Market view: Supply multiple choice

A single household does not mean a sole customer, and it’s important to form a relationship with the multiple occupants of a home. A wealth of consumer data helps, says Jed Mole.

As the price of property continues to rise, rental markets increasingly resemble The Hunger Games (especially in London) and modern millennials grudgingly accept their status as “generation rent”, the typical household demographic is fast becoming a thing of the past.

While many products and services such as electricity, gas and water – and even broadcast and TV – are still very much a single supplier per household item, the mistake many suppliers make is in still thinking there is only one main customer per household. True, there is still likely to be only one primary name on an account and one person paying the bill at the end of each month, quarter or year, but in a property share of several friends, each one is likely to have an equal share of voice in deciding on supplier and, more importantly, when to change supplier.

Long gone are the days where the lady of the house had the choice because she ran the home, or the man because he was the breadwinner. Now in a multiple residency household of numerous equal voices, utilities brands are missing an opportunity to build relationships with all of their core decision makers – both within the current and future properties – all of which could affect the purchase decision without the company ever even knowing it.

This goes far deeper in the age of smart meters, because understanding different user profiles can inform smarter advice on billing and usage.

Perfect examples of this are digitally disruptive brands such as Sky AdSmart, Net­flix, Amazon Fire and Hive, which have built much of their success on being able to overlook the household and target the individual consumers behind the closed doors.

The how? Simple. Data – and lots of it.

As the world becomes ever more digitised and the lines between online and offline become increasingly blurred, the wealth of consumer data available to brands is growing exponentially. This in turn is providing vast opportunities for personalisation in marketing practices which will help utility brands not only better understand the needs of their customers, but also address each of their needs individually and ultimately build a personal connection with each.

Think about how Netflix targets its customers, for instance. From the get-go when setting up an account, users instantly have the option of selecting how many individual profiles can access the account and from there, data on each user’s viewing habits, searches and genre preferences all go in to feeding the algorithm’s understanding of each individual. All of which helps to provide a tailored and better customer experience of the brand and further builds upon that connection with the customer. It also develops a mutually beneficial relationship which will be carried forward in their lives – and far beyond simply where they live.

It is slightly harder to provide a tailored and individual experience while supplying water or gas to a property, but nonetheless the principle is the same. By understanding that a property today is not just a household, but a series of current, passive and future consumers – all of whom have a vested interest in what you (or a competitor) are supplying – brands can tailor their communications and touchpoints with all those potential customers. The first step comes in recognising that you have more customers and users than you may think.

Why does this matter? With upcoming regulations over the next two years making it easier for consumer data to be shared around competing providers – ultimately, poaching unhappy, very passive or disengaged customers will become easier for those with the savvy marketing skills to do it. The time to act on developing strong customer relationships is now. The first step in this process is understanding the reality of what your customer base looks like.

While introducing buzzword tools such customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, customer experience management (CEM) services and tailored email marketing strategies are all well and good, if the team using them does not have the data insights necessary to feed it with reliable leads to underpin the decisions being made, the results and learnings will not be worthwhile. They may even be false.

Utility providers first need to ensure they have a trustworthy bank of consumer data (both current and potential), built up from as many online and offline sources as possible, and then ensure they have a clear strategy of how and why they are going to use it. Once this is in place, the rest is simple. Just give your public what they want, in an authentic and intelligent way, and do not forget to look beyond the front door. It could just cost you the whole house.