Outreach and communication help companies in uncertain times. Planning and preparation make that outreach easier.
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. April showers bring May flowers. And the merry month of May helps June bust out all over.
What do these adages mean for liquid fuel retailers, wholesalers, and service providers? Early spring weather is going to do whatever it wants! Over a 24-hour period last month, daytime temperatures swung from mid-70s to high-20s, with snow and icy rain thrown in for good measure. This thermal rollercoaster came after a few seasonal days, which had followed a period of extreme lows. And while snowstorms in April may take consumers by surprise, industry veterans will remember several in the last decade.
Spring upheavals are not only limited to the weather. About four centuries ago, William Shakespeare’s fortune teller warned Julius Caesar to “beware the ides of March.” Both the bard and his soothsayer may have been on to something. We are all well aware that the Iran crisis began this past March, and few will forget the COVID-19 shutdown that began in March 2020. In March 2003, the US-led invasion of Iraq began, and we will give Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine an “almost” in our list of recent March upheavals. Going further back in time will include the Three Mile Island Accident in 1979 and even the start of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 as March events.
Early spring is also a period of change for liquid fuel retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers. As the heating industry closes the books on one season, it begins preparing for the next: hedging strategies for fuel supplies; repairing or replacing well-used tools and trucks; setting up pricing and budget programs; manufacturer training on new equipment and technologies; web and systems updates and enhancements; spring tune-ups for heating systems, and – for those who have diversified – air conditioning.
One might think that after the rush of winter, life would settle down. Instead, we regularly experience even more chaos. Maybe there’s something in the air, an ephemeral reaction to the potent combination of the vernal equinox and the transition to Daylight Saving Time that upsets any sense of equilibrium one might expect.
Managing the Unmanageable
When world events create pricing and supply issues, when weather patterns are predictably unpredictable, and when your daily list of to-dos requires at least 37 hours, it can help to take a step back.
What can you control? That is the first question.
- You cannot control geopolitical events. But you can work with your hedging and financial advisors, banks, and vendors to protect your cash flow, cost estimates, and supply lines.
- You cannot control the weather. But you can manage your staff schedules and dispatch to meet demand – you do that every year!
- You cannot control employee errors. But you can manage your reaction to those errors, both internally and externally, if those errors affect customer relationships.
- You cannot control the fates. Accidents, medical issues, and family emergencies happen to everyone. But you can manage your company policies to respect your employees’ needs while also protecting your business operations.
Once you have broken down the multitude of emergencies into what can be managed and how, review your policies, work with your outside advisors, and delegate tasks where necessary.
Communication Comforts Customers
Your staff and your customers are aware of many of the challenges you face. They are watching and reading the same news or weather reports. If you have spent your time in business building relationships and trust, they will be there to work with you through times of crisis. For this to happen, however, you need to communicate with them.
When dealing with wars, fuel shortages, pricing spikes, or extreme weather events, create a set of talking points for your employees. This should include reminders that the situation is not limited to your company, as well as any recommendations you may wish to offer to help customers through the challenge.
Hold staff meetings or training programs to ensure that everyone understands the situation and your company’s response to it. Make sure they are comfortable answering customer questions. While time is of the essence, you may want to bring in a professional trainer to work with your team, who can set up role play sessions to give them some experience dealing with unhappy or aggressive customers.
The importance here is to ensure that any response to customer questions is calm, considered, and reassuring. Do not cast blame, do not get political, and do not get angry, no matter how heated the customer may become.
Be proactive with your customer communications, as well. You should not wait until the customer comes to you about the situation. Many companies are afraid of bringing the issue to the consumers’ attention. Rest assured, it already has their attention! Their news and social media feeds are filled with stories about the situation which are probably making it appear even more dire than it is. This is why you should not wait to get your side of the story out!
Put your messaging front and center on your website homepage or in a pop-up. Create and post long-form content for your blog, and include keywords and queries so your discussion of the current situation can be found by traditional search engines as well as AI tools. Use variations of this text in digital newsletters, email blasts, and social media posts. Promote this information through text messages and on-portal ads. If you have good relationships with your local news outlets, reach out to them and offer to be a resource for any items they may be producing.
