Get On the AFE!
Article Written By: Jacoby Garcia, Director of Sales, RigData
Part 2 of 3
While my previous blog post was on the value of Market Intelligence generally, this posting is focused on how to use RigData data to sell oilfield services and equipment into the oilpatch faster, better and cheaper. The win/win of sales in the ‘patch’ is to get your products and services onto the operator’s AFE and if you’re a commissioned salesman, you’ll get a commission on revenue bookings, invoicing or payment for doing so. Back in the day, die-hards used long cultivated rolodexes or industry directories to contact potential buyers – both that later turned into contact spreadsheets with the rise of PC’s in the 1980’s. Today, it’s not enough to know WHO the potential buyer is at Operator X or Drilling Contractor Y , you also need to know IF they are drilling, completing and producing, WHERE its occurring in the US or Canada, and WHEN drilling may occur. Since Horizontal completions now make up 60-75% of the total drilling project, predicting WHEN a completion may occur will allow you to have a jump on your competition. Similarly, knowing that permits with the intent to drill or knowing WHERE producing wells are, are proven ways to maximize labor and capital utilization at the lowest cost (cheaper), minimize prospecting risk and time (faster), in order to better identify, plan, predict and perform sales, logistics and operations.
While RigData has had paper and spreadsheet directories of both operators and drilling contractors for many years, it’s our high quality permit, rig location and production data that enables our customers’ sales teams to both: be more informed about their customer needs and close deals faster.
The analogy of homebuilding is instructive. Broadly, just as housing starts are a measure of the larger economy, drilling rig counts and forward-looking permit activity are barometers of the oil & gas economy. Continuing the analogy, if you’re an electrical contractor for home builders, you want to know where homes are being built in your area. Once you get in with the developer, your services will occur in a certain order of construction / dependency; after the foundation is laid, the walls are erected and the plumbing is installed and likely before the roof is installed. Just like electrical wiring is installed on a home, your company’s drilling or completion related product or service will be needed to be procured during the permit phase for you to Get On the AFE! Also important is the availability of the data geographically as well as the frequency of updates. RigData makes this activity data available for every region in the United States and Western Canada monthly, weekly and even daily for those that need to know “where the action is” with that frequency.
If you understand when your company’s product or service needs to be performed during the drilling, completion or production phase, the chart below will allow you to understand the RigData products that will help you to successfully Get On the AFE!
