Rich founded Warm Thoughts in 1991 and has earned a stellar reputation for creating Breakthrough Marketing™ and sales solutions for hundreds of the nation’s premier residential energy companies and associations. He has been a featured speaker at numerous national conferences, and his columns have regularly appeared in trade publications serving the industry. Outside of work, Rich channels his competitive fire on the basketball court, where he is known for tenacious D, a sweet jump shot, and complete lack of jumping ability. He is an avid explorer, and despite his intense work schedule, he has managed to visit over 40 countries. Rich is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia (Go ‘Hoos) and a former International Vice President of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO). He and his wife Laurie raised four children in Montclair NJ.
BEN GUTKIN V.P., Marketing Services
Ben looks for marketing solutions for our clients from every possible angle. Formerly a Fortune 100 marketing executive, he is an online and direct marketing expert who has advised dozens of the nation’s leading energy services companies and associations on improving their web presence, search capabilities, direct response advertising and return on investment during his 20+ years with Warm Thoughts. He has launched and managed dozens of websites, SEO/SEM and broad-based advertising campaigns across the energy industry. He’s also been a featured speaker at industry conferences and meetings across the country. Ben is a self-described health nut, frequently cooking with kale and quinoa and attending daily yoga classes. He grew up in Canada and doesn’t understand all the fuss and complaining about cold weather.
RICH CARRIONE Director of Operations
Rich is our Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside. Behind the scenes, he manages Warm Thoughts' day-to-day operations, tracks performance metrics and ensures our clients are supremely satisfied with our work. When he's out front, he spearheads the NORA-related work for heating oil associations across the country. And since Warm Thoughts is the #1 provider of NORA programs, there's a ton of it! A 15+ year industry veteran, he's especially proud to be a key strategic contributor to Warm Thoughts' recent explosive growth. Rich's passion outside the office is fishing, which he'll do anywhere there's water. He's fished all over the world, from local waters in New Jersey to offshore excursions in Mexico and Thailand. And that's why he hopes Warm Thoughts' newest clients come from Hawaii and Costa Rica!
ED CARDELL Senior Consultant
Ed brings deep hands-on experience to Warm Thoughts clients, and is a recognized expert in the industry. Prior to joining Warm Thoughts seven years ago, Ed was the General Manager of the heating fuels division of one of the most diversified fuel companies in the country. He guides our clients who want to align sales, marketing and customer service to support increased retention, growth and profitability. He puts together marketing game plans, coaches sales and customer service managers, and delivers exceptionally high-rated training programs. Ed says “I like all aspects of what I do, but I get the biggest kick out of running our Breakthrough Groups- the member’s-only groups of fuel company leaders who strategize and benchmark for success.” When’s he’s not working indoors, you can find Ed cycling, hiking and kayaking, or drinking a good IPA at a bluegrass festival.
Tom Jaenicke Vice President, Propane Marketing Services
Tom's distinguished career in propane, spanning five decades, makes him an invaluable resource for our clients and the industry. He's done everything from driving bobtails to running marketing and sales for Ferrellgas, one of the largest Propane MLPs in the country. He also founded NRG Distributors, a gas appliance distribution company based in Michigan, which was eventually sold to Ray Murray, Inc. Tom continues to hold a mechanical contractor license and closely follows advancements in propane heating equipment and appliances. He is passionate about packaging all that experience and knowledge into helping our clients figure out ways to grow their gallons.
Tom is a frequent contributor to LP Gas Magazine. He facilitates a Benchmarking Council Group for NPGA and is chair of the NPGA Government Affairs Committee. All this activity barely leaves him time to tend to his small vineyard and commercially licensed winery in northern Michigan. Tom also likes to travel to faraway and exotic locales, like our headquarters in New Jersey.
Gary Corbett Regional Sales Rep
Gary brings both business development and athletic skills to the Warm Thoughts team. He is a former college basketball star, coach and now – referee. And while travelling may be a foul in basketball – it’s a pretty big part of his role here at Warm Thoughts. As Regional Sales Representative, Gary serves as our brand ambassador across New England, providing solutions that connect the dots to help companies grow their business. When he’s not developing, maintaining and strengthening business relationships, Gary can be found working on his golf swing at courses throughout the Northeast.
