Mary Skipton knows about taking risks.
She took her life savings and her
retirement and committed them to founding Energon Inc. to take advantage of the
deregulation of the natural gas industry in
Illinois. She saw the deregulation as a
unique opportunity
that would only happen once.
She knew that a
small company’s
longevity is driven by
its niche in the industry. When launching
the company in 1992,
Skipton knew the company must differentiate itself from the other players in
the market. The company achieved this
by developing its own software to manage customer accounts; providing quarterly and annual budgets and rate and
cost savings analyses at no cost to the
customer; not using automated phone
attendants — real people have always
answered the phones at the company;
and managing information on a timely
basis.
Skipton has always believed that the
key to profitability was not how many
customers you have but who you have as
customers. Not all customers are a good
fit, and Skipton never intended Energon
to be a national company. However, its
superior customer service and responsiveness, its focus on margin over volume, and its commitment to following
risk guidelines and managing its accounts
receivables has resulted in serving
clients locally, even though their scope
of operations are national and international.
Energon’s customers include 16
Fortune 500 customers as well as a
select group of private companies in
Chicago, New York, Boston, Dallas and
Los Angeles.
HOW TO REACH: Energon Inc., www.energoninc.com or (312)
443-5700