20 Minutes With Steve Knapp

By Nicole Gleeson, Editorial Coordinator | TLT 20 Minutes October 2026

This industry sales expert discusses customer-focused lubricant sales and connecting technical knowledge with commercial outcomes.
Steve Knapp - The Quick File
 Steve Knapp is an influential sales expert from the UK. A best-selling author and highly sought-after keynote speaker, Knapp's inspirational selling techniques remain a cornerstone of Shell, one of the world's biggest brands.

Knapp is author of "Selling Lubricants Smarter" and lead researcher behind "The Buyer Revolution," one of the lubricant industry's largest independent studies into how buyers want to buy.

With more than 35 years of experience in lubricant sales and leadership, including leading global sales excellence programs at Shell, Knapp now works with lubricant, energy and industrial businesses to modernize the way they sell.

Drawing on more than 25,000 buyer data points and three decades of front-line experience, his work is helping define the salesperson of the future, one that combines technical credibility, commercial insight, digital capability and a deep understanding of changing buyer behavior.

As co-founder of Plan Grow Do, host of the Beyond the Blend podcast and an international keynote speaker, Knapp challenges organizations to rethink traditional sales approaches and build customer experiences that today's buyers genuinely value.


Steve Knapp
TLT: How long have you worked in a lubrication-related field, and how did you decide to pursue a career in the lubricants industry?
Knapp: I've spent more than 30 years working in and around the lubricants industry and, if I'm honest, I didn't deliberately choose it. Like many people, the industry found me rather than the other way around.

What started as an opportunity to build a career in sales quickly became something much bigger. It introduced me to an industry that is incredibly diverse, technically fascinating and, above all, built around people. Over the years I've been fortunate enough to work with customers, distributors and colleagues across more than 45 countries, experiencing different cultures and industries but always finding the same common purpose: helping customers improve the performance of their businesses.

One of the things I've grown to appreciate is that lubricants are often invisible when everything is working well. They quietly enable industries to operate, keeping equipment reliable, improving efficiency and extending asset life. Behind almost every successful manufacturing plant, mine, transport fleet or industrial operation is a lubrication strategy that most people never see.

Early in my career I thought I was selling lubricants. It didn't take long to realize I was actually helping customers solve business problems. The conversations that mattered were never simply about oil or grease. They were about reducing downtime, improving reliability, lowering operating costs, increasing productivity and creating confidence that critical equipment would continue performing as expected.

That realization shaped the rest of my career. Whether leading global sales excellence programs, coaching sales teams or, more recently, conducting research, my passion has always been understanding people and helping organizations create greater value for their customers. The lubricants industry has simply been the perfect place to do that.

TLT: What has been your most rewarding accomplishment throughout your career in the lubricants industry?
Knapp: There have been many moments that I'm incredibly proud of, but as I reflect on my career, I realize that very few of them relate to sales numbers or commercial success. The greatest satisfaction has come from helping people grow.

During my career I've had the privilege of leading sales excellence initiatives involving thousands of sales professionals across more than 45 countries. Watching individuals develop confidence, adopt new ways of thinking and achieve things they previously didn't believe possible has been far more rewarding than any sales target I've ever achieved personally.

In more recent years, creating The Buyer Revolution has become another career highlight. For decades we've talked about becoming customer-centric, yet very few people had actually stopped to ask lubricant buyers how they wanted to buy. That curiosity led us to undertake one of the industry's largest independent research projects into lubricant buying behavior.

The findings have challenged many traditional assumptions and, hopefully, encouraged suppliers to think differently about how they engage customers. Giving buyers a genuine voice and helping sellers understand the changing expectations of modern procurement and engineering professionals has been immensely satisfying.

If I hope to leave any legacy within the industry, it won't be a product or a sales figure. I'd like it to be the contribution we've made toward making selling more professional, more customer-focused and ultimately more valuable for everyone involved.

TLT: What is the No. 1 piece of advice you would give to a person who might be interested in starting a career in the lubricants industry?
Knapp: Without hesitation, my advice would be to stay curious.

The lubricants industry rewards people who genuinely want to learn. Every customer, every application and every industry presents something different. One day you may be discussing steel production, the next food manufacturing, renewable energy, mining or marine applications. The learning never stops, and that's one of the reasons I've enjoyed this career for so long.

Of course, technical knowledge matters. Understanding lubrication, reliability, contamination control and application requirements helps build credibility, but I'd encourage anyone entering the industry not to stop there.

- Learn about your customers' businesses.
- Learn what keeps them awake at night.
- Understand how they measure success.

