I’m the type of guy who’ll drive a mile down the road to get a nickel off unleaded gas. I can tell you what my heating bill was in January, exactly. I don’t think of myself as cheap, because I’m happy to pay for quality where I can find it. But I do want to be smart about getting the best price I can for the things I want to buy. I think a lot of people are like that, especially these days.

That’s why it never ceases to amaze me when I see customers willing to renew – without thinking, really – with their incumbent energy supplier.

Look… the fact is energy is a commodity. Sure there can be minor differences in billing and other “services”, but at the end of the day the leverage for your company is getting the most for your money, just like it is for your family. The lower your commodity price, the more profitable your business is, and in the long run the more your company is worth.

And unlike most commodities, the price of energy can vary widely in any given location at any given time. An incumbent supplier who knows he can take your business for granted has little or no incentive to sharpen his pencil, especially if you don’t ask him to.

Time and time again, we have seen incumbents submit a renewal offer that seemed pretty good. Then when we review it and indicate to the client that there could be better pricing available by seeking competitive offers, the incumbent tries to pre-empt the customer from going to market by coming back with their “best price.” Sometimes that pricing also goes to our customer’s boss. So much for relationships.

Part of the reason people go with their default supplier is all the hassle, time, and effort of the old paper RFP process. But to steal a phrase from the recent Capital One commercial… “Quit procuring energy like a Pilgrim!”

Nearly every time we help a customer test the market by running a competitive event, they end up with a better price. And almost without exception, the incumbent lowers their former “best price” in that event. Pretty good, huh? But wait, there’s more. Oftentimes, the incumbent is beaten by another competitor hungry to win new business.

How can this be? Well first of all, markets change, suppliers hedge at different times, and their portfolios relative to one another change. Last year’s low price supplier may not be lowest this year. There also could be competitive dynamics are at work. Perhaps someone is willing to take less margin to win business in a market.

However it happens, the bottom line is we can almost definitely get you a better price on energy than you’ll be able to get without the competitive dynamics our process puts in place. So if you’re the type of person who likes to be smart about spending money, why not give us a call?