Include your printed materials, too. Newsletters, inserts, and stand-alone mailings can address the crisis and highlight everything your company is doing to help the customer. Do not forget to thank your customers for their loyalty!
Companies that really want to set themselves apart can upload their first-party data to their Google, social media, or programmatic advertising platforms and deliver their messaging to their own customers via digital ads, or use that data to find “similar audiences” and introduce themselves and their solutions to potential customers (who are probably dissatisfied with their current heating fuel provider)!
Messaging with Meaning
But what should these materials say? Address the elephant in the room and let your customers see what you are doing to help them:
- Discuss your onsite supply (if applicable) or long-term, secure contracts.
- Review your prompt-pay, veteran, senior citizen, first responder, or other discount programs.
- Provide information about your state’s LIHEAP programs.
- If feasible, offer to enroll customers in your budget program.
- Remind the customer that through your decades of service, your company has worked with them through many other similar situations, and that you are ready, willing, and able to get through this one.
Responding to employee errors requires one-on-one communications, first with the customer and then with the employee. The customer needs to know you are working to make the situation right. What “right” means will depend on the scope of the error. You will want to respond to this as quickly as possible to avoid a negative review on Google, Yelp, or Facebook. If the customer does complain publicly rather than calling you, respond with a request to speak directly. Do not argue about the situation online. Once you have established direct communications and have rectified the issue, ask the customer to remove the post or – at the very least – update it with news of your accommodations.
You should speak with the employee in private, reviewing the situation – as heard from the customer and from the employee’s point of view – discussing alternate reactions, and what might have been done differently. Does the employee need additional training on equipment or procedures? Perhaps professional services, such as those offered by NEFI partners for substance abuse, legal issues, therapy? Acknowledge and respect the individual’s history with you and your company, and offer the same guidance and assistance you would hope to receive.
Planning Protects Against Panic
When the dust settles – and trust that it will – take another step back. Review your crisis response with your company managers and your financial and communication partners to determine what could have gone better, and what changes you need to make in advance of the next “surprise” crisis.
You may want to create a more formal crisis response process, which could include regular staff training and refreshers on your company’s programs and discounts; scripts or talking points for the most likely emergency situations; and a clear hierarchy for real-time responses to customer complaints or questions.
Your financial advisors will probably recommend increasing enrollments in budget plans, service agreements, automatic delivery, price protection, loyalty programs, and any other value-added service that reduces customer churn and helps you better plan your gallons for the next season. Work with your marketing partner to develop and deploy customer-facing assets promoting these services, and speak with your web developer about integrating online enrollment and contract services to your customer portal.
Your web team may be exceptionally responsive, but they may not be available for situations that arise over a weekend or in the middle of the night. Speak with them about tools that you can deploy quickly and easily. Once your customer portal dashboard is accessible from a secure internet link, ask if they can add a “Pop-up Creator” which will empower you to post important notices to your site when necessary.
Another way to increase communications is with an expanded text messaging platform added to your dashboard. This can be a crucial resource when your power or office phones are unavailable for any length of time. The texting platform not only enables you to send out alerts to your customers, but also includes an “in box” that collates incoming messages and makes responding much easier. Again, with a mobile-responsive and accessible dashboard, you can manage these communications through your phone if the power is out.
This article started with adages and idioms, so it will end with one, as well. The statement, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” has been attributed by some to Benjamin Franklin, by others to a Reverend H.K. Williams in 1919. The lesson is as valid today as it was a century – or centuries – ago.
In times of change – good and bad – communication is always the right answer. Liquid fuel retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers need to deploy their messaging quickly and across multiple channels. Planning and preparation makes that possible.
Richard Rutigliano is President of PriMedia, Inc., an integrated marketing and communications firm specializing in the home energy sector and offering a wide array of SaaS products nationwide. He can be reached at 516-222-2041 or rrutigliano@primediany.com.
