Tag: SCM

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Ways to Encourage Better Supplier Performance

Encourage Supplier Performance

Over the years, EnergyPoint has collected literally tens of thousands of customer evaluations of oilfield suppliers.  We’ve stuck to our mission because we believe it adds a needed degree of transparency to the industry’s supplier-performance picture.

It has also afforded us some unique insights, including understanding ways customers can proactively influence the performance of their suppliers.  Here’s some of the ways that stand out: Continue reading “Ways to Encourage Better Supplier Performance”

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EnergyPoint’s Oilfield Perspectives Tour

EnergyPoint Header Image

Having collected and analyzed almost twenty thousand evaluations and over three-quarters of a million data points related to oilfield supplier performance and customer satisfaction since 2003, EnergyPoint Research has a lot to share. So, we’re hitting the road to do just that.

EnergyPoint began its Oilfield Perspectives presentation series in early 2013. The series features Doug Sheridan, managing director and founder of EnergyPoint Research, discussing the latest ratings, rankings, trends and implications from EnergyPoint’s independent customer satisfaction surveys in a uniquely compelling, informative and thought-provoking manner. Continue reading “EnergyPoint’s Oilfield Perspectives Tour”

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Thanks, But It Misses the Point – Part 2

Missing the Point

In Part 1 of this article, we discussed how restaurants’ practice of constantly refilling iced tea glasses without first asking can actually leads to a diminished customer experience for some.  We also hinted that we thought customers of oilfield suppliers could relate to this lesson.  We want to use the second part of this article to explain how.

When an organization decides it wants to address customer satisfaction, the process it follows can have a big impact on whether its succeeds.  When management does not think through and get involved in the process — opting instead for vague directives to “better serve our customers” or “create greater customer intimacy” — the results can prove ineffectual and even counterproductive. Continue reading “Thanks, But It Misses the Point – Part 2”

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Ditch the Price-centric Mindset

Price Tag

Bottom-line pricing may matter to some customers, but misconceptions abound in terms of the specific relationship between pricing and customer satisfaction in the oilfield. Most organizations overestimate the impact pricing has on customer satisfaction.

A company’s customer satisfaction relative to peers — what customers and suppliers should both be focused on — is a function of completed acts. That is, how did the supplier and its offerings perform compared to expectations? Continue reading “Ditch the Price-centric Mindset”

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Thanks, But It Misses the Point – Part 1

Missing the Point

I like iced tea.  In fact, I like it a lot.  Over the course of a hot Houston summer, I bet I drink a thousand glasses of iced tea, each with just the right amount of self-administered artificial sweetener.  Because I eat out a lot, and tend to frequent the same places on a regular basis, most of the eateries in my neighborhood are familiar with my voracious thirst for the stuff as a customer.

Over this most recent summer, I took note of a practice related to how some restaurants handle the refilling of my iced tea.  Their approach is illustrative of how companies’ policies and practices, many meant to better serve customers in one way or another, can actually cause more problems than they solve. Continue reading “Thanks, But It Misses the Point – Part 1”

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Deciphering the Needs of Customers

Deciphering Customer Needs

A family friend tells a funny story about when his recently engaged son asked what it was like to be married. In paraphrase, here’s what he told the young man:

Years ago, your mother gave me two neckties for Fathers Day. As I got ready to go to brunch later that morning, I put on one of the ties to show my appreciation for her thoughtfulness. When I walked over to show her how nice the tie looked, she burst into tears and ran out of the room. Concerned, I followed her to find out why she was crying. After gathering herself, she replied, “You don’t like the other tie, do you?.”

EnergyPoint Research Man & Wife Illustration

Here’s the takeaway: no matter how hard we try, we can never be fully certain how others will respond to efforts to satisfy them.

While serving the oil and gas industry can certainly be rewarding for those suppliers that crack the customer-satisfaction code, it can be frustrating and financially taxing for those that never develop an understanding of customers’ needs and drivers.

One way suppliers can help their cause is to better understand the motivations and concerns of the individuals they deal with at customer companies.

For example, think a drilling or completions manager is only interested in the price at which a supplier can offer services? Think again. They are equally interested in how the supplier’s performance will reflect upon them. There’s nothing worse than being taken to task for a supplier’s non-performance. “You should have known” is usually the refrain.

By nature, oilfield customers typically try to avoid risks in who they deal with, what they purchase and how they interact with suppliers. Even for suppliers that pass the “safe operator” test, it can take years to make “approved” lists. The smallest insights into what drives customer satisfaction can mean the difference between success and failure.

To learn more about what might be rattling around in the heads of oilfield customers, and how suppliers might be better able to meet their needs, contact us regarding our Ratings & Analysis Reports. Both you and your customers will be glad you did.

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Off Target In The Aftermarket

Off Target

Listening to earnings calls of today’s publicly traded oilfield suppliers, it’s easy to come away with the impression that within certain original equipment manufacturers’ post-sale support function has little to do with ensuring customers get the most and best use of the products they purchase. Rather, the function seems more about collecting outsize incremental revenues designed to juice margins.

A number of suppliers openly boast to their investors (but we suspect not to customers) that the increasingly high-tech features embedded in many of today’s oilfield products are good for business expressly because of the future maintenance income attached to the products. Continue reading “Off Target In The Aftermarket”

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Is Bundling All Its Cracked Up To Be?

Bundling May Be Hurting Overall Customer Satisfaction

Bundling of products and services is always a hot topic in the oilfield. Suppliers contend it’s what customers need, and customers seem forever intrigued. Wall Street sees a catalyst for suppliers to grow revenues and expand margins and a way for operators to reduce costs.

One can understand the enthusiasm. After all, who wants to believe leveraging relationships and infrastructure by selling more to loyal clients isn’t a good thing? And the one-stop shop is a more effective supply chain-solution, right?

If it were only so simple.

Analysis of EnergyPoint customer satisfaction data paints a murky picture when it comes to bundling. Continue reading “Is Bundling All Its Cracked Up To Be?”

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The Rig Equipment Blues

Dark image of a drilling rig
Today’s wells cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars a day to drill. Thus, few things rankle operators like slowed activity.
 

To limit downtime, the equipment on rigs receives close attention. However, EnergyPoint Research surveys show many equipment providers are missing the mark. There’s room to improve in post-sale support, availability and delivery, and pricing. Without improvements, the status quo will only entice new entrants.

Continue reading “The Rig Equipment Blues”