WHEN YOU SELL A COMMODITY PRODUCT
such as heating oil or propane, differenti-
ating your company from the competition
is one of your most important challenges,
and your options are limited.
You can play the discount game
and compete primarily on price, or
you can add value to your delivery
services and market yourself as a
service provider. Full-service home
comfort companies have chosen the
latter route, and many are now locked in
a hyper-competitive struggle that has them
battling not only direct competitors but also
discounters and gas utilities.
There is no magic bullet to separate the
full-service provider from the pack, but
there is a comprehensive approach that
helps companies improve recruitment of
compatible customers and increase reten-
tion of the ones they have. By focusing on
the “customer experience” they deliver and
promoting it, companies can engage cus-
tomers whose focus is more on quality of
experience and less on price – and succeed
without entering the price wars.
READY OR NOT, YOU
OFFER AN ‘EXPERIENCE’
The term “customer experience” can
have different meanings. For our purposes,
it means the total experience of being your
customer, from the specific interactions
with your employees, to the information
and guidance the customer receives, and to
the home improvements they choose.
Every company has a customer experi-
ence, whether the company plans it or it
just happens. Over the course of choosing a
company and doing business with it, every
customer has interactions and experiences
that shape their impression of the company
and constitute the “experience.”
Fortunately, there is a lot that a com-
pany can do to shape the experience and
put it in context for the customer.
Marketing is largely about creating
context, and it can be very effective
in shaping customer perceptions.
To illustrate, let’s look at a staple
of the full-service fuel retailer, the
annual tune-up. Without context, it’s
just a tune-up, and the average customer has
little idea what it entails or why it’s necessary.
They don’t know what the technician did.
They don’t know why it was necessary. They
don’t know how the tune-up benefited them.
Now, consider the alternative strategy of
adding some context around the tune-up.
First, the company could establish the value
of preventive maintenance through regular
communications with the customer. They
can explain all the steps the technician
takes during a tune-up and how that work
benefits the homeowner with increased
efficiency and reduced risk of a heat outage.
The company can also highlight the inspec-
tion aspect of the tune-up by reporting
to the customer on the condition of their
boiler or furnace and how many more years
of reliable operation they can expect.
In this example, the customer knows
why the tune-up is important, and they
are more likely to value the company and
believe that it has their back. That’s a small
example of effective self-promotion.
INFLUENCE CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS
As the example suggests, consumer
perception is highly malleable, which is
why companies spend billions of dollars
every year on customer communications.
By adding context, a company can actually
guide the customer to a greater appreciation
of the services it provides and the people
who do the work.
In the realm of value-added services
such as full-service fuel delivery, every
company faces the same challenge: to
consistently attract and retain customers
when lower-cost alternatives are available.
The challenge is doubly hard for heating
oil companies because per-gallon prices are
widely understood and compared.
The good news is that full-service fuel
delivery remains an excellent business
model for the customer and is easy for them
to understand. Every home needs heating
service, and virtually every homeowner is
aware of that. Consumers are also increas-
ingly sensitized to the value of energy
efficiency.
In fact, home comfort providers offer
lots of services that homeowners can
appreciate and value: improving their
comfort, reducing their energy consump-
tion, improving their indoor air quality,
and installing and maintaining emergency
backup power. When a company offers
valuable services and does a good job com-
municating about them, they can provide
customers with an excellent experience
of being well cared for by a company that
anticipates their needs.
LOYALTY IS NOT SPONTANEOUS
With current customers, companies
should provide up-to-date amenities, and
proactively promote the company to the
entire base. Start by taking a close look at
every customer touch point and evaluating
the company’s performance. Can customers
get the results they want promptly in one
phone call? Is everyone treating them with
courtesy and respect? Performance on
the phone must be consistently excellent
because one bad minute can ruin years of
heard-earned goodwill. Consider a regular
regimen of customer service training to
improve phone performance.
While excellent telephone service is
essential, it is only one piece of the cus-
tomer experience – and a diminishing one
at that. That’s because many customers
would rather interact online – using the
phone only when absolutely necessary.
They expect companies to provide
Marketing
It’s All About the Experience
Companies must drive perceptions because loyalty doesn’t just happen
By Richard Rutigliano, PriMedia Inc.
12 • OIL
&
ENERGY
