If we look back, it would not be much difficult even for a superficial observer to realise that PSO has come a long way, from an unfocused entity to a real pathfinder. This transformation from orthodox bureaucratic style of management to a more progressive and professional approach reflects the change that PSO has experienced in the last five years in every domain.
No one factor or aspect can be singled out for this change in the company philosophy, which evolves from the combined endeavours of every person associated with this organisation. From the company management to the field staff, from the dealers to agency holders, everyone has contributed to the growth of the company.
It would not be out of place to mention that like all other departments of the organisation, Retail, which is considered to be the backbone of the company and enjoys significant percentage of the total company sales, has also experienced considerable boost in sales since the process of transformation has started.
However, prior to the transformation, the story was a little different in terms of market participation and company image with respect to its competitors. Hence, in order to understand the transformation process, a review of the industry scenario prior to transformation is imperative.
It should be understood that when we talk of pre-transformation phase, we are basically considering the scene when the Pakistan oil marketing industry was a war zone of three giants - Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Caltex (CTX) and Pakistan Burmah Shell (PBS), with PSO enjoying more than 70% share of the market.
However, the re-emergence of PBS as Shell Pakistan Limited sparked a new retail marketing warfare between the existing rivals.
Shell's new image projections through their new vision sites, aggressive promotion and quality service to customers changed the industry scenario in their favour.
Owing to increased marketing activities of its main competitor SPL, PSO, despite its strong distribution network, was struggling to maintain its market share at that stage. Basically, low brand image was deemed as the major factor behind the downward slide of sales graph.
Similarly, CTX also started to project its new "A star is born" image, which further dented PSO's market share in the industry.
In order to counter the marketing activities of the competitors, a need for a complete revamp of PSO's marketing activities arose, which led to the inception of the New Vision scheme.
The idea behind the New Vision was to project a brand new company image through high quality service and customer care. To cater to this objective, the old PSO logo was redesigned along with the retail outlet specification, which redefined the PSO station as a state-of-the-art New Vision facility with all ancillary businesses to cater to the hidden needs of the customers.
Consequently, the first New Vision station, the Stadium Service Station, located in a high potential locality of Karachi, was made operational in 1999, and since then, there is no looking back. A total of 110 New Vision stations were made operational in the first year of this project. Later, in the year 2003/2004, through the efforts of the concerned staff, the company managed to remodel 285 New Vision stations in a single year, which is an industry record, bringing the total of New Vision outlets to 1,459 till June 2006.
The initial few measures taken by the management to further the New Vision process was to bring the retail departmental working environment in line with the fast-changing industry scenario.
During this process, PSO experienced an influx of new and experienced professionals at all levels complementing old employees in their pursuit to achieve the desired company goals.
One of the most important tasks accomplished by the management during the initial period of transformation was to inculcate the significance of information technology amongst the employees which, if neglected, could have hampered the company's progress. The emphasis laid by the management on this aspect was evident from the fact that the company not only trained its employees but also provided them with the best-possible equipment available for effective communication and efficient expedition of work.
The sole objective of the management was to offer its employees a comfortable and hassle-free working environment. Be it a brand new office set-up or a clean surrounding, the management has gone all out to ensure the best-possible environment and resources for its employees. As such, today all the division offices and retail outlets across the country are linked to the head office through a number of state-of-the-art technical solutions.
A FEW OF WHICH ARE LISTED BELOW:
SAP LAUNCH: Some 11 models of SAP were installed in the company and launched on July 1, 2005. With this development, PSO became the first public sector company in Pakistan to have such a technologically-advanced business solution provider installed.
RETAIL AUTOMATION PROGRAM: PSO embarked on its Retail Automation Program and installed Pump Controllers at its New Vision retail outlets to automate collection and flow of transaction data from the fuel-dispensing unit to the head office. This information is assimilated by the Central Information System used for collecting and analysing data from all retail outlets on a real-time basis. A Geographical Information System has also been developed, which maps PSO retail outlets geographically.
PRICE CHANGING UNITS: PSO took a lead and conspicuously displayed fuel prices on the monolith signs to inform its customers about the prices prevalent at the outlets. Now, for price deregulated scenario in the country, the company has installed automated price changing units and can control them from its head office, thus, changing the prices instantly and offering customers the benefit of competitive fuel pricing.
