Vulnerable customers could and should expect more

Ann-Marie O’Donnell, calls on utility companies to do more to accommodate the different needs of vulnerable and disabled customers. It's not just the right thing to do - it will bring business benefits she says.

Across the UK, 9.4 million individuals are registered as having an impediment. Almost two million are registered for visual and 850,000 for hearing impairment. 

The utilities – and many other service industries – segment this market as ‘customers with varying abilities’ or ‘vulnerable’. 

The prospect of receiving home service from a utility company can be intimidating for customers of varying abilities. Many struggle to communicate.  Getting to the door can be a challenge for some while others may feel threatened by having a stranger in their home.

The utility sector is becoming more aware of how important it is for field service teams to have soft skills building customer-engineer trust and brand affection.  More could be done to cater for customers of varying abilities so that they feel more respected and better cared for during visits.

“Coaching engineers to secure approval before moving furniture – either temporarily or permanently – is crucial for a visually-impaired customer’s safety, well-being and satisfaction.”

Knowledge and training are the keys. Give your frontline team the skills they need to help make a home visit go well and you’ll be amazed with the ingenious ways they find to overcome incredible challenges in order to make customers happy.

For instance, teach engineers basic sign and body language signals and they’ll leap forward in their understanding of how best to interact with hard-of-hearing customers.

Simply coaching engineers to secure approval before moving furniture – either temporarily or permanently – is crucial for a visually-impaired customer’s safety, well-being and satisfaction. 

Theory provides the framework for learning but it’s practice which makes perfect. 

A replica home – complete with working utilities – gives engineers, hands-on, interactive practice in an environment where learning outcomes surpass those of role play. That training technique has proved vital in helping engineers meet challenges in the real world because the training facility mirrors the obstacles and structural constraints of a typical customer’s home.

If you believe every customer deserves impeccable service and you want to raise your customer experience, then providing impeccable home visits consistently to those with varying abilities should be top of your priority list. 

Simply meeting customer expectations doesn’t ‘cut it’ with measures of satisfaction and experience such as Net Promoter Score (NPS).  You have to surpass their needs and wants. That takes a genuine culture of care for every customer.  It starts with understanding what constitutes superior service which differentiates service delivery partners.   It ends with customers trusting your business more than your competitors.

Another reason is you give your field engineers – often leading a lonely life on the road – not only the ‘feel good factor’ of learning a new life skill but also that they may have delivered service excellence by diffusing a potentially uncomfortable situation for customers who face challenges every day.