I often like to start a presentation by asking the audience two questions:
What happened on April 6, 1991?
What happened on June 29, 2007?
I usually don’t get many answers, but to be fair, these are just dates out of the blue for most people, and I really don’t expect answers.
On April 6, 1991, the first website went live. That website is still accessible today at https://info.cern.ch/hypertext/www/theproject.html. It’s a very simple site that explained how the World Wide Web would work and opened a giant door for what would follow. According to businessdasher.com, today there are approximately 1.88 billion websites, of which close to 200 million are active; 71% of small businesses have a website.
On June 29, 2007, Apple released the first iPhone and put the power of the internet in our pockets. It’s difficult to imagine life today without these devices. It’s rare to venture out in the world and not come across at least one person checking their phone. According to businessofapps.com, today there are around 3.3 million Android apps on the Google Play Store and 2.2 million iOS apps on the Apple App Store.
These two events forever changed the way we communicate, work, learn, seek entertainment and do business. The magnitude of their impact on our daily lives cannot be understated.
To be successful in business today, using the tools of digital platforms isn’t just a good idea to explore and consider — it’s a necessity. Today’s consumers don’t just think of placing an order online as a convenience; it’s what they do, and it’s how they do business. Their first inclination is not to take their phone out of their pocket and call a service provider; instead, they either check a website from their phone or computer or download an app.
The Digital Tools Propane Dealers Need
The good news is that tools exist to help propane companies not just navigate through this digital world but to thrive and prosper. Beyond their own website, propane dealers can meet the expectations of today’s consumers with many digital tools that are readily available. These tools can help propane dealers service and communicate with their customers, onboard new customers and in the process make their own business operations more efficient.
I’m guessing every propane dealer reading this article already has a corporate website. If you don’t, there are many companies that specialize in building websites and providing digital marketing services specifically for this industry. Today’s consumers will search the web to find propane dealers in their area. An easy tool to add to your website is chat. There are numerous chat software companies, and your website designer will be able to assist you with implementing chat. Online chat will give your customers another convenient way to communicate with you.
The place where you can really start taking significant steps to improve operations is with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. Powerful ERP systems exist to help propane dealers manage customer account data, including optimizing delivery routes and forecasting deliveries. Customer communications and billing can be automated and paperless. Automatic scheduled payments can be implemented to reduce collection issues and help manage cash flow. Often these systems include support for text messaging, helping you stay in touch with your customers with timely, useful notifications about their account.
To take forecasting a step further, tank monitoring technology is better than it’s ever been. Adding tank monitors not only lets the customer monitor their fuel level, but also provides the propane dealer with precise information to better plan delivery routes and avoid runouts.
The Value of a Web Portal
At the heart of the digital tools available is a web portal. A web portal is a secure website that allows customers to log in and access information that is specific to them. Web portals are typically accessed via a link on a propane dealer’s homepage. Web portals today are widely used and available across industries. Visit your bank’s website and you’ll find a login link somewhere. That link allows you to access your own personal account information and is private to you.
Web portals allow your customers to do business with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is not only convenient for your customers, but it also reduces the load on internal staff. Web portals allow customers to check their account balance, view transaction history, view invoices and statements, check their tank monitor reading, pay their bills, enroll in programs such as auto-bill pay and paperless billing, place fuel orders or request deliveries, sign up for fuel contracts and more. Web portals effectively allow customers to self-service their accounts.
Web portals can also go a step further, providing the ability for noncustomers to create accounts and place orders or to manage your new customer application and onboarding process with integrated credit check and electronic signature. New customer onboarding can be a huge time saver, building logic into the application review process, making onboarding documents electronic and reducing the data entry process.
The Functionality of a Web Portal
Many ERP providers have their own web portal product. Others provide an application program interface (API) that allows third-party portal providers to safely connect to and exchange data with the ERP. A robust API allows propane dealers to maximize the benefits of a web portal by allowing for two-way communication between the portal and the ERP, minimizing data entry, saving time and reducing input errors.
The portal can often be extended by deploying a corresponding app. Most portal providers also offer an app that uses the portal for setup and configuration information. An app is especially attractive to the younger generation of consumers and offers the benefit of added convenience to customers while providing additional marketing exposure for propane dealers by placing branded apps in the Apple and Google app stores.
Other fuel ordering programs and apps exist that don’t necessarily connect to an ERP as fully as a portal. These products are self-contained and do not rely on the ERP for customer account data. These products provide a convenient ordering tool for “will call” businesses to allow noncustomers, as well as returning customers, to order propane.
