Chief executive’s view Pamela Taylor, Water UK

Alliances and partnerships with organisations inside and outside the water sector are crucial in order to understand and deliver the outcomes that our customers want.

Companies and organisations that provide excellent customer service know that they can never afford to stand still. To be the best, you have to continue to innovate and develop your understanding of your customers.

This was one of the main messages from our Innovation Hub event about customer-focused culture and excellent customer service, held on 9 July. We brought together representatives from a range of consumer groups and from other industries and sectors. We shared ideas on how to set and embed the right customer culture and in particular, on how to help customers in debt or struggling to pay their bills.

Alliances and partnerships with organisations inside and outside the sector are crucial in understanding and delivering what our customers need. One of our most important partnerships is with our industry regulator, Ofwat. Recently, Ofwat’s chief executive Cathryn Ross set out her vision for the future of the sector – one that generates trust and confidence. This is about placing customers at the heart of the sector, which we wholeheartedly support and are working with Ofwat to achieve.

Cathryn has also made clear that environmental stewardship is a key part of Ofwat’s vision. Customers say that protection of the local environment is absolutely vital and they have very high aspirations about what companies must deliver. So Ofwat’s even greater recognition of this is very welcome.

I used the word aspiration deliberately because there are sometimes differences between what customers aspire to from their water company compared with their level of expectation. As we know all too well, customers don’t look at league tables and comparisons of just water and sewerage service suppliers. They compare their water company with everyone else who provides them a service, for example Amazon and Tesco.

The extent of the task ahead for the water industry is laid bare in the most recent UK Customer Service Index, by the Institute of Customer Service, which has utilities at the bottom of the league.

To climb the table and progress to the Champions League, companies say they need to push forward hard in some key areas. The first is customer culture, which has to come from the top, through strong leadership. Part of setting the right culture is deciding what outcomes have to be achieved. This will differ from company to company and could be varied. For example, the target could be greater engagement with customers. It could be customer service awards, if this drives still better outcomes. It could be resolving complaints quicker. The most important thing is whether these are the outcomes that customers want.

Technology and research is the second key area. Many water companies are investing and building the technological capacity to deliver better customer service. There is no doubt that investment in better systems can lead to better internal processes.

But we need to be sure customers can feel the difference. For example, will a greater use of social media, such as Twitter, really help both companies and customers? Will the expensive back-office system lead to ­tangible improvements for customers?

I mentioned partnerships earlier because building partnerships is crucial. The water industry should never try to work in isolation and do everything on its own.

Some partner organisations such as ­consumer groups and debt advice ­charities may have stronger relationships with some of our customers or be able to relate to them in a different way. We should work with these partners rather than try to achieve the same outcomes in silos.

We all know why partnerships are so important. They give ongoing shared learning, effective delivery on the ground and supportive relationships with advocates that speak up for you. But the best reason to forge new partnerships – and strengthen existing ones – is because this is simply what ­customers want us to do.

So we have plenty of challenges ahead and as I said at the beginning, this is a continuous journey. But the water industry has learned a lot and has a solid platform from which to build.

Trust has developed and bonds have been formed between water companies and their customers, for example through the extensive consultation companies have carried out over the past two years. These relationships have already brought positive outcomes.

Water companies have listened to their customers and truly understand the huge cost of living pressures many of them are under. This is why almost all companies’ bills will be at, or just below, inflation up to 2020. And this is why companies are spending even more millions every year to make sure that even more struggling households can get the help they need with their bills.

The industry should be proud of all these things. They have helped to increase companies’ legitimacy in the eyes of both of their customers and of the communities they serve.

Water companies have the licence to push forward well beyond just providing the basics – and this is exactly what they are doing.

Pamela Taylor, Water UK