Quantity, Dollar, & Distributor Discounts for NetGuardian RTUs & T/Mon Master Stations

Everyone has to work within a limited budget, so it's no surprise that I get a lot of questions about discounts. I want to go over some of the basics of DPS Telecom discounts with you now, so you'll know what to expect when you start working with us in Sales.

Quantity Discounts start at 5%

Every quote you get from DPS includes our full Discount Schedule. The full schedule is a bit much to include here, but I'll walk you through the basics.

When you purchase DPS RTUs in medium and large quantities, either in one PO or over time, you can earn a discount.

The price you pay for DPS equipment is, unsurprisingly, affected by the quantity of units that you order. If you just need a handful of units for a small network (or small expansion for some new sites), you won't qualify for a discount of this type.

Once you get into double digits, you'll discover multiple discount tiers, starting at 5% off. To get our full schedule, just contact DPS Sales.

It's important to note a few things about quantity discounting:

1. Our Unit Quantity Discount applies on a per-order basis and only to quantities of products with same part number. This might become a factor if you're ordering multiple NetGuardian models, or even multiple build variations (ex. different power voltage) of the same NetGuardian model.
2. Previous orders do not affect this schedule. You'll need to cluster your ordering into fewer, larger purchase orders to maximize your quantity discounting.
3. Orders may not be scheduled out more than ___ days in advance. This used to be "60 days", but recently we've started allowing for...

You may schedule discounted bulk orders out for up to 1 year

If you want a bulk discount, it shouldn't be a surprise that you need to order in bulk.

What you might find surprising, however, is that you can actually make a big order AND take delivery in small chunks. That's because we'll allow you to schedule your order out for up to 1 year.

That means you can take shipments and get invoiced in smaller amounts throughout the year. You're still agreeing to take delivery eventually, but spacing things out over time makes things a lot easier on both your budget dollars and your installation teams.

Distributor discounts can be earned, but aren't simply on a "just because" basis

DPS sells directly to our clients roughly 85% of the time. For that reason, we're set up differently than most manufacturers.

What you won't find at DPS is a special discount that satisfies requests for questions like, "What are your distributor prices?" We simply don't operate that way.

I've sometimes been told, with varying degrees of frustration, that this creates an unworkable scenario for distributors. In some situations, that's not wrong.

You might not be able to effectively resell DPS equipment if all of the following are true:

1. Your customer is willing to purchase from DPS directly.
2. You are not adding value in the form of a larger solution stack, installation services, or something else.
3. You have not otherwise earned a discount that goes beyond the quantity discount that any other company would receive (more on that below).
4. There is no special incentive in the customer's bid process for your minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, or small business.

If you're simply acting as a merchant, you have no effective way to differentiate yourself from other distributors, and certainly not from DPS itself.

Now, let's pick apart items 2 & 3 above to consider how you can create a competitive advantage for yourself when selling DPS remote monitoring gear.

You can improve your sales results by focusing on more than just price

If you don't have the cheapest price, why would I buy from you? There are actually some good answers to that question.

If you'd like to maximize your success as a DPS distributor or value-added reseller (VAR), you need to think about creating a superior experience for your customers.

You can do many things so that your customers will happily buy from you, even at a higher price:

1. Use your industry expertise to build an entire stack of equipment. Perhaps it's not just a DPS NetGuardian, but also an upgraded rectifier and a new battery string.
2. Provide local support. DPS Telecom offers quite legendary technical support, but we are based primarily at our Fresno, California headquarters. If a project demands local in-person support within a few hours of an incident, you may have an opportunity to offer that.
3. Provide install services.
4. Provide ongoing maintenance.
5. Use DPS manufacturing to build a unique, semi-custom solution for the project at hand...

You can use DPS to deliver customized RTUs to your customers

You might not generally think about working with a vendor on a custom device. That's because most vendors aren't manufacturers.

If you'd like to offer something truly unique to your customers, talk to DPS about manufacturing something to your precise specifications. We'll even put your name and logo on it if you like.

With a solution like that, your customer will have far more to think about than just securing the lowest possible price. You'll actually be delivering real value.

This is much the same as my goal when helping DPS clients directly...

The greatest "discount" you might receive from DPS is a more effective product

It's natural to hunt for discounts, but don't ever neglect the opportunity to get a superior product.

Any gear you buy can cost as much (or more) to install as it does to buy. Consider that when choosing. DPS gear is designed to install quickly. Tech support is included if you have any questions. I happily deliver custom pre-loaded gear so that your installers don't have to do extra configuration work.

Also, remote site monitoring devices like RTUs are uniquely important for protecting you against disaster. Don't skimp in an area that can potentially prevent millions of dollars in damage and liability.

Annual Dollar Volume Discounts can give you an advantage over competitors

I talked above about Quantity Discounts, but those don't help you when everyone is bidding the same project.

What you can do is work your way up our Annual Dollar Volume Discount schedule. This alternative discount is based on your company's total purchases from the last 12 months.

In this way, you can achieve a higher discount on even orders of a single unit.

Let's review a brief snippet from one of my recent proposals for details:

For more information on the "Unit Quantity Discount" please reference the attached Discount Schedule. Remember that our Discount Schedule is affected by your order size.

Relevant discount facts for your project:

• This quote for Qty 24, pre-discount & when combined with your recent ~$_____ in purchases, meets our $______ threshold for a 12% annual dollar volume discount. Note that an April 2021 purchase will soon fall outside of the 12-month lookback for this discount, so please communicate with me if you'll need a refreshed proposal later. I understand the unknown timing of any bid process, so I'll work with you to a reasonable extent to give you stable pricing you can plan around.
• Smaller orders may qualify for a smaller discount.
• If you place a single up-front order, you may schedule DPS shipments (and invoices) for up to 12 months from your PO date. This may be useful to secure higher discounting for this project. We're confident DPS Telecom will be an excellent partner for you and your customer, particularly because we offer you a 30-Day No-Risk Money-Back Guarantee, a long-term client relationship commitment, and 24-hour emergency technical support, as well as other client services that no other company in this industry can match.

What are you trying to accomplish?

Discounts are a reality in all purchasing, including B2B. To make things very clear for you, I include a complete discount schedule with every proposal.

That lets you strategize to save the most money possible on your order.

Just don't neglect the real way to save money with remote monitoring: reducing preventable equipment damage and expensive network downtime.

Give me a call and tell me what you're trying to accomplish. We'll build an effective system. In all likelihood, we'll be able to secure you some kind of discount from list price during the course of the project.

Call me at 559-454-1600 or email me at sales@dpstele.com

Andrew Erickson

Andrew Erickson is an Application Engineer at DPS Telecom, a manufacturer of semi-custom remote alarm monitoring systems based in Fresno, California. Andrew brings more than 17 years of experience building site monitoring solutions, developing intuitive user interfaces and documentation, and opt...