Practical Applications of Digital Tools
Here are some real-world examples of propane dealers deploying digital tools:
“We have drastically improved our accounts receivable with [cash on delivery] customers by sending them digital messages via email and text messages when their tank monitor reads 20%. This then prompts them to go to their account online to order and pay for their propane delivery. This process has alleviated a customer service representative calling the customer, collecting payment, entering an order and following up.”
— Ann Hess, Rahn’s Oil & Propane
“AI-powered customer service tools can certainly change the way propane companies are interacting with customers by offering the ultimate convenience. Today, consumers think of something, pick up their phone and expect an answer. Chatbots, virtual assistants, mobile apps and customer portals working in unison can offer the ultimate convenience.”
— Brent MacKenzie, MacKenzie Fuels
“Townsend Energy uses tank monitors and a [fuel delivery] platform … to optimize propane deliveries. Real-time tank data feeds into [the platform], which predicts delivery needs based on usage and weather. Automated daily ticket generation targets optimal fill levels. Our team then uses these tickets to create efficient delivery routes, ensuring timely service and preventing runouts, even with unpredictable weather. This blend of automated data analysis and human expertise allows us to provide reliable, customer-centric propane deliveries, demonstrating the power of digital platforms in enhancing operational efficiency.”
— Amanda Rivers, Townsend Energy
“We offer contracts for propane and diesel, and our typical propane contract process before the portal involved several employees and weeks of time dealing with mailings, paper and digital forms, and manual data input. With our ... online portal, customers, or a [customer service representative] on behalf of a customer, can fill out contracts through the portal, and all the manual data entry is completed automatically by the system. Customers love the fact that they can fill out the contract directly on their phone or computer and that they can view that contract at any time to see remaining gallons and pricing through the portal. On our end, utilizing online contracting means hours and hours of manual data entry is removed and that the data being entered is much more accurate. It really is a big win-win for us and our customers.”
— Davis Flogel, Mulgrew Oil & Propane
“A common goal for all propane companies is to improve the efficiency of delivery routes, and most would agree that will call deliveries can negatively affect efficiency. Our wireless tank monitors are directly connected to our customer portal, which we use as a tool to sell more monitors to our will call customers. We are now able to be transparent and create engagement with these customers, as they can see their tank level right from their cellphone. As we continue to gain trust with will call customers and add more monitors, we are able to make our routing more efficient.”
— Nick Piliero, Rural Fuels
“Lots of companies are transitioning to the ‘Amazon way’ of doing business. Things like deploying tank monitors, having a backend system that forecasts usage, sending notifications to the customer ahead of the delivery or service, using online platforms like web portals and apps, implementing ‘chat’ so customers can communicate with CSRs without having to pick up the phone, providing text-to-pay as an option to make it easier for customers to make payments, are all good examples of digital tools. Having all of these as part of your value proposition is key to being successful.”
— Bruce Spiridonoff, Tevis Energy
“One of the most exciting new innovations in online digital systems is integration of ‘smart’ marketing systems. These are marketing tools that track the products and services purchased by consumers and identify sales opportunities that can be taken advantage of utilizing real-time online marketing, as well as email marketing. It’s possible the AI technologies may play a future role in this exciting new area of development.”
— Gary Sippin, Sippin Energy Products
How Propane Dealers Can Mitigate Risk
Along with all the many benefits digital platforms like the internet and websites bring to business, they also come along with some hazards, and I would be remiss if I didn’t spend a few words on the important topic of security. Ransomware, data breaches and other criminal attacks can be debilitating at best and at worst ruin your business. Any point in your network that touches the outside world is a vulnerability. For example, email provides an easy way to communicate with customers and vendors, but it also creates an entry point for criminals.
If you don’t have the resources to manage your internal systems in-house — and even if you do — there are vendors that work with this industry that can assist you with reviewing your network security. Another good practice is to enlist in training programs to make sure your CSRs and staff are familiar with common techniques and methods used by criminals to hack systems. Security is only as good as the weakest link.
In addition, you may want to consider a cloud hosting environment. Cloud hosting with reputable providers will have hardware and software in place to maintain barriers against criminals. Finally, you should make sure the vendors that touch your systems or have access to your customer data follow industry standard protocols and best practices. It’s a dangerous world, but there are dedicated professionals available to consult, with a full-time focus on keeping systems and data safe.
In closing, the challenges that confront propane dealers today are numerous, but working in the digital world doesn’t need to be one of them. There are many capable service providers in this sector available to help. Embracing the technology that exists today will have long-term benefits for your business.