Cayce Lindsey Regional Sales Rep
Cayce's expertise is assessing opportunity and bringing digital marketing solutions to help you meet your goals. With over 8 years of marketing experience in the automotive industry, Cayce is the newest digital marketing guru to join the Warm Thoughts team. He previously developed digital marketing plans for thousands of automotive dealers throughout the U.S.A. and now brings that expertise to the fuel industry. Cayce serves as our brand ambassador throughout the South, Midwest and Western markets.
When he's not in the office, this Alabama native can be found on the golf course or spending time with his beautiful family. A former college baseball athlete, he's also recently picked up competitive wiffle ball.
Susan Janett Program Director
Susan is an unmistakable champion for the heating oil industry who spearheads Warm Thoughts’ Partnership for Realty and Oilheat Success. PRO$ has operated in 9 states to help Realtors overcome obstacles in the sale and marketing of oil-heated homes. Under her guidance, PRO$ has connected with literally hundreds of thousands of Realtors nationwide, coordinating thousands of in-office presentations, appearing at hundreds of trade shows, establishing a recognizable presence on social media, and getting much needed support materials into the hands of real estate agents.
As a former real estate veteran and award-winning top producer herself, Susan is passionate about helping other real estate professionals, and makes herself available all hours of day and night. Utterly authentic, this “Jersey Girl” always finds common ground, whether in the hills of rural Ohio, downtown Baltimore, or toney Greenwich, Ct. She is a master of social media, with over 4,000 Facebook followers, and helped launch Warm Thoughts’ very successful social media consulting program. When Susan is not in the field presenting the PRO$ program, she is passionately committed to saving animals, as founder and president of Rosemarie’s Rescue Ranch, Inc. (rosemariesrescueranch.com)
Michele Asfalg Senior Account Manager
Michele started her career 18+ years ago as an Account Coordinator for Warm Thoughts. Today, she manages and executes diverse projects for many clients. Michele is amazing at keeping projects on track, overcoming obstacles, and has a fierce commitment to getting things right. She is also Warm Thoughts’ go- to party planner, and helps lead our focus on strengthening our internal values and corporate culture. A simple client thank-you is the most satisfying part of her job. Her favorite superhero is Wonder Woman but her favorite role is Super Mom to her two boys. She cherishes the occasional thank-you from them, too.
Mindy Santiago Senior Account Manager
Mindy loves building great client relationships, problem solving and helping our clients with their toughest marketing challenges. A 10 year Warm Thoughts veteran, she works with some of Warm Thoughts biggest clients, keeping multifaceted campaigns on track. She claims to be particularly good at managing Rich Goldberg by persistently bugging him when he is a log jam on some project ( a recurring theme here.) She is a former high school track star and a big Auburn football fan. When asked what she does in her spare time, she said, “I have two young kids. I don’t have spare time!” That explains her favorite drinks: Cuban espresso and good sangria.
Sharla Herbert Senior Account Manager
Although she doesn’t wear them to the office, Sharla’s tap shoes would come in handy as she keeps the marketing rhythm moving with several of our top-tier clients on their digital and print projects. She’s delighted to bring her many years of marketing experience in account management, client services and consultative sales to them. As if you couldn’t tell from her photos, Sharla’s greatest passion outside work is the arts… music, dance and theater. She enjoys Broadway as well as community theater, where she has been active for several decades, as a performer, producer, choreographer and costumer.
Dan Montero Senior Account Manager
Self-admittedly fixated with the marketing industry, Dan looks to tackle our clients next digital, print and multi-media marketing endeavors with a fresh perspective no matter the challenge. He puts a dedicated focus on building strong client relationships, and believes ‘Lol’ should somehow find its way into (most) emails. As a devoted globe-trotter, he’s always looking forward to which stamp will be the next in his passport, and while his beard may turn many shades of grey as a long-suffering Mets fan, at least this George Mason University graduate will always have that 2006 NCAA Tournament Cinderella-run to look back on.
Allison Rosenthal Web Dept. Manager
If a project is digital, it goes to Allison. Whether it’s a website or anything in between, Allison manages all digital projects from inception to launch to ongoing requests. Prior to joining us, Allison had 20+ years of digital experience with consumer products companies in management roles including Digital Marketing Manager, E-commerce Manager and Senior Website Manager, all of which make her especially tuned in to our clients’ needs.
Allison has launched as many as four client sites on the same day. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has a way to go before he can match that launch pace. When she’s not here, you’re likely to find her behind the wheel chauffeuring her three kids around, reading or playing Mah Jong.