The most successful people I've worked alongside haven't simply been experts in lubricants. They've been experts in understanding people and connecting technical knowledge with commercial outcomes.

Even after three decades, I still find myself learning every week. Technology continues to evolve, customers continue to change and buying behaviors continue to shift. Remaining curious has probably been the single biggest contributor to both my enjoyment of the industry and whatever success I've been fortunate enough to achieve.

TLT: Throughout your sales career in the lubrication industry, which market segment, customer type or product line has presented the most interesting, challenging or rewarding sales opportunities, and what made it stand out?
Knapp: The opportunities I've enjoyed most have always been those where lubrication is directly connected to improving reliability and business performance rather than simply supplying a product.

Working with industrial manufacturers, mining operations and large engineering organizations has been particularly rewarding because the conversation naturally moves beyond price and product specification. You're discussing production uptime, maintenance strategy, equipment life, operational efficiency and risk. Those are meaningful business conversations where the lubricant becomes part of a much bigger picture.

They are also among the most challenging environments because there is rarely just one decision-maker. Engineers, maintenance teams, procurement professionals, operations managers and senior leaders all have different priorities, different measures of success and different concerns. Building consensus across those groups requires patience, empathy and the ability to communicate value in different ways.

Looking back, the projects I remember most aren't those where we sold the most lubricant. They're the ones where we genuinely helped customers improve their business. When lubrication becomes part of a wider conversation around reliability, sustainability, productivity and long-term partnership, everybody wins.

Perhaps that's why I've become so passionate about understanding how buyers buy. Customers don't wake up wanting to purchase lubricants. They wake up wanting their equipment to perform, their operations to run smoothly and their businesses to succeed. The more closely we align ourselves with those outcomes, the more valuable we become.

TLT: What are some of the most technically demanding lubrication concepts you've had to master in order to effectively sell, specify or troubleshoot products for your customers? How did that technical knowledge influence your credibility or close rate?
Knapp: Throughout my career I've needed to become comfortable discussing everything from viscosity selection and additive technology to oil analysis, contamination control, grease application, tribology and lubrication reliability. Working alongside engineers and reliability professionals meant that technical credibility was never optional. Customers quite rightly expected you to understand both the science behind the product and the realities of its application.

What surprised me, however, was that technical knowledge alone rarely won the business.

Technical expertise earns respect. Commercial understanding earns trust.

The most successful conversations weren't those where I demonstrated the greatest knowledge of lubricants. They were the conversations where I could connect technical performance with outcomes that genuinely mattered to the customer. Reduced downtime, lower maintenance costs, improved energy efficiency, extended equipment life and greater operational confidence were the things customers really cared about.

As my career progressed, I found myself spending just as much time learning about business strategy, leadership and customer behavior as I did learning about lubricants. In many ways those disciplines complemented one another. Technical knowledge helped me earn a seat at the table; understanding the customer's commercial world helped me stay there.

That balance has shaped much of my thinking ever since and remains something I encourage sales teams to develop today.

TLT: What is the one thing you wish you would have learned earlier in your career?
Knapp: If there's one thing I wish I'd understood much earlier in my career, it's that selling isn't about persuading people to buy. It's about helping people make better decisions.

Like many people starting out in sales, I spent a lot of time thinking about presentations, product knowledge, handling objections and how to close business. I thought the best salespeople were those with all the answers. Experience taught me something very different. The people who consistently earned trust weren't necessarily the best presenters; they were the best listeners. They asked thoughtful questions, took the time to understand the customer's world and helped them navigate difficult decisions.

That belief has only grown stronger through our Buyer Revolution research. Today's buyers have access to more information than ever before and often complete a significant amount of their buying journey before they ever speak to a supplier. They don't need someone to recite a brochure or deliver a product pitch. They need someone who can provide insight, application knowledge and the confidence that they're making the right decision.

If I could go back and speak to the younger version of myself, I'd tell him to spend less time trying to impress customers and much more time trying to understand them. I'd also remind him that every customer interaction contributes to your reputation. Products change, markets evolve and businesses come and go, but your reputation has a habit of following you throughout your career.

Looking back now, I realize the lubricants industry has given me far more than a profession. It has allowed me to travel the world, work alongside remarkable people, experience different cultures and build friendships that have lasted decades. I've been fortunate to witness the industry evolve and, hopefully, play a small part in shaping how it continues to develop.

Perhaps that's the biggest lesson of all. I was never simply building a career selling lubricants. I was building a career centered around people, relationships and helping others succeed. That's something I'm incredibly grateful for.

You can reach Steve Knapp at steve@plangrowdo.com.