DEALER WINS • PROPANE
How Wilcox Energy grew their propane customer base by 150%
Wilcox wanted to enter a new service area and grow. Navara built the strategy, the systems, and the digital presence to make it happen.
INDUSTRY
Propane • Heating Oil • HVAC
LOCATION
Connecticut
SERVICES
Website • Local SEO • Google Ads • Reputation Management
THE SITUATION
Wilcox Energy had spent years trying to make marketing work...
Agencies came and went. Money was spent. And at the end of it, the customer count barely moved.
When they decided to push into a new propane service area, they knew they needed a different kind of partner — one who could build a real strategy, not just run ads and send reports.
They were ready to grow, and they needed someone who could match that ambition with a plan that actually held up in the field.
WHAT WE DID
Navara started with a propane-first approach...
Wilcox's website was rebuilt propane-first, structured for local search, optimised for service intent, and designed so a prospective customer in a new town could find them, understand what they offered, and request service without friction. Organic traffic more than doubled in 2024, from 13,713 to 24,786 sessions.
Local landing pages went up in each new market. Built to rank from day one and capture demand before competitors knew Wilcox had arrived. Google Ads were overhauled to target propane switchers with intent to buy, not just browse. The result: 3,266 direct calls through their Google Business Profile in 2024 alone. The review program was rebuilt from scratch. Navara made it easy for techs to ask and customers to respond. Reviews grew from 40 to 400.
Behind the scenes, automated follow-up and lead tracking meant nothing slipped through. Since 2018, Wilcox has captured 4,100+ inbound leads through their website forms.
Email kept existing customers engaged and drove seasonal conversions — 591,910+ emails sent since 2016, at a 43% open rate.
THE RESULTS
The difference it made
1,600 > 4,000
Online propane accounts
150%
Propane customer growth
45%
Email open rate
Growing a propane customer base by 150% isn't a campaign result — it's what happens when every part of the digital operation works together. New customers found Wilcox because the local pages ranked. They called because the ads were targeted. They stayed because the follow-up was automatic. And the heating oil side told the same story: online gallons sold grew 4.5x since 2017, from 40,000 to 180,000. When the whole system runs, the numbers move.
IN WILCOX’S CUSTOMERS WORDS
What Wilcox customers said
CUSTOMER REVIEW ★★★★★
""We lost heat during the coldest week of the year. John and Mike from Wilcox were outstanding. Knowledgeable, professional, and expert in every way. We very much appreciate their response to our situation. They worked quickly and efficiently to restore our heat and hot water.
CUSTOMER REVIEW ★★★★★
"Wilcox did an exceptional job installing a new boiler and water heater for me. All the guys were friendly, courteous and professional throughout the install - which went very smoothly and quick. I’m so pleased with their work
CUSTOMER REVIEW ★★★★★
"Wilcox Energy is a quality company that offers a solution for my HVAC needs"
HEAR FROM THE OWNER
John McCall - Wilcox Energy
"The business growth has been phenomenal. Our customers and volume has doubled. We've thrown a lot of money at marketing companies over the years, but nothing really changed our sales or customer count like Navara. Their no-nonsense approach at understanding and maximizing data and Google algorithms pushes traffic to our website and makes the phone ring off the hook."
John McCall — Wilcox Energy
CLIENT PARTNER NOTE
What made this work
Bryce Harrisberger - Lead Client Partner
"Wilcox knew what they wanted — they just needed a team that could execute against a real strategy, not just activity. The turning point was getting the local pages right. Once new markets could find them on Google, everything else had something to work with."
THE TAKEAWAY
The lesson
Entering a new service area isn't just a sales problem — it's a visibility problem. If the right customers can't find you on Google the day you arrive, you're starting every conversation from behind. Wilcox Energy built their propane business by getting the digital foundation right first. Local pages, targeted ads, automated follow-up.
The leads followed.
Want results like this?
Want results like this? Talk to a Client Partner — no pitch, no pressure. Just a real conversation about your business.
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