When it comes to fuel cards it’s fairly common practice when a new supplier is trying to win your business, for the last six to twelve weeks of their fuel card prices to be sent through to you on email.
This email contains the networks they can supply (Shell, BP, Keyfuels etc) and then the price that, they say, you would have paid that week.
Nothing wrong with that I hear you think. Well… yes and no. Let’s have a look at this in a bit more detail.
You can’t actually access these prices
Until you actually have the fuel cards in your hand to use them, then a supplier can tell you any price they want and it can’t actually be tested because you have no way to fill your vehicle.
The only time you can know the actual fuel card price is when you have the fuel cards in your hand and with your vehicle to use them. This is because at that point a supplier has had to decide what level of profit they want to make. And that’s when you can start to really see the proof in the pudding about whether the prices good or not.
There’s no public record of the prices they’ve sent
At Driving Down we hear this all the time… Why don’t fuel card companies display their prices on their websites or social media?
Well the truth is most customers will be on significantly different prices. The variation can happen for a number of reasons including:
- How long you’ve been with the fuel card supplier
- Amount of fuel you use
- How much time you invest in managing the account and keeping an eye on the price
- Knowledge of what the fuel card market and the wider oil industry market changes.
At Driving Down, our research has shown customers can be paying up to 35 pence per litre more than the fuel card price a new customer will be paying.
Why is this?
The answer is simple… from the current prices we’ve seen from the marketplace, most suppliers seem happy to make ‘low to no’ margin for new business in the early part of a relationship with a new customer.
The question you need to ask yourself is why would a fuel card supplier quote a price that makes them no profit?
Well, like many B2B sales models, there’s a reliance on a medium to long term relationship, over which period, margins can be improved.
If you relate that directly to fuel cards, and the weekly price change, there’s 52 chances a year to build margin, and therefore increase your price…if you’re not managing it closely.
And this is the crux of the issue… It’s not in a fuel card supplier’s interest to keep a customer on the price quoted on those early emails, at the beginning of the relationship. So you need to keep an eye on your fuel card prices and DO NOT expect them to do this job for you.
What you can do to be sure
There are a few things you can do to help understand this better when you’re making a choice about whether to go with a supplier or not:
- Ask your supplier what their average customer price is for the same week that they’re giving you their new customer price. This way you can make the decision will you be happy to deal with the supplier once you go from being a new customer to an average one.
- Make sure you know all the other charges that are included in an account. Ask about card charges, administration fees, non-fuel surcharges, etc. Get them to detail all the charges and what they add up to, you may miss it if it’s in the small print.
Or you can start to think about joining Driving Down
There’s a couple of things that Driving Down can do to help:
Driving Down only works with pre-approved partners, that have agreed to treat our members in a specific way. This means that some of the problems we’ve discussed here, are removed.
In addition, we also keep monitoring your account and the marketplace, so you don’t have to. If we spot something better for your business, then we bring you a range of options and should you agree, we auto-switch you to someone else. You have all the control, we do all the work! There is no catch – this is what you get as a Driving Down member.
Use our Fuel Management Service
We also offer a service which takes the time and effort of managing your fuel card, from your business.
If you choose this service, our team brings its experience to manage your account. We’ll keep an eye on your weekly prices, analyse the specifics on your invoices (surcharges etc) and if we spot anything we’ll get in touch directly with your current supplier to find out why and get it changed. If your supplier won’t play ball, then we’ll get in touch and give you the option to switch to a fuel card supplier that will look after you. Simple.
