I-20 Ultra: More Profit for Contractors, Better Product for Customers

"Selling up" to the I-20 Ultra on a residential installation is the ideal opportunity for contractors to make more money. With its higher retail price compared to PGP®, the I-20 can put extra dollars in your pocket; with just a little added effort.

How to Provide a Line-Item Bid

Many contractors have told Hunter Headlines that they like to offer their customers a bid with a choice of two or three different "packages" of rotors. Typically, the choice is between the PGP and a standard I-20, but some provide customers a "good," "better" or "best' selection, asking to decide between PGP, I-20 and I-20 stainless steel rotors, respectively.

"We draw up a bid that offers our basic package which features PGP rotors," said Gary Scharpf of Integrity Sprinkling Systems in Fort Myers, Florida. "Then, on the line right below the price for the PGP installation, we enter a second price showing what the installation cost would be if they chose an upgrade package with I-20’s. We sometimes add even one more line indicating the price to install I-20 stainless steel."

Scharpf noted that he strongly encourages his customers to go for one of the upgrade packages. He sells them on the fact that in "the big picture" of a job that will run them at least a thousand dollars, it will cost them what amounts to "just a little more" to get what they will agree is the best rotor available. And, in the process, the upgrade results in a nice added profit.

"The cost out of our pocket to buy an I-20 with a stainless steel option is just a few dollars more per head. But, we can turn around and sell that sprinkler to the customer for a greater markup than that. We typically get several hundred dollars more per job when we put stainless I-20s on our bid. And it’s an easy sell to the buyer because they see that they are getting a more impressive sprinkler."

Stainless Offers a Unique Selling Feature

The optional stainless steel riser offers an ideal opportunity for selling up. It essentially takes a strong rotor and makes it even stronger.

For landscapes that are faced with heavy traffic and the resulting amounts of wear and tear, this heavy-duty alternative is just the answer for protecting the riser and seal. And in markets where sandy and abrasive soils are problems, stainless provides a great solution.

While Hunter’s larger, institutional-grade rotors (like I-25 and I-40) offer stainless steel risers, the professional-grade PGP does not. Since those large rotors are too big for most residential properties, the I-20, with its comparable range to the PGP, makes an appealing alternative.

Unsurpassed Warranty

"Our company promotes I-20 as the residential and light commercial rotor to install," said Jim Bolton of Water Works in Durango, Colorado. "It’s helped set us apart from our competitors who recommend a more ‘standard’ rotary sprinkler. Some of our competitors offer rotors from other brands, some offer Hunter PGP. But, by offering I-20s, it puts us in a class by ourselves."

Bolton noted that one of the key features that separates I-20 from the pack is that the rotor boasts a 5-year warranty. The term is the same as that for all Hunter Institutional Series products (I-25, I-40, I-60 and I-90 rotors; ICV valves; ICC controllers; and the Institutional Spray), well above the typical industry warranty. It’s also three years longer than the warranty on the PGP.

"You give customers a choice between a product with a 2-year warranty and a 5-year and without question they feel confident that they are getting a far superior product with the longer term," added Bolton. "They say if Hunter stands behind their product for that long, it must be good."

Of course, some contractors have approached upgrading in yet another way. They have totally replaced the use of PGP on their bids with the higher-priced I-20, taking the choice out of the customer’s hands.

"Selling up is an easy way to maximize the price on your bids," said Gary Prince of Blume Lawn Sprinkler Systems in Waco, Texas. "As you give the customer a better product, you get a better profit margin. That’s a win-win situation. We now put I-20s on all of our bids instead of PGP."

Contractor Benefits, Too

"It’s more of benefit to us than it is to our customers, but the FloStop® feature has helped make us big fans of the I-20," said Integrity Sprinkler’s Scharpf. "The ability to be able to turn off a single head while the rest of the system is running is a great convenience to our service technicians. We can easily change nozzles on one head without having to shut everything off.

"FloStop® also helps us on landscapes where we have a lower head on the same zone as other rotors that gets a lot of runoff water and doesn’t need the full watering that other parts of the landscape receive. We can easily shut off the flow to that head on a one- or two-time basis."

Contractors also will find that, thanks to the rotor’s wide selection of nozzle choices, I-20 is one of the most versatile rotary sprinklers on the market. In fact, I-20 can serve as the only sprinkler you’ll need to install if you’re looking to avoid a mix of sprays and rotors that will require multiple zones.

How wide a selection does the I-20 feature? In addition to a full rack of 8 standard and 4 low angle nozzles, Hunter has added 10 new specialty nozzles. These include 6 short distance (smaller radius) nozzles and 4 high flow nozzles. All offer fast, simple installation and provide superior close-in coverage.

As if performance wasn’t enough, the I-20 also claims exceptional safety features, such as an integral rubber cover that stays put to keep play areas safe. The rotor’s small exposed surface area, combined with the softness of the rubber cover, makes it the preferred rotor choice for play areas. But, by no means is this a “soft” rotor. Areas subject to heavy foot traffic or equipment will meet their match with the extremely tough body cap with ribbed reinforcement. And, for added durability, there’s always that optional stainless steel riser sleeve.

For years, we at Hunter have referred to the I-20 as "the ultimate upgrade." Now, with its ability to be the only sprinkler you’ll need to effectively cover all landscapes from 17' to 47', we’ve taken to calling it "the ultimate rotor." But contractors just might consider calling it "the ultimate profit maker."