Eliminate Guesswork from Oil Collections: How Can I Deliver Best-in-Class Service?

This blog entry is the first in a series that will briefly address key questions asked by those in the waste oil collection industry.  It will provide insight into how implementing a tank monitoring solution allows collectors to deliver best -in-class customer service, plan logistics more efficiently, secure their supply of waste oil, and reduce ghost gallons.

How Can I Deliver Best-in-Class Customer Service?

The waste oil collection business is extremely competitive.  Customers can easily be lost to a competitor willing to pay an extra nickel or dime per gallon.  To overcome the competitive nature of this market, waste oil collectors must find new ways to differentiate themselves and provide value to their customers beyond direct payment for the oil collected.  A key aspect to retaining long-term customers is winning them over with best-in-class customer service.

To some, this might mean knowing your customers by name and greeting them with a smile, but implementing a tank monitoring system allows you to take customer service to another level. 

Collectors typically setup customers on predefined service intervals - perhaps every two, four or six weeks.   Without any knowledge of how much oil is in the tank, collections are made, regardless of whether or not they’re truly needed.  Scheduling collections in this manner causes unnecessary interruptions to the customer’s business, and even worse, can result in full tanks which prevent the customer from collecting additional oil and bring their operation to a halt.

By using a tank monitoring system, there are no more question marks and no more unknowns.  Tank levels are displayed on a dashboard, easily viewed in any web browser, providing clear oversight to all the tanks you service.  Text message or email alerts notify you when critical levels are met.  You used to make service runs blindly - now every action is intentional.  Knowing your customers’ tank levels allows you to respond only when needed, instead of on a prescheduled basis.  The number of service calls for each customer is reduced, lowering the number of interruptions to their business and allowing them to focus on servicing their own customers.

With a remote tank monitoring system, you can assure your customers that overfills are a thing of the past and that you’ll provide service exactly when they need it.  That’s a customer service promise that sets you apart from the competition.

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Stay tuned for the next blog entry in the Eliminate Guesswork from Oil Collections series– How Can I Plan Logistics More Efficiently?

Aaron Wold

Product Manager - TankScan, ATEK Access Technologies, LLC