3 Tips For Winning Over Operators With Proven Oil and Gas Services
What can oilfield services bring to the business table from an operator’s perspective? In no way does this advice reflect every operator, the majority, or the minority for that matter. Rather, this is one engineer's unique perspective of which you and your colleagues may or may not agree upon. With all that said, this advice is based on what has influenced myself over the last decade in how I go about putting which provider where, when, and for how long. The goal of this unique blog is to help you achieve success through providing the needs of your customer and help you win their business by understanding oilfield operator perspective.
- Know Your Product. There may be nothing more obvious then the above tip, but nothing, nothing is more frustrating for a customer then having a provider discuss their amazing product of which is mere magic. Understand the engineering behind it, understand the benefit it can/has provided, understand and believe in the result you will provide for your customer. Once you understand how your product influences your customers business, hammer the benefits of the service product into their mind, i.e. when you leave they need to know your product good enough to sell it to their colleagues.
- Come With Your Guns Loaded. Metrics, Case Histories, Cost Benefit, Data Sheets, and Product/Service Cost. Have it all ready the first time you discuss why they should be using your product/service. If you can show me what you have done for the guy next door and what you are going to do for me on the next well, and not give me any reason to refute your evidence, its go time. Show your customer the big picture, “we influenced operator X by 20% resulting in 30% lower cycle times and 40% lower overall drilling/completion costs, ultimately they are the ones seeing their business flourish and we helped them get there, now we want to do the same for you.” Powerful statements make memorable interactions, be bold and confident with everything you are going to do to help them succeed in their one goal, making money.
- Understand Personalities. Going against popular opinion, not all engineers are cut from the same cloth and get this, they’re moody and their willingness to visit on future products and your services isn’t always their first or last priority, but rather it is usually need based. Therefore, the angle you play when approaching them may have yearlong implications in a positive or negative way. It may be a poker match that you don’t feel like playing, but ultimately if you go all in and you take the pot, well you will probably live on to tell about it. Slow play em the first, second, third time, if you tell it isn’t the right time to win the work just keep your product/service out there and it may pay off big in the long run, for both them and your career. Understanding that a career pans multiple decades and not a few months is something to always remember when dealing with the customer and I hope the operator views the relationship the same.
As the oil price moves up, then down, down farther, back up a little then back down you may start to wonder about your job security and your ability to provide for your future and your family’s future. The option to ride the wave and be at the currents will or choose which wave to ride and design your own path is ultimately up to you. Finding ways to stand out amongst your peers, beat your competitors to the job, save money previously thought impossible, and leverage technology is something that may not only get you through this downturn, but may ultimately allow you to come out better than before, much much better.
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