From its familiar ads featuring barking German Shepherds to its fleet of red, white and blue trucks, Woodfin Oil has established a comfortable presence in Richmond—like the commercials say—as "Your # 1 faithful friend." And comfort is a reason this homegrown company has risen to the top in a competitive marketplace. "We are the best at what we do," says Jack Woodfin, vice president and son of the company's founder. Thousands of Richmond-area residents call on the Woodfin Company, with its service technicians and quality products, to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And that is the way it has been for some 25 years.
Beginning with an Opportunity
John H. Woodfin Sr. started Woodfin Oil in 1977, after working more than 13 years in the oil business. The opportunity to come back home to Richmond and buy Exxon's home heating oil business was something he could not resist. And the results have been all that Woodfin could have imagined. Today, Woodfin Oil is one of the area's largest home heating oil businesses, with more than 400 employees and three offices. The company's headquarters is in Mechanicsville, north of the city. The firm maintains key locations on Stockton Street south of the James River and near oil terminals, as well as on Ellen Road in the industrial area near the Diamond. It also has offices in Goochland and King William counties, and has moved into the Fredericksburg market as well.
And with computerization and the high-tech heating and air-conditioning systems Woodfin Oil installs and maintains, the company is growing rapidly with the community.
Branching Out and Building on its Foundation
Beginning in the 1980's, Woodfin branched out into new areas with its WATCHCARD and Pit Stop operations. But they didn't stop there. 2002 was a year filled with still more new arrivals to the Woodfin family of products and services.
WATCHCARD is a commercial fuel business with about 30 fleet refueling stations that provide diesel fuel and gasoline to businesses that run fleets of vehicles. With its latest expansions into Tidewater and Hampton Roads, WATCHCARD is now conveniently located for customers from Tidewater to Charlottesville. And thanks to its new affiliation with the Commercial Fueling Network (CFN), WATCHCARD can help drivers and fleet managers alike by providing complete management services and assistance such as state-by-state regulations, instant reporting of transactions and real-time account controls. Today, CFN provides 1500 sites all across the U.S. and Canada and there are 400 of these sites in the Virginia/North Carolina region. It all adds up to WATCHCARD being a real asset for fleets, both large and small.
Under the Pit Stop brand, the company owns approximately 15 service stations, some of which contain sandwich shops, doughnut shops, and mini-markets. These stations can be found as far east as Williamsburg, as far north as Fredericksburg, and as far west as Lexington, Virginia. In October, 2002, the company introduced PitPass Rewards, their FREE customer loyalty program that delivers free gifts to customers for doing what they're already doing—making purchases at Pit Stop Stores. With PitPass Rewards, you earn points with every purchase that add up quickly to everything from FREE beverages and candy to UVA football tickets, TV's, DVD players and much, much more.
Also new is Woodfin's installation of the Raven computerized account-tracking system for deliveries. This technological advance enables the company to improve service dramatically and keep costs down by putting hand-held computers into the hands of the entire delivery staff. This enables them to have complete and accurate account information on-board all trucks and always at their disposal. Plus, it means customers get their invoice right at the time of delivery thereby saving time and the expense of using the old-fashioned mail. It's the state-of-the-art for Oilheat deliveries!
Another big addition to Woodfin is Plumbing Services. Now, you can receive reliable, expert plumbing from a company who already knows your home. This is an important addition to the Woodfin family because it provides customers with a valuable resource from someone who they already trust to do the job right the first time.
Still, the residential heating and air-conditioning business is Woodfin's biggest, highest-profile business. The secret to Woodfin's success in this area has been simple: "We will do it better than anybody else to keep our customers comfortable and happy," Jack Woodfin says. "That means sending out the best technicians on the East Coast to do heating and cooling installation and service. And it means providing the best products, whether you're talking about heating oil or an air-conditioning system. We do what's best for each customers needs."
New Technology Keeps Woodfin Out Front
As in many fields, technological advances have changed the heating oil business over the last decade, and Woodfin has taken full advantage of those advances. Today, oil burners are the most efficient system available for home heating needs, according to Woodfin, with some reaching 90 percent efficiency, compared with just 30 percent for some electric systems. "That shows what technology has done in that area," Woodfin says. And the computer revolution also has had an impact on the company's ability to meet customer needs quickly and efficiently. The company's computer system, along with outstanding technicians and top-quality products, creates Woodfin's focus: customer-first, quality service.
In recent years, Woodfin's service vehicles have been equipped with the Pegasus on-board computer system, which is similar to systems used by UPS and FedEx. Through this computerized system, Woodfin can tell customers almost precisely when a technician will be at their house for a service call—enabling customers to use their time more efficiently, since they can avoid the unpleasant waiting game that is necessary with many services.
"We know the customer's time is as valuable as ours," Woodfin says. "This careful scheduling is something our customers can count on. We all consider it a real plus."
The company's computer system is more than just a convenience. Woodfin says the firm's fleet of technicians usually work specific areas so they will become familiar with individual customers and their heating and air-conditioning systems. Often, the same technician installs the system and checks on it later if the customer has questions.
But in emergencies or in busy times, that particular technician is not always available. "With the computer, we can give the technician all of the customer's information so he's an expert on the home's system," Woodfin says. "He probably can go right to the problem, which saves him time and the customer money. Nobody else in this market has this capability."
For the Woodfins, Richmond was a place to come back home to in 1977, and it remains a comfortable fit for the business. "We have grown along with the residential and commercial growth here," Jack Woodfin says. "It's been steady. The kind of workers we've been able to hire are people who work hard and are loyal to the business and the customers. That's an advantage you won't find in a lot of places.
"We're the heating oil dealer of choice in town, and people recognize that," adds Woodfin. "We can meet all those needs, winter or summer. We run hot and cold."
