PERC’s ‘Can-Do’ Conference Highlights What Marketers Can Do to Sell Propane

The phrase “Propane Can Do That” is evolving from use by the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) solely in the agriculture market space to all areas of propane applications. In the meantime, the concept of “Can-Do” is also being applied to what propane can do, as well as what propane marketers can do to sell prospective users on the benefits propane has to offer.

As PERC is advancing from a mass-marketing strategy to a digital marketing strategy with different messages based on regional dynamics, Tucker Perkins, PERC president and CEO, observed through his interaction with retail propane marketers their diverse needs at the company level. “PERC is providing many tools and we also need to make sure retail marketers know how to use the tools that are available to them,” Perkins said. With numerous marketing/training materials also being developed for the propane industry in a digital format, Perkins wanted to initially offer a conference where marketers from all over the country could gather to learn firsthand from experts.

The conference, held in Chicago the end of July, began with a lunch followed by keynote speaker Nilofer Merchant, billed as a master at turning seemingly “wild” ideas into new realities. The afternoon was filled with breakout meetings on a variety of topics including Facebook Live, Google My Business, selling to five generations in the marketplace, marketing automation, search engine automation, and a public relations and social media combo, to name a few. The two-day program also included an evening networking reception and a closing session on extreme time management.

BPN talked with several attendees for their impression of the conference. Pete Folger of Folger Gas (Blue Ridge, Ga.) said he was very excited about the event after having attended. “We went in knowing we were weak in the digital marketing area and we felt overwhelmed,” Folger explained. “We walked away feeling confident. We understand the importance of implementing digital marketing and feel we can either do a lot of the marketing work ourselves or hire someone to do it.” He noted that his company has been hiring people at the radio station and billboard company for years to help with marketing. “We can do what we feel we can and will do effectively, and now we may just be hiring people to help with Yelp or social media management,” he said. Folger noted key takeaways included search engine optimization and ways to be near the top in Google searches. He also commented that it is also foremost not to turn your back on some traditional marketing techniques. “It’s still important to support local baseball teams and community activities,” he added. “Adapting to digital media is a piece of the pie, not the whole marketing pie.”

After many years of leading Independent Propane Co. (Pine, Colo.), Robert Blackwell noted the key piece of information for him was learning all the places on the internet that customers can make comments about the company. “I want to know what people are saying, whether positive or negative,” Blackwell said. “While technology provides many new techniques for marketing, I think being nice to people and doing what you say you will do are still the best techniques.”

“For me, it was enlightening to learn how much people learn about your business on Google without even going to your website,” said Jessica Allen, assistant manager at A-1 Propane (Iowa City, Iowa) “We’ve got to be aware of all sources of information on the internet about our business, not just our website, and do what we can to make sure they are accurate.” She put the conference information to good use as she discussed topics covered in a Monday morning company meeting the following week. “I asked everyone what the most important thing we do here at A-1 Propane is.” She made sure all agreed that taking care of the customer was the primary focus of all employees regardless of their title or job function. “We don’t want people to get caught up in their role and leave customers feeling taken for granted.”

“I found a session on using symbolism to be the one I enjoyed the most,” said Mike Hayden, propane division manager at Co-Alliance (Avon, Ind.). “The speaker has done work for PERC so [he] was tuned-in to the propane industry. He was even willing to interact with us after the conference. We shared some of what we are doing and he discussed our approach with us.” Hayden also enjoyed the conversations between sessions in the hallway and at the reception with other marketers and stakeholders in the propane industry.

In addition to retail propane marketers, other attendees included various vendors to retail marketers and leaders of several state propane associations and state PERCs. Derek Dalling, executive director of the Michigan Propane Gas Association, said, “The ‘Can-Do’ Conference was a first class event. From the location, to the speakers, to handouts, PERC did an outstanding job with this event. The ‘Can-Do’ Conference was the best national propane conference I have ever attended.” Dalling commented that he had a discussion with Chris Earhart, chairman of the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA), and they agreed there was just something special about the attendees at the conference. “We weren’t quite sure what that ‘something’ was, but it was clear to both of us that NPGA, PERC, and the state associations must find a way to get the attendees from the ‘Can-Do’ Conference to more industry meetings and conferences, and in leadership roles. The ‘Can-Do’ Conference attendees were engaged, eager to learn, and asked questions in every session.”

“Well done,” said Dan Binning, executive director for both the Colorado and New Mexico Propane Gas Associations. “This was a good first step. Any propane marketer can do digital marketing.” Binning believes it would be good to have more conferences like this regionally to reach more people.

For the most part, Chicago was a hit with attendees. “We enjoyed getting to many of the attractions in Chicago,” said Folger, who had never been to Chicago before. Perhaps fitting with the topic of the conference, Conger LP Gas (Tifton, Ga.) used a cartoon caricature of president/CEO Dan Richardson on its social media publications known as “Bitmoji Dan” to showcase all of the activities, both work and fun, company representatives experienced in Chicago. —Pat Thornton