Getting more propane customers means owning the top Google result when a homeowner in your service area searches for propane delivery, running a referral program that incentivizes your best customers to spread the word, reactivating lapsed accounts before they establish with a competitor, and never letting a will-call customer reach another heating season without converting to autofill. The operators who grow fastest treat customer acquisition and retention as the same machine.
Where new propane customers actually come from
Before spending on ads, understand your actual acquisition mix. For most independent propane dealers, new customers arrive through four channels:
1. Referrals from existing customers (30–40% of new accounts for high-performing dealers). The propane industry runs on trust and word of mouth. A satisfied autofill customer who hasn't worried about runouts in three winters will mention you by name when a neighbor calls asking who they use. This channel is the lowest-cost customer acquisition available and is typically underprogrammed — most dealers rely on it passively rather than building a referral mechanism.
2. Organic search and Google Business Profile (20–35%). When a new homeowner moves into your service area or a renter buys their first house with a propane system, they search Google. Your GBP profile and local search ranking determine whether that search ends with your phone number or a competitor's.
3. Move-in lists and direct mail (10–20% for dealers who work it). Targeted direct mail to new homeowners moving into your service area — pulled from county deed transfer records or USPS move data — reaches propane prospects at the highest-intent moment of their homeownership. A family that just moved to a rural property with a propane system needs a supplier immediately.
4. Win-back of lapsed accounts (10–20% for dealers running an active campaign). Former customers who switched — or who haven't ordered in 18+ months — are the most underworked customer acquisition channel in propane. They already know your name, your drivers, and your route. Re-establishing is easier than recruiting fresh.
Tactics by channel
Referral programs
An explicit referral program outperforms passive word-of-mouth by 3–5x. The mechanics matter more than the reward value:
- Make the ask easy: text your customer 2 hours after delivery while experience is fresh. "If you know a neighbor who needs propane, we'd love the introduction — and we'll give you [reward] for any new account that joins."
- Reward both parties: the referrer AND the new customer should both receive something (gallons credit, account credit, gift card).
- Track it: a referral that arrives without a tracking mechanism is revenue you can't attribute, a behavior you can't reinforce, and a lever you can't optimize.
Most operators have a referral program in name only. A simple text-message ask with a tracked discount code will outperform a paper referral card that no one fills out.
Google search and GBP
See Does local SEO work for propane companies? for the full breakdown. The short version: claim and fully optimize your GBP, add city-specific landing pages to your website for every town in your service radius, and build review velocity. This is the marketing flywheel that runs while your drivers are on route.
New-homeowner outreach
Move-in list programs work because the timing is perfect. A homeowner who just moved to a property with a 500-gallon underground propane tank has an immediate, non-deferrable need. Direct mail with a specific offer ("First-fill discount for new neighbors") and a clear call to action (phone number, website) converts well in this window. The window closes — 60 to 90 days after move-in, most new homeowners have established a propane relationship.
Win-back campaigns
A lapsed customer list is one of the most valuable assets an established dealer has. A simple sequence — a letter or email acknowledging the gap, followed by a phone call from the owner — reactivates 10–20% of lapsed accounts when timed correctly (late summer, before fill season).
The script is direct: "We haven't delivered to you in a while. We'd like to earn your business back. Here's what we've changed / what we'll do differently." Operators who make the call themselves, rather than delegating it to a CSR, see materially higher reactivation rates.
The retention side of customer growth
The fastest way to grow your customer base is to stop losing the customers you have.
Every will-call customer is a quarterly churn risk. They think about propane when their tank gauge hits 30% — which is also when a competitor's coupon or a single delayed delivery can trigger a switch. Converting will-call customers to autofill removes that decision window.
The autofill conversion pitch is most effective in late summer (August–September), before fill season, when customers aren't stressed about running out. Frame it around convenience and security: "You'll never monitor your tank, never call us to schedule, and never risk a runout in January." That framing converts better than a price-based pitch.
Dealers who actively convert their will-call base to autofill typically see 15–25% reduction in annual churn — which compounds faster than any new-customer acquisition campaign.
The PIMS system for propane customer acquisition
PIMS (Propane Insider Marketing System) handles the marketing infrastructure behind the channels above — GBP optimization, local search rankings, review programs, and customer communications — as a managed service for propane delivery operators. The goal is putting your name in front of the right customer at the right moment, without requiring you to become a marketing expert on top of running your routes.