The Road to a Better Customer Experience

A great customer experience isn’t just about friendly staff and reliable service. It’s also about making it easy for customers to do business with you—and easy for your team to serve them. 

Too often, simple tasks create unnecessary friction. Customers can’t find answers on their own, so they have to call. CSRs put customers on hold because they don’t have the right details in front of them. And in the worst-case scenario, a customer runs out of fuel. 

The good news: this doesn’t have to be your customer journey. The right tools can remove many of these roadblocks. 

Here are seven common roadblocks that fuel delivery and service customers experience, which you can remove with technology.

7 Common Customer Roadblocks

#1: New Customers Get Stuck 

What it looks like: Customers have to call your office, fill out paper forms, repeat the same details, or wait for your team to follow up before they can request a delivery or service. Depending on the effort required, this roadblock might keep someone from becoming a customer in the first place. 

#2: Routine Tasks Require a Phone Call 

What it looks like: Customers have to call your office to request deliveries, schedule service, ask simple questions, or check account details. Calls like these are inconvenient for customers and create extra work for your team. 

#3: Delivery or Service Status Is Unclear 

What it looks like: Customers are surprised by a delivery, miss a service technician’s arrival, or call to confirm appointments or next steps. Your team might also be in the dark about the status of deliveries and service appointments. This signals that communication and visibility can be improved. 

#4: Employees Hunt for Customer Information 

What it looks like: Customers wait on hold while the office team jumps between systems, searches paper files, or calls drivers or technicians to gather the details they need. It’s not lack of effort that’s the issue. Your team doesn’t have a good way to get a full, accurate view of the customer. 

#5: Drivers & Techs Don’t Have All the Info 

What it looks like: Drivers and technicians can’t access customer account details, equipment history, service notes, delivery instructions, or conversation history in the field. If your frontline team isn’t equipped with the information they need, they can’t serve customers well. 

#6: Billing & Payments Create Confusion 

What it looks like: Customers have limited billing or payment options, or they have to call to understand their balance, budget plan, pricing program, or invoice. This can cause delayed payments and extra effort spent on collections. 

#7: Deliveries Are Reactive 

What it looks like: Customers realize they’re low on fuel or have run out and need urgent help, creating stress for them and your team. Or, your team makes small, inefficient deliveries that waste time and money.

How Technology Removes Roadblocks 

Technology can solve many of the problems that cause these roadblocks. It can connect systems, reduce manual work, improve visibility, and make answers easier to find. 

It’s not about replacing personal service. It’s about giving your customers and your team tools that make everyday interactions easier. 

Technology for the Customer Journey 

• Customer access: online forms, digital onboarding, customer portals, self-service tools 

• Communication: text messaging, automated notifications, follow-up messages 

• Field operations: mobile delivery and service apps, digital work orders and equipment records 

• Payments: integrated payments, paperless billing, account history, autopay 

• Delivery planning: tank monitors, tank-level alerts, automated scheduling 

• AI-enabled tools: chatbots, agents, search, summaries, alerts, and recommendations 

Why Removing Friction Matters

Success requires strong customer relationships and trust. But customer expectations have never been higher. Friction can break trust before you have a chance to build it. It also creates more work for customers and your team. Over time, it can impact your bottom line.

Friction can keep you from winning new customers, keeping the ones you have, and ensuring they’re satisfied with your service.

When you’re easy to do business with, it’s easy for customers to keep coming back.

Coming Soon: The Fuel Dealer’s Guide to Customer Experience Technology

In our upcoming guide, we’ll take a closer look at the tools that help fuel dealers reduce friction and improve the experience for customers and their teams.