Tammi DiMartino Production Manager
Tammi possesses all the right ingredients to keep our print production, resource management and scheduling, and trade show logistics baking at just the right time and temperature. Previously she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and was the winner of a Gold Quill Award for Production Management from the International Association of Business Communicators. Her favorite sports teams are the ones her kids are on, including baseball, football, basketball, softball and soccer. Tammi claims her superpower is humor, which is a good thing since she once unwittingly was featured in a bit by David Letterman, “Top Ten Things You Don’t Want to Hear from Your NYC Cab Driver,” when Letterman, posing as a cab driver, didn’t take her where she needed to go in a timely fashion.
Anna Tabatchnick Social Media Strategist
Anna grew up in a family business, Tabatchnick Fine Foods, so she especially understands the unique challenges many of our clients face. She spends almost as much time on Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg – crafting fun and effective posts, developing an audience and analyzing data for our clients’ social media efforts. She takes special satisfaction in seeing her clients’ Facebook pages gets lots of engagement. When she’s not at work, you’re likely to find her tending to her plants, perfecting her photography skills, or playing ultimate frisbee.
Paola Catano Social Media Specialist
Paola lives and breathes social media – helping our clients increase followers, improve engagement, and generate goodwill and community connections. She loves the interactive, fast-paced nature of social media. Outside the office, she’s also keeping pace with her dogs – all 5 of them – a German Shephard, Maltese, Cattle Dog Mix, Border Collie/English Shephard Mix, and a Golden Retriever, Chanel (pictured). An avid traveler, she loves exploring new parts of the world, especially Bali and Colombia. She’s always looking forward to adding a new stamp to her passport – with a good cup of coffee in hand!
Robert Wahlers Senior Copy Writer
If one of our clients’ customers is reading it, it’s likely that Rob wrote it. Rob started with Warm Thoughts 18 years ago after working as a reporter. He has a terrific way of making technical things easy to follow, and understands how to make energy and home comfort interesting to homeowners. He’s written bill inserts, newsletters and direct mail that have reached literally millions of people, and now supervises a team of other Warm Thoughts’ writers. He gets special satisfaction from helping fuel companies—many of them family owned—communicate effectively during crises that seem to pop up every few years. He is also our songmeister, and updates his Warm Thoughts’ version of the “12 Days of Christmas” each year to many laughs, but no recording contract- yet. Rob loves looking after his granddaughter and his favorite quote is by Mark Twain: “Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”
Melissa Hebert Copywriter
Melissa comes to Warm Thoughts following an award-winning journalism career that included sportswriting and later feature writing with a focus on home and garden stories. She loves the challenge of finding the right words and arrangement of them to make our clients’ sites even better. Away from the office, Melissa takes in Broadway shows and art exhibits with her husband, visits family and friends in her native Connecticut and Ohio, and bakes treats for her Warm Thoughts coworkers.
Lauren Mendoza Account Manager
Lauren manages the day-to-day logistics of our oil associations and PRO$ program, which aims to educate Realtors across the country about oil-heated homes. When she’s not coordinating meetings, organizing program files, or maintaining spreadsheets, you can also find her teaching 5-6 Zumba® classes per week. Her love of dancing and music extends far beyond the dance studio. A former member of her college marching band, Lauren plays flute, piccolo, and piano. She’s also frequently spotted singing along at concerts or dancing through Zumba events across the Tri-State area.
Cathy Pedrayes Marketing Coordinator
Here at Warm Thoughts, we do a lot of marketing work for our clients – but we need to market ourselves too! Cathy develops our company’s marketing plan, content calendar and promotions to share with our clients and prospects. Cathy has a diverse background including a degree in Environmental Science, where she worked with oil companies and inspected underground as well as aboveground storage tanks throughout the tri-state area. You can always find Cathy working on our next blog, article, webinar or eBlast to educate and share knowledge with our industry.
Nathan Chickering Art Director
That wrench in Nate’s mouth is no accident. He’s our long-time resident graphic design handyman who sinks his teeth into every project that comes his way. He uses all the tools in his arsenal to solve the puzzle of fitting all the words on the page in a way that looks great and communicates our clients’ messages effectively. Nate has also used that wrench to fix bicycles while in high school and now enjoys riding with his kids when he’s not skateboarding or snowboarding with them.
