The customer contact moments that matter

Utilities do not get many ‘touchpoints’ for interacting with their customers, so it is essential that they get it right when the opportunity arises, says John Webster.

In the highly competitive UK energy retail market, pressure is growing from consumer groups, regulators and political parties to make it easier for customers to switch.  

At the same time, a recent survey undertaken by Opower’s Consumer Insights team validated what other studies have shown: the utility-customer relationship still has a lot of room for improvement. British utilities are failing to engage customers and build loyalty, despite attempts to communicate more frequently. Just half of customers surveyed in the UK are willing to recommend their utility provider to others (51 per cent), and only a slightly higher number say they trust their utility provider (53 per cent).

Consumers were nearly unanimous when they told us what is wrong: their utility bills are a source of anxiety, and they do not feel like they are in control of their energy use. Services that would improve their experience — such as high bill alerts, helpful tariff information, and energy management advice — are either insufficient or absent altogether.

That, in turn, is driving churn. When we asked 1,000 UK energy customers whether they intended to switch energy provider in the next 12 months, those who said yes were overwhelmingly people who reported difficulty with billing or customer service. The message is clear: how utilities perform at the moments that matter is the number one factor separating customers who end their contracts from those who renew.

The survey identified a dozen critical moments, ranging from moving into a new home, receiving a high bill, or experiencing a power outage, when utility customers are looking for personalised information from their provider.

These moments that matter are some of the occasions when customers feel their energy providers perform the worst. More than 8 in 10 customers say it is important for their utility to provide them with alerts for unusually high bills, helpful customer support, and information about rate changes, according to the survey. But less than half of those customers are satisfied with their experience during these interactions.

The billing experience shows the greatest disparity. Over 20 per cent of customers received an unexpectedly high bill in the past year, and nearly three-quarters of them said it caused them to feel anxious. Almost half of them ultimately called their energy provider for more information, driving up utility service costs. But only about one-quarter had received early notice of the high bill, or help and advice to prevent high bills in the future. Two-thirds of the those customers who received unexpectedly high bills planned to switch in the next 12 months as a result.

These make-or-break moments in the customer lifecycle are when people want their utilities to deliver a higher level of service. By investing in customers’ experience at these critical junctures, energy retailers can dramatically bolster engagement, boost satisfaction, and build loyalty — and ultimately lower their cost to serve.

Accenture famously wrote that customers spend only nine minutes a year interacting with utilities. The opportunity here is for companies to make those nine minutes count. Because improving the customer experience is not about creating new touchpoints. Instead, it is about enriching the touchpoints that already exist — the concerns about tariffs, smart meters, and billing that customers really care about.

The solution, then, is clear: deliver exceptional service during the core interactions that customers care about most.

The results of the survey indicate an opportunity for utilities: while reliable service and value remain important, nearly one-third (30 per cent) of respondents said that improvements in customer service would have the biggest impact on satisfaction levels with their energy provider.

More than two-thirds of customers involved in the survey said they do not actually want to consider switching utility providers in the next year, and this is why a singular drive towards 24-hour switching will fail to address the primary concerns of customers. Any increased ease of switching must be accompanied by a formalised focus on both improved customer engagement and the tracking of consumer satisfaction rates for there to be a real change in the industry.

John Webster, vice president strategy and marketing, EMEA & APAC, Opower