As a gas station owner, it is in your best interest to know what runs through the mind of your customers or potential customers. If you know what makes them choose you, then you’ll know what aspects to focus on and improve.

Do you want to attract more customers to patronize your gas station? Do you want more potential customers to give your gas station a chance and to try out your products and services? Let’s delve into the minds and customers and help you figure those things out. Shall we?

Main Factors That Customers Consider When Choosing A Gas Station

Have you ever wondered why some car owners choose to have their tank refilled at your gas station? What is exactly the reason that they do? Do you just happen to be in the right place when they run out of fuel?

That could be one of the factors. If they really need gas, then they’ll really fill up out of need. But aside from that, there are still other factors that make them consider refueling at your gas station.

Price

There are several factors that may influence a customer’s decision to buy gasoline. When it comes to price, you must remember that gas prices fluctuate depending on the market and according to the day-to-day conditions of supply and demand. Generally, customers just want cheap gas as long as they can get it at a station near their homes.

Hours of Operation

Customers want to ensure that the gas station they choose is open when they need it, so convenience plays a big factor in where they choose to purchase their gas. It is also convenient if your prices are competitive enough to make them not second-guess whether or not they should buy from you.

Location

If you own a gas station on a busy road filled with cars passing by, then location is one of your best factors. That shows customers that you’re a viable business and that more people patronize your establishment compared to those who have been hidden away or tucked somewhere inconveniently off the beaten path.

Quality of Products Offered

Another reason why customers choose certain gasoline stations over others is the quality of products they can purchase. If customers are looking for gas, but also want to take advantage of your other services—such as snacks or car washes—then you have given them a great incentive to stop at your place instead of others.

Customer Service

Customers look for customer service any time they make a decision on where to buy something, particularly when it comes to spending their money on smaller purchases like gasoline. You never know if you’ll need help with making the right choice about gas or even which kind is better for their cars-regular grade or premium? With an attentive and helpful staff, customers’ confidence in you will be greatly boosted.

Tips For Gas Station Owners

Location is key

There should be lots of cars driving past your establishment every day for people to see what you’re selling. You can even offer incentives such as free car washes or snacks if they buy from you regularly.

Great Customer Service

Make sure that your customers receive good customer service so they will go out of their way to come back and buy from you again. Don’t lose sight of the fact that it isn’t just about keeping customers happy—you also need to keep them coming back! When customers are satisfied with your business, they will keep coming back even if it means having to drive further for gas.

Multiple Price Options

You need to be flexible when it comes to price. Not everybody has the same budget so you should offer multiple options at different prices. Make sure that you’re competitive enough compared to other gasoline stations out there (and online, too!)

Diversified Products And Services

If possible, diversify your services and products offered. The more choices that you give customers, the better chance you have of winning their loyalty. You never know what kind of service or product people want until they come in and try them out!

The post Factors That Make Customers Choose Your Gas Station appeared first on SOSpeedway.com.

There’s no question:  the gas station business has been, and will continue to be extremely competitive.

Couple that with additional headwinds from an overall decline in gasoline consumption and the breakneck changes in consumer tastes, it has become absolutely critical that Gas Stations, Service Centers, and Convenience Marts differentiate our businesses in order to remain viable.

Speedway Corporate and franchise owners should constantly be looking for creative ways to attract and retain loyal, high-paying customers.

One way to do that is to focus on the customer profiles that spend the most time and money at our Speedway locations.   In many ways the occupational service sector businesses fits the bill.

While our truck-stop locations are custom-built to service industries like transportation, our urban locations have had more of a challenge orienting our businesses to this unique and loyal customer profile.

Using survey information collected at selected Speedway locations in 2019, we’ll review some way in which our urban / suburban locations can cater our convenience store shopping experience for this key under-served customer segment.

Understanding the segment.

“I love the rewards programs here, but the gas station stalls are way too small for my flatbed tow truck.  I wish they had larger dedicated stalls for service trucks.”  Michael Campbell – One Click Towing Company, Cincinnati Ohio

The occupational service sector is comprised of around 20% of the overall service industry in the United States, with value production exceeding $3 trillion according to a the U.S. Census Bureau. It is largely mobile, typically providing on-site services to customers.

Business example include the home repair, home mitigation, utility, roadside services, home improvement, waste management, social assistance, and landscaping.