Johanna Coxeter Digital Art Director
When she’s not using binoculars to see long distances, Johanna is envisioning ways to create engaging websites for our clients. During her time at Warm Thoughts, she has become an expert at balancing our clients’ needs to communicate their messages—not only through words, but with visual clarity that increases their sites’ overall impact. She previously was an art director at Book-of-the-Month Club® so she knows the value of a good cover. Johanna’s favorite exercise is lifting a glass of white wine, which may explain her creative bent.
Lauren Zintz Art Director
Before joining Warm Thoughts, Lauren almost gave up her life as a graphic designer to become a zookeeper. We’re glad she didn’t, as she adds design flair and impact to our many client print projects including newsletters, flyers, websites, direct mail and ads. For now, her love of animals is fulfilled through more domesticated pets: a long-haired orange cat named Bubba and a lab mix named Bailee. But you will have to wrestle her like an alligator if you want her to share those potato chips with you.
Jake Woodbury Senior Web Developer
Jake specializes in creating responsive, modern websites for our clients while developing new tools and custom scripts to meet their needs. He’s completed dozens of them in recent years. What else would you expect from somebody who used to develop online games with millions of users? In his free time, Jake does strength training, plays paintball, bass guitar and claims his superpower is ripping phone books in half. Of course, those books are getting thinner and thinner thanks to guys like Jake who are making them obsolete.
Josh Hong Web Developer
Josh is our resident web developer who is especially proud of his computer geekdom. He’s scratching his head because somebody just told him he can take his eyes off the screen and he’s not sure what to do. Off hours, he’s either browsing Reddit or sleeping.
Peter Kang SEO Specialist
A self-proclaimed SEO warrior, Peter works to find the best keywords to target and coordinates with our team of copywriters to develop a winning content strategy for our clients. He keeps up to date with the constantly changing Google algorithms and trends in search marketing so you don't have to. When he's not at the office crunching data, Peter can be found honing his photography skills. And although he’s a Jersey native, his favorite state is California – whether it’s taking in scenic views of the picturesque Golden Gate Bridge or trekking throughout Yosemite.
Harriet Carlin AR/Executive Assistant
Harriet is our jack-of-all-trades and master of them all. She manages our accounts receivable and coordinates our client Breakthrough Groups, meetings and training sessions as well as several other administrative tasks. When Harriet greets you at our front desk, you can feel her energy. She claims her superpower is nudging, which is especially handy in her position. She leads our office “Take-a-Walk Tuesdays” and away from work you’re likely find her touring museums and historical houses.
Emerlita Paguiligan Accounts Payable
Emerlita is a perfect fit as our Accounts Payable person. Like her photos, you’ll likely find her smiling as she makes sure our vendors are also kept in a good mood but she can be tough when she needs to be. Previously, she worked at a hospital, so she knows what a real emergency is. Off hours, she’s happy watching Filipino telenovelas or taking Zumba classes and takes special pride in her four grown boys.
Alex Liu IT Manager
Alex is Warm Thoughts’ answer to the Geek Squad. He keeps all our systems up and running and solves any technical problems we have from hardware to software on servers, laptops, mobile devices and anything else we throw his way. It helps that he claims his superpower is the ability to work for 24 hours straight without sleeping. If you find him outdoors, he’s likely tending to his seasonal vegetable garden.
Matt DeMaio Copywriter
Matt is our blogger and web wordsmith extraordinaire. He helps create strong customer connections by seamlessly weaving together our clients stories and marketing promotions. Matt has written for Nike, ESPN, and Book-of-the-Month Club and is recognized at Warm Thoughts for his ability to 'Just Do It.' In his spare time, Matt likes to travel and take photographs.
Silvia Revisore Program Coordinator
As our PRO$ program coordinator, Silvia Revisore manages and markets the day-to-day operations of PRO$, which helps realtors understand and sell oil-heated home listings. This includes coordinating multiple CE classes a day and developing eblasts, which Silvia handles with the cleared-inbox finesse of organizational guru Marie Kondo.
Before joining Warm Thoughts, Silvia worked in sales for a major beauty company, ran her own small business and obtained her degree in Business Administration with a focus on marketing. Outside of work, Silvia attends online classes, enjoys crafting and keeps up to date on all things football. She’s working on achieving her goal of visiting every NFL stadium in the country!
Rachel Bozek Copywriter/Editor
As the Warm Thoughts chief of grammar police, Rachel works on a range of projects for our clients, including writing website copy, editing eblasts and interviewing clients—and their happy customers! For over 20 years, she has created content for Nickelodeon, Disney, A&E and more. In 2018, she wrote The Rugrats Guide to Adulting (DK Publishing). And while the book is long done, she continues to welcome tips on adulting. In her spare time, Rachel can be found planning her next trip to the Jersey Shore.