AUTOMATED TANK GUAGING SYSTEM: Automated tank gauging systems have been installed for accurate wet stock inventory monitoring and control.
VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM: Vehicle Identification System is a solution developed mainly for PSO's Fleet Card customers, which identifies the vehicle in which the fuel is to be dispensed.
FIELD AUTOMATION: For the company's field staff, a Field Automation System (FAS) has been designed for collection of data from the field staff through personal digital assistants (PDAs) provided to them.
TRACKING: Tracking System monitors the movement of POL products across the country through tank lorries on a real-time basis.
ONLINE ORDER MANAGEMENT: The Online Order Management System, through which our retail dealers who are onboard the system, can order fuel on line, any time of the day, seven days a week, from any part of the world and plan their inventory accordingly. This system would be expanded to include our industrial and other POL customers.
These electronic solutions help smooth flow of communication, consequently, increasing the company's productivity and reducing margins for human errors.
IMPACT ON SALES:
Since the inception of New Vision scheme, which was a result of aggressive marketing activities of the competitors SPL and CTX, PSO's image and sales trend have been on the rise.
This boost in the company's image and sales can easily be attributed to the emphasis laid by the management on achieving the targets for the conversion of PSO sites into the state-of-the-art New Vision stations. Prior to the introduction of New Vision scheme, the company's sales graphs were showing a downward trend. However, effective marketing strategies by the management changed the course of the graph.
A relatively weaker distribution network of retail outlets of PSO's competitors has restricted them to the urban areas only. However, strong retail network and focus on New Vision has earned PSO a considerable boost in sales, image and brand equity in the recent years.
Hence, PSO New Vision sites are the main contributor to an extent of 77% in the total Pakistan Mogas sales and the contribution of old vision sites is 23%.
In HSD, the contribution of New Vision sites is 69% of total diesel sales in Pakistan and old vision sites contribute a total of 31% sales. Similarly, in lubes, the New Vision to old vision contribution ratio is 49% to 51%.
Apart from the New Vision, there are several other measures taken by the management, which contributed heavily to the image building and increased the marketing participation of the company.
SOME OF THEM ARE DETAILED BELOW:
COMPANY OWNED & COMPANY OPERATED (COCO) SITES:
Customer satisfaction has been the prime concern of the management and is considered as the vital ingredient in the company's improved image, which was the root-cause of the company's downslide. Hence, in order to provide the best quality service at the PSO retail stations, the concept of Company Owned and Company Operated (CoCo) sites was launched.
The idea behind the CoCo sites was to make these stations the flagship sites under the company's maximum supervision and intense scrutiny to maintain the highest level of operational efficiency, service and customer care.
Consequently, the first CoCo site was made operational in 2000, a step which successfully served the purpose of its initiation and contributed significantly in building the customer confidence.
Realizing the importance of customer satisfaction, which evolves through a provision of quality service and efficient customer care, the management laid great stress on maintenance and customer service provided at PSO New Vision sites.
Following are some of the measures implemented by the management in order to cater to the housekeeping problems and maintain proper upgraded retail outlets with emphasis on customer service. These measures played an instrumental role in PSO's increased market share derived through strengthened customer confidence and enhanced company image.
-- Regular retail outlet surveys to highlight the main maintenance and customer service issues.
-- Set-up of Customer Services Department to acknowledge and resolve the complaints lodged by customers.
-- Trained and well-groomed pump attendant staff.
-- Provision of additional non-fuel facilities such as C-Stores, Business Center, Internet facility, etc.
-- Strict implementation of HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) standards at all PSO stations to ensure the safety of customers and pump staff.
Media campaigns have always played an important role in making consumers aware of any new development at product or company level.
In its pursuit to enhance the company's image and to communicate the idea of New Vision to the customers, specially-designed sales promotional campaigns were launched.
These promotional campaigns, covering the electronic and print media, not only served as a vehicle to promote the new brand image but also played an active role in rebuilding loyalty amongst the consumers, eventually, pulling them back to PSO retail outlets.
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