Summary:
The French company is specialised in the distribution of LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) and bio-LNG.
The company seeks representatives / agents to promote its specialised fuel card, which allows transporters to refuel economically and efficiently their LNG trucks along the main European corridors. The partnership sought is a commercial agency agreement.
Description:
The company, located in France, is an expert of the distribution of LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) and bio-LNG, which is an alternative fuel, particularly suitable for heavy goods vehicles on international trips.
The company is owned and managed by a team of professionals with 10 years' experience in the LNG distribution.
In 2020 the turnover was just below 1 million euros.
The company's flagship product is a refuelling card dedicated to LNG trucks. Haul transporters who need to refuel in many points during their journeys across various European countries do find it very useful. The card is currently accepted for LNG/CNG (compressed natural gas) purchases in an ever-expanding network (currently 80+) stations across Europe.
The target customer segment consists in small and mid-size hauliers (with 1 to 500 heavy goods vehicles 19 to 44 gross weight) covering long-distance, international routes in Europe. It would be appreciated if target customers have already ordered at least one LNG or several CNG trucks.
The company has been recruiting new customers from various countries, via (1) referrals from existing customers of its, (2) internet searches bringing prospects to its website, and (3) via user trials of its mobile application.
In order to keep up with market growth, the company has a development plan that includes:
• Strengthening technical capability to handle refuelling transaction,
• Automatising customer care and support
• Expanding the network (to 200 LNG stations by 2023)
• Improving online presence and becoming the leading brand in this niche sector
• Building a European sales network.
So far in 2021 the company has signed a commercial agreement with a reseller in Italy and recruited its first agent (for the Bulgarian & Turkish market).
Cooperation sought is under a commercial agency agreement. The partner should be in charge of the promotion of the card through its distribution channels.
He/she should take care of marketing actions in order to promote the card; and be in charge of communication plan in his/her region.
Type (e.g. company, R&D institution…), field of industry and Role of Partner Sought:
Company's objective is to build, within 12 months, a network of partners (mainly independent sales agent but resellers are also considered) covering all European countries with a focus on: Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Benelux, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria.
The task of the partners being recruited is to build and maintain their own portfolio of customers (long haul transporters) using the fuel card to refuel their LNG trucks. The partners are free to recruit any customers with whom the company is not already in contact yet.
The activity of the partner is to get customer to sign a supply contract with the company. They get involved in the negotiation of the conditions within the authorities. Once the contract is signed, the company's customer services takes over the operational relationship with customers: issuance of cards, communications, support, invoicing, etc. The partners are kept informed of the performance of the customer's contract and might from time to time requested to intervene in case of issues (driver behaviour, payments, etc.) that might have a bearing on the volume realised by the customer. Depending on their capability and interest, their scope might be expanded by mutual agreement to other activities, such as training, market scouting, trade fairs, customer support, to negotiated and remunerated with specific agreements.
The partners shall receive a monthly commission that it is proportional to the volume (in Kg) of LNG / CNG refuelled by each customer (or in case of resellers they will make a margin on the LNG/CNG resale). The unit commission is made of a fixed element (€/Kg) which is the same for all customers, and a second variable as function of previously defined targets, such as the contractual discount granted to each customer.
The French company is seeking experienced partners with a proven track record of promoting goods and services to long haul transporters, which they know intimately, in the European countries mentioned above. Particularly suitable are multi-brand partners that already have an active portfolio of relevant customers, and have the bandwidth available to carry an additional product.
Partners must speak either French or English in order to communicate easily.
The company will provide full training about the new fuel (LNG and CNG) and refuelling cards, so no prior specific (LNG/CNG) experience / knowledge is required.
External code:
BOFR20210430001
