Winters in Quebec can at best, be an excruciating experience. The minus 40.C temperatures, the blizzards and the slippery road conditions all effect a propane marketer.s ability to deliver product to a diversified clientele in a timely manner. Many times, residential customers run completely out of product and call their propane marketer only to find that the company is so busy, that it may take up to three days to fill their tank. As you can imagine, a customer weathering a typical winter in Montreal without a supply of propane to heat his home, could put a strain on the relationship between the customer and the propane marketer.

For years, Joe Letizia, President of Propane Plus Inc. searched for a remote tank monitoring system so that he could provide better customer service to his residential customer base and alleviate the run outs that often put a strain on client relationships. After talking with his propane equipment distributor, about the Centeron Wireless Tank Monitoring System, he Centeron Boosts Delivery Efficiency by 40% knew that he had found the product that he had been searching for.

Letizia purchased 30 Centeron units to test among his customer base and began to offer the system to his residential customers at a fee of $6.00 per month (in addition to the fee for leasing the tank). His initial product trial and direct mail inquiry to his customer base received such an enthusiastic response that Letizia quickly decided to order an additional 100 systems. Customers were excited about the proposal that Propane Plus promised with the addition of the Centeron System. In exchange for adding Centeron, the responsibility of monitoring the propane tank level shifted from the customer to Propane Plus. Propane Plus guaranteed customers they would never have to track tank levels, wait for a delivery or experience a run out again. Read more >>

Two years ago, Terry Davis, owner of Country Propane (Milo, IA) learned about the Centeron Wireless Tank Monitoring System at the NPGA’s annual Pinnacle conference. As he listened carefully to all the cost savings opportunities that this wireless remote tank monitoring system offered, he thought to himself, “This all sounds great, but I could never afford it.” Several months later, Davis met with a sales representative from Gas Equipment Company who outlined the numbers involved with implementing the Centeron System. Contrary to Davis’ belief that the system was too expensive, the rep quickly showed him that he could realize a full return on investment during the first year and improve his bottom line.

Once Davis was convinced that Centeron could improve his profitability, he placed an order for seven units. Davis initially placed Centeron Monitors on the tanks of his four most problematic customers. He surmised that even if he did not save the kind of money that the rep had promised, at least the headaches associated with these customers would be alleviated.

The first customer was an area high school with a 10,000-gallon tank. The contract for this tank was put up for bid every year and the lowest bidder usually won the business. As you can imagine, the margin made on this customer was not significant. However, Davis’ “pie in the sky” bid was the only one for the year and he was awarded the business (at a very respectable margin). Read more >>