Firstly we will need to learn a little about your business including key operational requirements. We will then advise on appropriate terms, timing the market for price "dips", and consider your own business operating requirements. If your business is about to go through some expansion or development it may be that Energy Services have a value to you. Establishing the right requirements will ensure that suppliers can offer the best value package for your business, both now and in the future.

Clients can provide data to TTEG, or we can obtain relevant data from existing suppliers while filtering superfluous information. We can handle this in an efficient manner, thereby minimising any cost to our clients. This step can be extremely time-consuming if not appropriately managed by clients who undertake this work themselves.

It is critical that the right type and amount of information is provided to a potential supplier so they in turn can confidently offer you the best price available with minimum cost incurred by them. Establishing un-ambiguous formats with in the request that ensure the potential supplier makes their offer as desired. Suppliers will also have confidence that the information provided to them by TTEG Consultants has been reviewed and is appropriate for the purpose. The suppliers' traders can therefore provide our clients a significantly lower risk premium by way of a lower price.

Ensuring that the most appropriate people within the supplier organisation are giving your request for a quote the attention it deserves. This is critical to being able to obtain a good price, the right terms, and authority to negotiate. TTEG know these contacts. At the lower level systems, dictate how offers can be made. Finding the right contact initially will also affect the on-going relationship between the successful supplier and your organisation, with service ranging from an empowered account manager to call centre services from a pool of consultants.

Given there are 18 licensed retailers of electricity and 10 retailers of Gas in Victoria (and many of these operate nationally), offers can come from a variety of sources; some not equipped to service your organisation. While this could equally be part of Determining Requirements, service provisions from retailers change over time, especially when it comes to the level of service that you receive.

The most difficult and most important part of the selection of an energy supplier is to know what they have presented to you, whether if differs from what you have asked for and the effect of any differences. Sometimes an offer can be different from what you have requested, yet better for the needs of you business. Without full knowledge of the attributes of each offer, it is impossible to enter into an effective negotiation. Retailers can present their offers in many different ways, often on purpose, so that two identical offers may appear, at first glance to be as much as 25% different.

Better offers have a shorter validity period. Expert analysis allows any queries to be quickly addressed, so that offers that maybe accepted when they are available. At certain times the energy industry can experience extreme volatility. Purchasing an energy contract is a lot like purchasing a stock or a mortgage, when the market moves opportunities may be lost. TTEG's processes and experience equips us to move on short-dated offers if they offer the best value.

Usually negotiations will be advanced with the top two or three respondents. However, unless all offers have been effectively evaluated, determining who has the best offer is difficult. The commodity price is only the start of the negotiation process, and if you value other services, these also need to be considered. All relevant aspects should be considered. Some suppliers can be flexible on certain issues, while others remain firm. Spending time negotiating an area that has either extremely little or no value to your organisation or for the supplier is a waste of time.

The best evaluation of terms and conditions will always come from third party legal advisors who are specialists in the energy industry. However, this advice is usually cost prohibitive. End users who are not familiar with energy will typically raise many issues from a contract that is regulatory. Industry experts are available, though they tend to be Senior Partners in major law firms; you certainly pay for the privilege of their advice! TTEG can provide a happy medium, where, whilst avoiding legal interpretation, we assist by making you aware of commercial issues that are contained within the contract. We also highlight where a supplier's terms may vary to the industry 'norm'. Attorneys can then be used if and where appropriate, thus minimising the time and cost of the evaluation.

Signing a letter of intent and a subsequent contract is actually the easy part...but, having complete confidence that the best deal possible for your organisation has been obtained is more difficult, and that is where TTEG adds value to the process.

After an agreement has been reached with the selected retailer, there is more to consider. It is prudent to be aware of the progress in the transfer of accounts to minimise the time spent on higher rates. A missed reading could result in a three-month delay of a site entering the new contract. This is particularly important when there are a number of accounts being processed by the retailer at one time. For sites that are coming off an existing contract, this could mean exposure to highly variable pool prices or to punitive charges from your existing retailer.

Once the invoices for the new contract arrangement start to flow through it is prudent to review them for accuracy, to ensure that meet your expectations, and are consistent with the offer from the supplier. It is also important that any incorrect charges are highlighted early as not only do you not want to be overcharged, but undercharging may also result in an adjusted bill coming at a later time with a revised total that is significantly higher than expected. TTEG can provide this service, either on a once-only, first-bill basis, or on an ongoing basis.