Katy Woodbury SEO Assistant
Katy optimizes, formats and posts the many blogs written each month by the Warm Thoughts writers. Prior to being a stay-at-home mom for some time, she was Safety Administrator with USF Holland/YRC Worldwide trucking company. With three energetic kids, she loves to find new family adventures. Katy enjoys being out in her garden or in her workshop. Country life suits Katy—and her love of nature—quite well. Her favorite motto is 'Variety is the spice of life.'
After years of focusing on growth principally through acquisition, Bottini engaged Warm Thoughts to help aggressively grow its business organically.
Warm Thoughts refocused the Bottini brand, and helped the company put together a sales and marketing plan that emphasized growth in customer count and quality. We executed a new digital strategy, including a new website, SEO, social media and pay-per-click for both full-service and discount brands, which dramatically increased leads and web visits. We helped overhaul sales compensation, implemented training and invigorated customer communications efforts with newsletters, e-blasts, and more. We managed merger communications to maximize retention,drove a surge in budget and auto-pay accounts, and helped increased delivery fees on propane accounts with little customer pushback.
Highlights: Exceeded growth goals in propane and sales accounts, dramatic improvement in customer quality and lead generation, 500% increase in social media engagement—all within client's budgets.
Warm Thoughts manages over 150 websites and digital campaigns for propane, heating oil, and HVAC-related businesses across the country. Access to proprietary data shows us what works best to create experiences that drive leads and communicate your brand in a way that resonates with customers. Data guides us to create impactful “websites that work” with measurable results. Our services include:
Wilson Oil & Propane has evolved from a small oil delivery company to a mid-size diversified energy and home services company that sells oil and propane, HVAC services, duct sealing and discount fuel (in their separate Lawman’s division). Over the years, Warm Thoughts provided strategic and tactical support in the evolution of both the Wilson and Lawman’s brands, engaging a multifaceted modern marketing approach that utilized digital, traditional and social media, sales and customer service training, and coordinated customer communications. We helped pioneer their Homeshield offering, a bundled approach that has supported better new customer retention. They also extended the brand with creative use of truck wraps highlighting their auto-gas and charitable giving programs.
Highlights: 300% increase in customer base, successful launch of propane and discount fuel division, bundled selling approach which has resulted in substantially higher than norm program enrollments (service plan, budget, auto pay, price cap).
Sail Energy is a new consolidator that so far has acquired five propane and oil companies in New England. Sail faced multiple challenges as it sought to create a consistent brand identity while preserving or transitioning local acquisitions. Working with Sail’s executive team, Warm Thoughts crafted a brand strategy for integrating each acquisition that has facilitated significant retention, introduced new product lines and positioned each for growth.
Warm Thoughts executed a complete overhaul of the company websites, launched SEO, PPC and Facebook initiatives, repositioned service plans for profit, utilized direct mail and ambitious customer communications programs and PR.
Highlight: Exceptional retention of acquired customers, cost-effective leveraging of creative across all locations, 300% increase in social media presence, increase in service plan profitability by over $100,000, TV coverage of “spread the warmth” campaign.
Social media is an inescapable factor in our lives, and businesses who fail to tap its power are missing out on a significant opportunity to build their brand, engage with customers, and generate leads. On-line reviews are increasingly influential in attracting new customers. Warm Thoughts has generated tremendous success for clients by understanding how to attract more followers to them, and, even more important, engage . We manage your social interaction, with creative posts created just for you, and strategy honed by our success with dozens of fuel companies. We manage your reputations 24/7. We can also help you tap into very effective advertising opportunities on Facebook and elsewhere. We’ve increased our clients’ effectiveness by over 700% . We have over 300,000 people liking the pages we manage, including the most successful in the propane and oil industry. And we can make your social media presence a source of pride and strength for your company- whether we are doing all the work, or coaching your team.
It is much harder to manage your social presence in a way that impresses your audience and gets them to interact with you. That’s not something your typical customer service rep, or “salesperson who is always on Facebook,” or even marketing director necessarily understands. . It is easy to post items that make you feel good.
Located in southern California, Hyde’s began as a family-owned appliance repair business. Now in its third-generation, Hyde’s has managed to grow their business year after year and continues to celebrate the opportunity to give back to their community with their annual “Celebration of Giving” program.
