TLT: What are some of the biggest challenges facing your company today?
Boschetti: The biggest challenge facing our company today is the impact of the digital environment on sales and marketing. Traditionally lubricant distributors have been set up with a customer service and sales model that emphasized close personal contact with the customer. Customers or prospects would call in to our company and speak with a customer service representative who would discuss the products they needed, place their order and follow up as necessary. Our sales team consisted of strictly outside sales reps who would prospect by calling on accounts in person and developing the kind of trust that leads to long-term relationships. Most contact was made either over the phone or in person, a very traditional method of sales.

When I first started in this business, there were no cell phones and few computers. You called into the office three times a day and returned calls on payphones in the area you traveled. Sometimes it took until the next day to return a call. People had more time on their hands and were OK with you not returning calls immediately. Invoices were the only thing that computers were used for. There was no such thing as email or the Internet at that time. Business took place Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Fast forward to today, and this model of doing business has been upended by the computer and smart phone age. Today is the age of instantaneous communication and information. Now you are available to your customers 24/7. Emails and texts have joined the traditional phone call. People have less time on their hands to react and make decisions due to the immediacy of business. They have way more responsibilities due to consolidation and downsizing and often way more information than they can handle. Because of this, they often turn to the Internet to find out information and have adopted a self-service approach. They come to you already armed with product data and have a good idea of pricing before you even talk with them. 

This is the biggest challenge we face today. Everybody is an expert or at least thinks they are. Our challenge is to respond immediately to their needs, provide them with expert advice and change the way we interact with them on a sales and customer service level that more closely matches the needs of their businesses and the channel of communication that works best for them. We need to remain relevant by adapting to the ever-changing business environment.

TLT: How can belonging to an organization like STLE help you overcome these challenges?
Boschetti: First and foremost is by offering our sales personnel the information and tools to make them more knowledgeable about lubricants than the average customer running a Google search. Knowledge is power. Educating the customer is key. I encourage our entire sales team to look upon themselves as lubricant consultants rather than just sales people. 

Knowing the applications that are common in our industry and knowing the products that are best to recommend for those applications and then negotiating a fair deal is the key to success. Belonging to STLE and sending our sales people to training classes and conferences that are held by STLE gives us the best chance to be successful in the very competitive field of lubricant sales.


Louis Boschetti working at his desk for Ocean State Oil in North Kingstown, R.I.

TLT: Do you believe belonging to an organization like STLE will be more or less important in the future?
Boschetti: More important. Those companies that adapt to this changing environment will be successful due to knowledge and grasp of the technical side of this business. You can find a lot of information on the Internet, but can you have a knowledgeable individual visit your place of business to make recommendations and provide service beyond a delivery window you might get on an app? Can an application see the nuances in your particular business and make suggestions on the right lubricant for the job or a way to do things better in the maintenance of your operation? Human interaction will still be important, but it will be highly specialized. 

Those people who will survive will be those who are the best trained, knowledgeable and can adapt to this new business environment. That is why belonging to STLE is so important. By sending our reps to the STLE conference regularly, offering online education and training, they can stay at the top of their game and the forefront of our industry.

TLT: What benefits does your company see in having STLE-certified employees working for you, especially in regard to oil analysis?
Boschetti: Well, first of all we are required by our main vendor, Chevron, to have at least one STLE-certified employee on staff, as well as at least two-Oil Monitoring Analyst (OMA)-certified staff members in order to remain a First Source Elite level distributor. So from that standpoint, it is super important because we need to fulfill the metrics required of us. 

This helps us to remain eligible for more funding from the vendor and special considerations not available to lesser-tier Chevron marketers. Not only from that standpoint but from the fact that we have people on staff who can intelligently discuss how the lubricants a customer is using in their equipment are or are not performing properly and make suggestions to improve the situation. That has real value for customers.


Human interaction will still be important, but it will be highly specialized.
© Can Stock Photo / SeventyFour

TLT: Explain the benefits in sending individuals to the STLE annual meeting.
Boschetti: Our reps get the latest training from industry experts, get to network with peers within our industry and come back to us more well-rounded and educated sales employees. It’s well worth it, and we encourage it.

You can reach Louis Boschetti at lou.boschetti@oceanstateoil.com.