August 2013 • 15
Data Management
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WE GO BEYOND
THE NUMBERS
FOR YOU.
Changing With the Times
Cargas adapts its software to support
diversification and expansion
By John MacKenna
THE FUEL DELIVERY BUSINESS IS CHANGING
rapidly, and software provider Cargas is
working to deliver solutions that match the
present and future needs of the industry.
Oil & Energy
recently connected with Nate
Scott, Vice President of the company’s
Cargas Energy division, to discuss changes
in both the industry and the company’s
software.
Scott said Cargas regularly updates its
fuel delivery and HVAC software, Cargas
Energy, in response to customer requests
and its own observations of industry
developments. “Our industry has changed
so much since 2008,” Scott said. “With the
higher oil prices and the natural gas com-
petition, people are after our customers’
customers. The competition is fierce out
there, and you can’t solve issues by adding
more staff or throwing more people at a
problem.
“You have to work smarter. Improving
efficiency is one way to gain a competitive
edge, and using software in the right areas
is certainly an effective way to do that.”
SUPPORTING DIVERSIFICATION
One of Cargas’s primary focuses now
is helping customers diversify and expand
their offerings. “We’ve pushed Cargas
Energy into the service area, and we’ve
been able to help people as they branch out
into areas like propane, plumbing and other
new offerings. Additionally, we’ve helped
folks expand geographically. Cargas Energy
was built with multi-location operations in
mind, and we continue to work with our
customers to round out Cargas Energy’s
capabilities as needs change.
“Getting the most out of your customers
is important,” Scott said. “We’re adding
automation around cross-selling and
up-selling within the back office system.
Additionally, by using Microsoft Dynamics
CRM connected to Cargas Energy, com-
panies can identify new opportunities and
create campaigns to be conducted by email,
web, or other traditional marketing chan-
nels.”
For example, companies could identify
all automatic delivery customers who do not
have service contracts and market to them.
“It’s tough for sales reps to feel attached to
back-office data, but by having it accessible
in CRM, we are able to create insight into the
customer database,”
he added. “It’s a big
strategic advantage
for companies that
want to get sharp on
cross-selling.”
These modifications come on top of
Cargas Energy’s core fuel-delivery functions
of accounts receivable, credits and collec-
tions; delivery forecasting and scheduling;
routing, dispatch and fleet tracking; and
service call management and dispatch.
Scott said he is proud of the past few
years’ releases of Cargas Energy, because
the company has provided improvements
in invoice design and presentment, collec-
tion management, mailing house integra-
tion, and credit card and ACH payments.
Cargas Energy can automate portions of
the collection process as long as clients
get bank and credit card information from
customers.
“Getting cash faster from customers
is critical in this industry,” he added.
“We’ve listened to our customers, and
a lot of them are pushing customers for
credit card information and bank account
billing authorization. Things are definitely
changing. We’ve seen companies provide
incentives to employees based on how
many customers they get on credit card and
automatic draft.”
Additionally, Scott is also looking for-
ward to the 2014 release of Cargas Energy,
which is focused on enhancements to the
customer service area of the system. “Our
customers want to continue to improve the
customer service they provide to their end
Continued on page 18 …
Cargas is updating Cargas Energy to support cross-selling and up-selling