By partnering with Warm Thoughts for nearly two decades, Hyde’s has improved profitability through service plans, communicated with customers via newsletters, bill inserts, and door hangers and entered the digital marketing space. As a result, they’ve has grown to become one of the region’s largest and most diversified HVAC companies.
CMC is a leading provider of management and services for industry-leading utilities, and one of the few certified Women’s Business Enterprises serving the energy-efficiency industry. Warm Thoughts has provided strategic account management for CMC as it has dramatically increased its footprint and revenues.
Print projects include designing RFP templates, infographics, logos, style guides, sell sheets, cards, brochures, invitations, truck graphics, trade show displays and direct mail. Digital projects include website design, development and maintenance, SEO, reputation management, eblasts and other promotions.
Highlights: Redesign of the CMC Energy corporate website, a re-branding project for the CMC Energy Connecticut site, several projects for CMC’s 40th anniversary (2017) and the acquisition of Clean Markets (2018).
Warm Thoughts has supported Ehrhart's evolution, transitioning the brand to Ehrhart Energy, orchestrating its marketing plan and introducing their tag line, It's not just business. It's personal. Warm Thoughts dramatically improved the company's digital performance with a new website, effective SEO and pay-per-click campaigns, and expanded social media. We’ve also integrated radio, direct-mail campaigns, newsletters, surveys and eblasts to engage customers across multiple channels and have instituted better tracking to make smarter marketing budget decisions.
Highlights: Successful implementation of a delivery charge that added hundreds of thousands of dollars to its bottom line. Plus 200% increase in website traffic, surge in monthly payment programs, re-balancing of promotional budget more aligned with goals, and reduction of customer losses.
Carroll Home Services has been a success story in a dwindling heating oil marketing in Maryland. And Warm Thoughts has been part of that story for over 10 years.
Warm Thoughts orchestrated sales and marketing plans that resulted in tens of thousands of new customers for Carroll, increased retention, and supported its diversification into HVAC services, plumbing, and propane.
We re-branded its Alliance discount division, and supported its significant growth.
Over the years, our efforts have used virtually every tool in the traditional & digital marketing toolbox, including organic social media, PPC, Facebook advertising, eblasts, highly targeted direct mail, billboards and radio advertising. We've conducted market research, trained sales and customer service personnel, and supported the brand transition to CHS when the company was acquired by the Star Group several years ago.
Highlights: successful diversification of business, acquisition of tens of thousands of new customers while driving cost per lead down by 25%, market research that changed approach to HVAC sales.
Parker Gas is a second-generation family business with 5 locations in North Carolina, and a cylinder exchange program called “Rapid Exchange.” As the propane market has come under pressure from heat pump and natural gas conversion, Parker looked to Warm Thoughts to amplify its marketing effectiveness.
Warm Thoughts identified key areas that would be important to improving Parker’s competitiveness. We completely overhauled its website and digital promotional strategy, which has led to a dramatic increase in visits and leads. We substantially improved customer communications by sending a newsletter several times a year to build relationship and positioning with customers to cross sell appliances. Warm Thoughts also helped Parker implement a delivery fee, first testing the concept to give them more confidence, and then managing all customer communications. We also developed a new website with a promotional campaign to significantly increase traffic to their Rapid Xchange business.
Highlight: Helped implement a delivery fee that has netted them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
With 16 locations throughout Louisiana, O’Nealgas needed an agency to pull all their marketing under one roof. With deep experience in the propane industry and an understanding of their customers, Warm Thoughts was the right choice.
O’Nealgas began the process with updating their website from something that looked nice and everybody liked, to a fully optimized marketing tool that would generate business. Our objectives were to help the company grow by acquiring new customers and selling more to their existing customer base. A combination of direct mail, newsletters, digital advertising and social media was deployed to help O’Nealgas achieve their goals, all with a budget that made sense to their corporate structure. Heavily focused on ROI, our efforts have been achieving real results for the past two years.
Energy United is an electric cooperative and the second largest electric utility in North Carolina, serving more than 120,000 homes and businesses. It also owns Energy United Propane, which has multiple locations in both North and South Carolina.
Warm Thoughts was first engaged by the propane division to significantly improve its customer communications and digital marketing. We created a new website, developed a customer newsletter and managed customer communications when it was time to merge one of its acquisitions into the Energy United brand. It also executed an aggressive “Opt-Out” budget plan promotion, which resulted in a 300% increase in plan enrollments virtually overnight!
