EnergyPoint Research took particular interest in the recent announcement that John King, President of Weatherford International’s Evaluation, Drilling & Intervention Division, will be leaving the company. King came to Weatherford in 2005 via the company’s purchase of Precision Drilling‘s international drilling and energy services operations.
While at Precision, King was instrumental in developing an organization and culture that, as far as we can tell, was one of the more customer- and value-centric in the industry. In EnergyPoint’s 2004 oilfield services survey, Precision ranked 1st out of 24 providers in total satisfaction. Without King, Precision’s satisfaction ranking fell to 17th in 2006.
There are indications that King and those who came with him from Precision were beginning to have a positive impact on customer satisfaction at Weatherford as well. The company’s total satisfaction rating as a percentage of the top-ranked provider’s survey rating moved from 82.3 in 2004 to 85.9 in 2006.
This improvement was enough to nudge its overall ranking from the fourth quartile to third quartile, though the company still lagged the other five global service companies that comprise the “Big Six.” Weatherford showed strong ratings improvement in technology, especially when it came to responsiveness to customer requests for new technologies.
Even without Kink, Weatherford may be poised for more improvements. Many survey respondents, along with certain Weatherford competitors with whom we have spoken, are quick to acknowledge the company’s vast potential. They are particularly willing to credit Weatherford for the breadth of its product and service offerings.
Of course, this kind of growth-through-acquisition strategy can also be problematic. In fact, more than one survey respondent over the years has noted that Weatherford’s service quality fell after an acquisition. While organizational change and cost reductions might be the synergistic romance that get some deals done, they can also be giant steps backwards in the eyes of customers. However, now that Weatherford seems less focused on acquisitions and more intent on running its existing businesses, this type of drag on customer satisfaction should be reduced.
EnergyPoint has never met King and does not claim to be privy to the circumstances surrounding his somewhat abrupt departure. Nor do we know Lee Colley who, as Weatherford’s new COO, adds King’s responsibilities to his pre-existing role as head of Completion & Production Systems. While we have no reason to believe Mr. Colley is not well-suited to his newly expanded role, we will be interested to see if he and the larger Weatherford organization have taken to heart any of the customer-friendly perspectives and practices King and his team brought to Weatherford. If so, Weatherford might be even closer to fulfilling its potential.