LP Gas, July 2012

CORPORATE CAPAbiliTiEs G ordon Cunningham knows a thing or two about selling propane The West Helena Ark native is the owner of Cunningham Inc a company his grandfather started in the 1940s But like most marketers Cunningham has felt the toll that summer months can have on sales When youre in the propane business its difficult to sell gallons in the summer Cunningham says I needed to find something to help me sell to my area which is mostly agricultural introducing FEED Looking for new ways to market propane to his customers Eligible Equipment Irrigation engines Grain dryers Swine heaters Generators Cunningham discovered the Propane Farm Equipment Efficiency Demonstration FEED program an initiative developed by the Propane Education Research Council PERC The Propane FEED program encourages farmers to adopt new propane equipment by offering financial incentives from 1000 to 5000 on eligible equipment In return farmers provide PERC with feedback about their experiences using the equipment The information is used to improve future propane fueled products FEED was a great asset to help draw in the customer and encourage switching from diesel to propane Cunningham says If a diesel fueled irrigation engine is more expensive than a propane fueled unit and with the FEED incentive on top of that why not try it And try they did In one year Cunninghams offseason sales more than doubled I was able to pick up a lot of customers he says And I expect to have a lot more growth in the years to come Cunningham also used another technique to tap into this new market With PERCs help he organized an equipment demonstration During the demo he showed his customers new propane fueled irrigation engines and told them about the Propane FEED program The demo was a success with 30 attendees and six engine sales One On One Approach We knew our cranberry growers were already using propane engines says Chris Kowalski from Osterman Propane With the new engine technology thats out theres an opportunity to talk to them about replacing their older less efficient engines Osterman Propane did just that for one of the largest growers in Massachusetts Managers at Decas Cranberry were using decades old engines for lift pumps but they were looking at newer engines for irrigation After Kowalski showed Decas how they could improve the efficiency of their processes take advantage of remote starting and monitoring and save money with the Propane FEED program they were even more open to upgrading The customer is adding more bogs and will need more engines And Osterman Propane has taken on several other area growers as new customers When it comes to introducing customers to the FEED program Kowalski suggests a one on one approach Know your customers and work with PERC he says For agriculture it is a natural match The growers are stewards of the land it is their livelihood Providing them with an efficient cost effective and environmentally friendly fuel is really a simple sell To learn more about the Propane FEED program please visit www agpropane com feed Propane Education Research Council FEED Program Propane Education Research Council 1140 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 1075 Washington DC 20036 Phone 202 452 8975 Fax 202 452 9054 If youd like to set up a demo for your customers please write to propanefeed@ propane com 74 LPGas July 2012 www LPGasmagazine com