I started working in the sales department for D&H United in December 2014.  One of the customers that I was focused on was Western Refining who owned the Giant gas stations in NM, AZ, CO and El Paso. We had had some success with Western in 2015 but our relationship changed in 2016 when Western assigned a new project manager, Tom Young, to our region.

Tom had a huge project load in northern New Mexico at that time and drove to Albuquerque to address all the work that needed to be done.  Since I had interior remodeling experience he asked me for my help and we spent three days touring stores.  At some point during our drive we discussed future work and I asked, “what does D&H United need to do to win your business”. Tom looked over to me and said, “Cuentas claras amistades largas” which roughly translates to clear accounting, long friendships.  He continued, “Mike, all I ask is if that if I have a question, you are honest with me. I will expect honesty from you and I will give you the same in return”.

From that conversation D&H United and Western Refining (now Speedway) went on to build strong relationships in both our Albuquerque and El Paso branches which generated a significant amount of business for us.  What was vitally important was that those relationships existed (and still do) throughout all levels of the organization not just with sales.  In fact, our relationship with “Western” was so strong that it endured not one but two purchases of them by other companies (Tesoro/Andeavor and Speedway). 

In all that we do, let’s remember, that honesty and clear communication are the building blocks for strong relationships.

As many of you know, Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores is a very big customer of ours.  They came to us in September of 2019 for help in implementing EMV (chip cards) at their stores.  The project initially included 11 locations slated for dispenser replacements in Texas and New Mexico.  However, due to D&H United’s strong relationship with Love’s, our experience, and our quality work on previous projects for them they increased the site count to 245 locations over ten states (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah).  Love’s ultimately assigned   us more locations than any other fuel contractor in the country.  This project allowed us to further strengthen our relationship with Love’s AND created service opportunities for our new service branches in Tuscan and Denver.

Dylan Schwarz, Supervisor of Petroleum Services for Love’s stated, “D&H United’s large footprint across multiple states and their commitment to our satisfaction prompted me to choose them for this project.  They met our expectations and were able to get us EMV compliant before the deadline without sacrificing quality of work.”