Set up less than four years ago, the Craggs Environmental business now has a team of 12 and a list of blue chip customers
production, exocet additives and how they
work and help in the vaporising burner or
pressure jet boiler. We answered a lot of
questions, debunked a few myths around
heating oil and explained where most of the
water and dirt comes from that is found in the
bottom of the oil tanks.”
Technology-focused and marketing-
driven
Coming from an IT/technology background,
Chris has ensured that investments in both
continue to drive the company’s marketing
and sales across all areas.
Craggs, which has always actively
sold with outbound tele sales building up
its business, has made further capital and
operational investments in the last six months.
“We take this work very seriously with
each area having its own marketing budget,”
said Chris.
Looking after marketing is Ben Duckworth
with team members working on search engine
optimisation, automated emails, and more
recently apps for both Craggs Energy and
online fuel service Tank Topper which were
developed inhouse.
“These apps bring a whole new level of
automation to messaging and will help stop
the ‘where’s my fuel?’ calls which can clog up
the system meaning the guys aren’t able to
sell.”
The aim of the app is to remove a
customer’s anxiety by way of an automated
process which sends email confirmations
throughout the order process, letting the
customer know they have not been forgotten
and sending a text to say your fuel is coming
tomorrow.
With the fuels business ‘constrained
by geography’, there is no desire to grow its
footprint.
“Over the past 12 months, we’ve taken
fuel buying to a whole new level – this is where
we’ve been spending our energy. Asking ‘How
can we better service our loyal customers?’,
we’ve moved away from growing the fuel
business to giving customers a service level
they really like.”
Launched at the end of January, the
Craggs Energy app can give a quote, track an
order and even give the percentage of fuel in a
tank, provided a tank monitor is installed.
“Every step we take must be right to drive
people to the new channels online, social
media etc – 20% of domestics now buy online
and as demographics change, how long can
we rely on people to simply call us?
New blood
“The well-honed fuel distribution industry does
a really good job, but there’s now a genuine
existential threat to the industry – it’s a scary
prospect which could see the pace of change
escalating in the coming years.”
Being innovative and enthusiastic is
important to Chris who started bringing in
young apprentices to encourage a broader
skills range two years ago.
Having started in the fuel industry with ‘a
different way of thinking’ is Chris still making a
‘significant differential’?
“It gets harder the longer you’re in the
industry,” said Chris who now sits on the FPS
committee.
“Since coming into the industry I’ve met
many interesting and passionate people with
oil running through their blood. But, with
little innovation that industry is in need of an
injection of new blood.
“The industry faces two huge challenges
– the direction of travel is that we must all
burn less fuel and our customers are no longer
happy with a single phone call!”
To keep fresh, Chris is a strong believer in
attracting younger, smarter people with open
mindedness from outside the industry.
Fuel Oil News | April 2018 15