Winston Santos Inching his way to success
Winston Santos makes it big in LPG
business.
A vision without accurate execution is hallucination. Just when prospects of towering profits for companies and various business ventures is gradually delineating due to soaring economic catastrophes, many of this country's trade and industry establishments have hugely been impinged on substandard progression. The slowdown of financial viability for enterprises gradually declines causing the business cycle to pull down from unsustainable rates. No wonder the present time is called the dismal period. But make no mistake, despite the current sluggishness of productivity growth, one man is decisively shaking off the hurdles as he being the principal administrator of one of the largest LPG distributors in the country, Winston Santos fiercely combats market recession and competition threats from rival companies.
Being the Chief Executive Officer of Fabson, Inc., Winston envisioned wider and definite trade by straying from conventional assimilation of marketing strategies to continually uphold excellence in market leadership and sustaining a successful operation of business through quality products and quality service. With that, he perceives his worth by not only gratifying his customers but part of his management's success is his unselfish endeavor to make the lives of his personnel and staff improve. His understanding in sales and marketing in the LPG business at great length is deeply rooted from his past experiences as an agricultural sales representative for Shell Chemicals Company of the Philippines in 1968, widely covering the North of Luzon areas, Cagayan Valley, and the Ilocos region, offering agricultural pesticides, such as Azodrin and Furadan. Although it was his wife, whom he met after he was transferred here in Iloilo, who was originally in the LPG business aside from sale of appliances, Santos later joined her and in 1984, took over its management. But before that, having a degree in Agriculture, he had his own agricultural chemical business and farming. And further pursued his career as Marketing Manager at Cyanamide Philippines.
The over all picture of profitability in the LPG business is limited with such a scarce number of consumers in Iloilo, Panay and Guimaras. Yet the challenge did not dissuade Santos from positively going against the restrains of growing. "When I took over the management, we were only selling approximately 2,500 cylinders a month and 32 to 50 for 50 kg of cylinders. But I began to set a goal of selling 10,000 cylinders per month in 5 years but fortunately, I was able to hit my target in a shorter time of 3 and a half years." That already was a huge achievement on his end but he did not stop there. His persistence and hard work paid off when during their peak, they were retailing 4,500 cylinders a day, nearly averaging 55,000 cylinders being sold out in a month. Now another challenge emerged. The company reached its new lows when in 2002, recession started and the market prices soared along with the critical increase rate of fuel in the world market. "You have to be flexible and adaptable to the present situation. Because of the dramatic rise of costs and prices, many families who have a budget threshold for each expenses was willing to cut down and give up on using fuel. So they dropped LPG and switched to charcoal (uling) instead." In addition they also have to fight alongside leading fuel companies and the competition is tough. As a result, the market users of LPG contracted and the challenge went on.
Winston believes that hurdles cannot be avoided and that it acts as basis for achieving goals. Not the type to be easily deterred, he vigorously formulated a solution to the ongoing crisis in the market scenario. On a quick calculation he noted that using uling on a daily basis is more expensive than using LPG. So he introduced a new marketing concept to the consumers by letting them pay 20 pesos a day instead of paying for it in whole. "If these people spend as much as 50 pesos a day for uling, we will sell our gas for 20 pesos," says Santos. The new concept of distribution was instantly embraced in the households especially in small eateries. Upon the survey he conducted, the city approximately has 770 carinderias, and they were able to exclusively dispense to 440 small eateries. A year later after its success, they penetrated the households and now has more than 6,000 houses enrolled in the program. The problem in collection was responded by, oddly, how cancer works. He appointed "cells" (seldas), each cell covering 100 or more households. Not only does he benefit from the strategy but the "cells" and collectors as well gets a share in getting a commission of 100 pesos for every cylinder sold.
It truly is an astonishing marketing scheme. Still he admits that each triumph is not without frustrations. "Life is never complete without it," he reveals but his success is undeniable as it continues to preserve its market leadership even defeating over competitor Gasul.
Yet even in the face of the prevailing achievements he attains, he humbly acknowledges that it is his people that contributed greatly to the company's progress. In return, he includes them in his aspirations to grow and improve their lives saying, "I usually equate success with uplifting the lives of others. I am proud that whatever achievements I have I can cascade it down to my people. Money has its own way of enslaving you. But having it is not the end. The feeling of being able to share it with others is incalculable." It was he who introduced the Retail Trade Outlets Convention, an annual conference where top Shellane dealers in the area are given merit for an outstanding sales performance, giving away cash prizes, trophies, and home appliances as rewards. His future goals include building decent homes for his employees.
He is not the only one in the business, besides his wife Lorie who is head of finance, his children also plays a great part in the operation of their company. His eldest daughter Pien works as Chief Operating Officer, and also manages Coffee House Beanery, a trendy coffee shop. His two sons, Eric Jon manages logistics and commercial division of Shellane, and JR manages the operation of NRJ Shell Retail Station. And a grand niece Chinky manages the domestic division of Shellane, co-manages the Coffee Shop and assists in finance.
Winston's business principle is: "Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and the ability to perform shall cease to exist."