Because these workers are mobile, they tend to:

• Fill up more
• Purchase breakfast and / or lunch on the road
• Have more vehicle issues

According to survey data, over 45% rent or use a company service truck, and over 70% of these responders frequent the same locations day over day.

High value customers.

Typical jobs in these field pay well, but often require longer hours, and as such, would prefer to do their shopping, eating, and resting at these locations to save time on the job.

Some ideas to cater to these customers include:

• Fresh produce / mini grocery store offerings
• High quality dinner offering for overtime workers
• Comfortable rest area / outside eating area for rewards customers
• Free tire pressure fill for rewards customers
• Larger stalls reserved for service trucks for fast in and out access
• Truck maintenance service center

Getting the basics right.

“The outside of the convenience store looks good, but is a bit of a mess when you walk inside.”  David M. Brothers, Duke Energy – Utility Maintenance, Asheville North Carolina

While focusing on a specific customer segment may help drive profits, it’s important to not lose sight of the quality fundamentals below in order to keep your current customers and retain new ones.

• Excellent customer service – Your staff is the face of your business, so it’s vastly important that employees are always respect, attentive, and friendly.
• Store and station appearance – You could get everything else right, but if your location looks run down, many would-be customers automatically take a pass.  Ensure that your station looks sharp – inside and out.  That includes landscaping, trash receptacles, paint, lighting, and signage.  And always, ALWAYS include (and spend) a sufficient annual budget for maintenance and modernization.
• Cleanliness – Nothing repels repeat customers faster than a foul bathroom or dingy interior.  Make sure that windows, floor, and restrooms are spotless at all times, even if this includes having another staff member on hand to do the upkeep – it’s worth the extra cost.
• Competitive gas pricing – Make sure you are on your game with pegging your gas rates to your competitors.  Loyal gas station customers pay attention to the pennies, so make sure you are at least nominal to your closest competitors.

The post Customer Spotlight: The Occupational Service Sector appeared first on SOSpeedway.com.

A great short read from a customer’s perspective. Originally appeared in The Gazette 8/20/2020

Sometimes, gloom hovers over the drive north along I-25 to Denver. Troubles fill the mind and the terrors of endless construction along The Gap await and the temptation lurks to pull off the highway and surrender.

But then, on the northern edge of Colorado Springs, a beautiful sight glows in the near distance.

Yes, we’re talking about big signs that announce a gas war is blazing. Cheap gas can, for some of us, chase the blues away.Tuesday afternoon, at the outset of the ever-tormenting drive to Colorado’s Big Town, I stopped at Baptist Road to fill up with $2.09 gas after a day of driving past $2.39 gas. This filling delivered jubilation to my heart, largely because I was raised by parents who loved – in roughly this order – The Lord, each other, their children and cheap gas.

I understand aggressive attempts to save a few dollars make little, and maybe no, sense. I understand it’s weird that my heart aches, just a bit, when I buy gas for $2.35 and see $2.30 gas a few blocks later.

Thursday morning, I talked with Dr. Ron Berges, a Colorado native and psychiatrist. He told of his late Aunt Virginia, a thrifty woman who lived in Aurora. If she discovered cheap oranges in Arvada, she would drive 15 to 20 miles, through heavy Denver traffic, to save a small slice of her cash.

“It flabbergasts me that people will do this kind of thing to save a penny,” Berges said, laughing as he remembered Virginia.

But the good doctor offered a solid explanation for those long drives taken by his Aunt Virginia and other thrifty types.

“The common man — the unwealthy man, the average worker, even the average white-collar guy — always wants to keep more money and, this is key, get one over on some big company,” Berges said.

“They love getting a good deal and love the excitement and allure of the good deal to brag about to good friends.”

It’s just too enticing. It’s the ultimate cheapskate mentality.

And it’s a lot of fun, too.

My sister Sarah also internalized my parents’ cheap-gas obsession. Little pains me more than seeing a text photo of Sarah savoring the wonders of cheap gas. This spring, during the COVID-19 shutdown, she had the gall to text a photo of her filling up with – gasp! – 99-cent gas in Parker. I return the text photos as often as possible as we battle in our own gas war.

We come by this behavior naturally. Dad ranked among the busiest humans ever to walk our planet, but always found time for ridiculous drives to cheap gas.

The post The Boundless Joy Found In Chasing Cheap Gas In Colorado appeared first on SOSpeedway.com.