Properly Submitting a Contract
As a professional energy broker, it is critical to understand how to properly submit a signed energy supply agreement to your broker so that it can be processed immediately. Since all energy pricing a volatile and based on that trading day's quote, it is imperative to book the contract before the end of the business day so the price doesn't change. In this article, we discuss how to properly submit a signed contract.Required Information.
First things first, there are certain items your energy broker will require from you when submitting a newly signed contract. Let’s discuss each item in detail below. Be sure to check with your energy broker to see what other items they might require for new contracts.
A Recent and Complete Bill Copy
If you are submitting a matrix contract, it is critically important that you also include a complete bill copy from the customer along with the signed contract. Remember, matrix prices are set by suppliers blindly for brokers to utilize and the suppliers have no prior knowledge about your customer. Matrix contracts that are submitted without bill copies will be rejected. If you are submitting a custom contract, chances are your broker and the supplier already have the customer’s bill copy when you requested the quote. In this case, the bill copy might not be necessary but it is always good to get in the habit of submitting bills with a signed contract.
Remember: be sure to submit a recent and complete bill copy for each utility account number on the signed contract.
The Signed Contract
Yes, we know this sounds like a no-brainer, but remember to submit a copy of the signed contract when booking your new deal. If you are emailing a copy of the contract to your broker, be sure that the scanned copy of the contract is legible and not blurry. It is also important to note that all pages of the contract should be included in a single attachment. Many times, energy sales professionals think only the signature pages are required. This just makes things tougher on your broker since he will have to re-scan your contract with the missing pages before submitting it to the supplier. Try your best to make things easy on your broker. Remember, they are dealing with many other transactions besides yours! If you are submitting the contract via DocuSign or another electronic signature software, be sure to include the audit log page.
Contract Details
Another pro tip to get into good graces with your broker is to include the pertinent details of your signed contract in the body of your email. Your broker might have an online submission process or form that requires this data. If they do not, it is always best to include something like this in your email. You can easily copy and paste a chart from an Excel file or Google Sheet into the body of your email. Some email clients even allow you to build tables in the email draft.
Why Submitting Contracts Properly
Is Vitally Important To Your Success.
Electricity and natural gas commodity markets can be extremely volatile. In fact, most suppliers change their matrix pricing on a daily basis to reflect the ebbs and flows of the market. When you present an energy quote or contract to a customer and the customer agrees to the price, it is important to get the contract booked with your energy broker immediately after the customer signs for the following reasons:
Ensures that the contract price gets locked in
Secures your broker margin or fee
Gives you time to make corrections if needed
Furthermore, in order to ensure that your contract gets processed properly, it is important to follow the instructions above when submitting your customer’s newly signed energy supply agreement. Please do not leave out any details or you could run the risk of having your contract rejected. Remember, most energy suppliers require that contracts get properly submitted and booked by 4 PM each day in order to guarantee that day’s pricing. If you do not properly submit your contract and it gets rejected, you will need to resubmit and might be subject to the following day’s pricing.