The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | JULY 2015 39 HVAC/ HYDRONICS around Providence, and they've succeeded where so many other companies fell by the wayside. "We're in the greater Providence area, but we as far south as Newport and as far west as Massachusetts," said DiSanto. "It's about a 50 mile radius from Providence." Many close competitors have fallen by the wayside through the 68 years Henry Oil grew. "So many companies around us have disappeared – they've been swallowed up or gone out of business. I can think of a dozen in a two-mile radius around me," said DiSanto. As far as the acquisition gorilla in the room, DiSanto said they ponder buying businesses from time to time, but focus on grow- ing their customer base through consistent service. "We think about it from time to time, we don't want to get in too deep and get in over our heads. We've had a couple busi- nesses that we looked at, but they didn't seem worth it," said DiSanto. "We do fine with what we're doing here. We're still growing, picking up customers without acquisition work." So how have they thrived without acquiring businesses or leaning on the funding of a larger enterprise? DiSanto said their steady growth and great customer retention comes down to knowing how to treat a customer, how to structure their pricing and how to keep them happy. "Most of my customers I know on a first name basis. We take customer service very serious. That's what different from the standard COD guys that just deliver oil," said DiSanto. "You have to know every customer and how to treat them." He said by staying small and keeping an eye on every facet of the business, they don't need any sort of top-to-bottom customer service strategy. When customers call, they get the president. "I answer then phone, so when they call and complain, I know we did something wrong," said DiSanto with a laugh. "We're not that big that we need a consultancy or anything like that. They can just call up and yell at me." Close ties have also helped keep many customers from switching to natural gas as oil prices fluctuated in the past decade. DiSanto said having frank discussions with his custom- ers keeps them informed, but also builds loyalty. It's no secret that being looked to for advice is a powerful position. So when a customer or prospective customer floats the idea of switching to natural gas or another heating source, DiSanto says he lays it all out for them. "When people bring it up to me that they're thinking about it, I just give them the pros and cons: what's natural gas supposed to be what's oil supposed to be over the next 20 years or so. I try to tell them, 'When you switch over to natural gas, there's no com- petition; you're on natural gas and that's it. There's no calling this company or that one, if you're not happy with the service, there's not really much you can do about it,'" said DiSanto. "I just wish it would work all the time!" As far as finding new customers, Henry Oil focuses on inbound marketing and happy customers. "Word of mouth and online at New England Oil is most of what we do," said DiSanto. He said the website that lists oil delivery providers and their prices drives the bulk of their leads that they can track. They also advertise on various websites and have invested in search engine optimization to keep them appearing when people start looking for a new oil dealer. The rest is the most powerful form of advertising: word of mouth. Being so small, big price fluctuations are always going to affect the business. He said he's hopeful the industry will keep growing as prices are slated to stay low for the foreseeable future. As for the future of the company, DiSanto said he's ponder- ing a move into propane, but he and Henry Oil will just going to keep doing what they do best and see how upstream issues trickle down to the 50 miles around Providence. "I've been in this business since I was 14 and I'm sure I'll retire in it. We try to do the best for our customers and always have," said DiSanto. l F O N