Initiate

The initiation phase includes the following sections.

Project triggers

The PRF/PRA system is designed for business owners who want to support employees by creating a better working environment in meeting rooms, small offices, storage areas, circulation and parking areas. They value quality of light and the automatic switching of the lighting, but also the possibility of personal control through an app.

The system is aimed at businesses operating from small commercial buildings like small manufacturing, service firms, shipping companies, or clinics.

These businesses operate mostly from a single site with up to 100 employees, often without a dedicated facility or IT department. They are served and advised by installers who source via wholesale.

Typical characteristics of a building are:

  • Office buildings with a floor space of up to 1000 m2 (10,500 to 11,000 ft2)

  • Warehousing with a floor space of up to 10,000 m2 (105,000 to 110,000 ft2)

  • Maximum of 200 lights.

The potential customer has improvement budget, and wants to be successful, aims to get the most out of business efforts, wants to support employees by creating the best working environment and save energy. This type of savvy entrepreneur also wants to be perceived by employees, clients and peers as innovative, up-to-date and clever.

The main triggers for customer to start thinking of his lighting are:

  • Moving office

  • Renovation

  • Building a new office

  • Upgrade lighting

In the search for information, it is likely the customer contacts a service provider for more information.

If so, it is important provide the best possible information to convince the customer of the benefits of the PRF/PRA system.

service provider initiate table

Explore and qualify

Once the customer shows interest, explore the actual needs of the customer, like the goals to achieve and possible pros and contras to invest in the system. A proper explanation addresses possible concerns to be covered by the system.

Get to learn the customer better by questioning some key subjects that influence the qualification of the system to propose:

  • The kind of business of the customer

  • The people and the environmental commitment

  • Current lighting or future lighting needs

  • IT situation (own IT department or outsourced IT)

  • Available budget and possible timing

Specify

The customer provides all kinds of information that can be of any use during the preparation and design of the project.

It is advised for the service provider to conclude the initiate phase with a small written document that summarizes the key project data that will be captured during preparation and design and can include a timeline for the install and commissioning.

This information is to be used to create and prepare the project in the PRF/PRA system as described in next section and can also serve as a part of an agreement between both the service provider and the customer (like a statement of work).

The following sections describe the steps that ideally are taken to present a completely prepared and designed project to the customer.