The Era Of “Handshake” Deals In Oil and Gas Is Coming to an end
The oil and gas sector is a personal contact industry. The sector has also been a word-of-mouth mode of advertising from the beginning.
It also trues that people in this industry prefer to do business with people they like and trust. Further more the best way to have a chance of winning deals in this huge sector is to target and build a relationship of trust with decision-makers.
The simple truth is that scouting, relationship and word of mouth are not enough these days.
These days buyers in the oil and gas industry are more demanding when selecting new suppliers. They demand lower costs. They are looking for better result at competitive prices and within a short period of time.
But there is a common misconception when people talk about the need to build a relationship and trust with prospective clients.
Building a relationship based on trust does not mean you should arrange a dinner meeting and have cold beer or wine with clients to get them to do business with you.
In today’s uncertain economy, the company’s decision-makers focus on results. And they want to know the data backed benefits of working with you.
Traditionally, energy companies rely heavily on word-of-mouth to source goods and services. But this method is limited and unreliable.
With the price of crude oil is recovering gradually after going through a major slump in 2014-2016.
Oil, gas and energy supply chain and procurement professionals are continuing to review their supplier networks in greater details and evaluate offerings from new suppliers.
Despite an overall reluctancy to invest in new solutions, oil and gas operators and service companies are more likely to switch suppliers, particularly when they feel the current vendor is adding inferior value.
If you can be completely transparent with them on how you comply with trade regulations and local content requirements and be willing to offer them partnerships rather than procuring products and services ,there are opportunities for new suppliers to enter the market and bid on latest tenders
Visiting oil and gas company offices, have face-to-face meetings with your purchasers and ask the right questions to identify your client’s needs and make your presentation to address your client’s needs. This can be the best way to build trust..
To stand out in this competitive industry, vendors should be well informed about the best business prospects to target across the industry. They also need to able to monitor clients’ activities and what projects they are likely to execute in the future. That can help service providers to act faster and approach them before anyone else.
This can be frustrating, daunting and time-consuming to do this type of research. To save time and effort, work with a reliable partner who can help you monitor the oil and gas company activities in East Africa or Africa at large and receive an update on hot leads that will streamline your business.