Based on the success of its efforts, the parent company also engaged Warm to lead a brand review and create a new website for the electric cooperative.
Highlights: Overnight transformation of customer quality, seamless transformation of acquisition with few customer losses, integrated electric and propane digital presence under the single brand umbrella.
Warm Thoughts Breakthrough Groups™ offer the opportunity to learn from our industry’s leading strategists and from top fuel companies as well.
Volatile prices, pressure from conversions, changing customer behaviors, aggressive competition, fewer gallons per customer… Our market is changing as never before. We need to find real breakthroughs that will allow us to thrive in a new world. Breakthrough Groups provide an opportunity to cut through the noise and work one on one with your peers to solve your biggest challenges.
We meet three times a year to share ideas, benchmarks and explore new opportunities in a supportive, confidential and industry-focused environment. Unlike other groups, participation is limited to non-competitors so substantive discussion occurs and honest relationships develop.
Tap into the extensive experience of your facilitators, peers and other experts associated with the program and gain the chance to expand your own horizons and gain valuable insights into the issues you’re facing and achieve real breakthroughs.
Warm Thoughts leads the way in developing and executing state association programs that generate strong results for association executives and members. Considered the leading marketing and communications provider for heating oil and propane associations around the country, Warm Thoughts is:
the number one provider of NORA-funded programs in the heating oil industry, working with more than a dozen associations
the choice of the most proactive propane associations who are exploring how best to grow gallons
But don’t take our word for it, read what they have to say:
“Warm Thoughts has been a fantastic partner in helping us maximize our NORA funding. They have developed innovative programs that have exceeded our expectations.”
- Eric DeGesero, Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey
“Warm Thoughts hit the ball out of the park for us. They basically reinvented our approach to rebates, and in so doing, invigorated my membership, grew gallons and opened our eyes to a new way to approach marketing.”
- John Jessup, North Carolina Propane Gas Association
For companies that offer products and services to the propane, oil or HVAC industries, Warm Thoughts is a tremendous strategic ally. Twenty-five years of experience in the space gives us a unique window into how these companies make choices about vendors and allies and the best ways to reach the right players. Our creative team works wonders to get your products and services to market with the best possible positioning.
Poore’s Propane and Oil in Delaware is principally a propane marketer, which also delivers oil and equipment service through a subsidiary, Service Energy. For years, Poore’s focused on growth through community propane projects and diversification. It is the largest Blue Rhino supplier in the country, offers tank refurbishing, septic system replacement and more. When Poore’s decided to refocus on residential growth, it replaced its agency with Warm Thoughts who put together a new brand strategy, bringing Service Energy under the Poore’s banner to reduce market confusion. Warm Thoughts diagnosed substantial underperformance in its SEO and PPC programs and developed a new website and social media campaign that substantially outperformed its previous efforts. It provided sales and customer service support. Warm Thoughts also designed Poore’s successful service plan and budget program, and supported its tank refurbishing business.
For more than 25 years, Warm Thoughts Communications has brought cutting-edge strategies to the energy industry.
We are experts in understanding how your propane, heating oil and HVAC-related business makes money, how your customers think, and how to use modern marketing techniques to fuel your growth. Our team of 30+ professionals eat, sleep and breathe your business, and have done work for some of the industry’s most impressive companies, with exceptional results.
Five things that make us different from other agencies that specialize in your industry:
We don’t do cookie cutter work. We apply our special insights and proven programs to support your unique company.
We have an incredible track record for creating Breakthrough results that generate growth and higher profitability.
We’ve conducted deep market research into how your customers make decisions.
We support you completely with strategy, advertising execution, and sales and customer service training.
Our team includes some of the foremost experts in these industries, and we are easy to work with.
If you are looking for an ally to help you succeed in an increasingly challenging market, we are your competitive advantage.
Warm Thoughts Communications is an energetic group of marketing professionals relentlessly committed to our employees’ and clients’ success. We work hard and have fun in the process. We value commitment, initiative and high performance and we support
each other. On projects, with clients, in life.
Keep up on the latest trends and get insight into consumer habits, website content, online reviews and more.
What Google’s Latest Changes Mean for Your Website
If you’ve ever wondered how your website performs on a Google search, and how likely prospects are to find you, now is the time to take an even closer look at this issue. Google has announced a major update to their search engine optimization (SEO) algorithm for May 2021, which may have a direct effect […]