On Sunday morning, Ryan Courtney, executive director for labor relations at NECA, moderated a panel of four industry experts from 8 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. on how to enter the low-voltage market. Panelists included: Phil Myers – Minneapolis Chapter – Collins Electrical Construction Company, Saint Paul, Minn.; Michael McCaugherty – Norther New Jersey Chapter – Commercial Technology Contractors Inc., Clifton, N.J.; Skip Perley – Iowa Chapter – Thompson Electric Company, Sioux City, Iowa; and Robert “Bob” Dagostino – Western Pennsylvania Chapter – Dagostino Electronic Services, Pittsburg.
Starting the session off with a question, the group took a shot at verbalizing the differences between low voltage and system integration – a differentiation the entire group maintains is important to recognize.
Speaking to a room of predominantly traditional electrical contractors looking to get into the low-voltage business, the panelists acknowledged the obvious elephant in the room. Typically, systems integrators don’t want more competition from traditional electrical contractors; however, all agreed there is room for everyone to thrive in the space.
Citing some overall industry statistics, Courtney explained that total annual sales in this market have increased more than 50% since 2015. On average, 66% of revenue comes from negotiated/direct sales, and the contractors acts as prime 56% of the time.
According to Perley, one of the biggest differences between low voltage work and traditional electrical projects is the role in the design process. “Most of the time, we as a company are a lot more responsible for the design, making sure that it's going to function the way that the person who is going to operate the system thinks that it's going to,” he said. “It’s not following somebody else's design or installing something that's been pre-planned.”
After taking multiple questions from the audience, the panel wrapped up the session with some best practices and recommendations for achieving success in in the low voltage market.
McCaugherty suggested talking to your top five to 10 customers to see if they would trust you with this type of work. He also offered the following recommendations:
1. You have to just decide what you’re going to be – a low voltage guy or a systems integrator.
2. Talk to your top customers, and simplify the process by creating packages for them.
3. Hire the right people to do this work. You’re not going to be able to do this with your regular staff.
Dagostino insisted never to underestimate this niche. He said not to dabble in it; if you’re going in, go all in.
