  There is no penalty for stepping back. 
• What does Energy Inc. do outside of providing the TED solution to help the Professional customer grow their business?
  • Again, this goes back to the business strategy of the specific customer.  We first want to fully understand your business, and from there we “sit down” together and develop a joint partnership strategy. 
  • We also recommend having routine business, as well as Sales and Technical training meetings (via conference call, webinar, or in-person) with our Professional partners.
• I want to become a professional partner. Where do we go from here?
  • The first step is to complete the Professional Partner Request.  This request, once submitted, will be responded to immediately; the response will include additional information about Energy Inc. and TED solutions.  We will ask that a Customer Information Form be completed and returned to us.  Upon receipt, we will arrange a time for representatives of both companies to speak directly with one another.