Water Customer Conference: the open market needs to retain customer focus

Water companies must ensure they don’t lose sight of the customer as they move towards a competitive market. Lois Vallely reports.

The water sector faces an important year in 2016. It is the year the bulk of preparation will be made for when the market opens for non-household retailers, paving the way for competition. According to Ben Jeffs, chief executive of Market Operator Services Limited, water companies have “really started gearing up”. Speaking to delegates at the Utility Week Water Customer conference, sponsored by Aiimi, Jeffs said he was impressed with the level of engagement with market opening across the sector.

Competition between retailers will improve customer service through innovation. But the focus should not be solely on retail, insisted Yorkshire Water chief executive Richard Flint. How should water companies go about driving service excellence throughout the value chain? Any plan must include the wholesale business, which will continue to operate in the future. “It’s very easy to forget that wholesale businesses are still going to have to provide a fantastic level of customer service,” Flint said.

But companies must not lose sight of their customers here and now. Sarah Bentley, chief customer officer at Severn Trent Water, passionately stated that customer service was “all about delighting your customers”. In contrast, Dr Phil Klaus, professor of customer experience and marketing strategy, warned that companies must simply learn to “not upset your customers”.

Information is key to good customer service and to a successful market opening, and Alan Lovell, chairman of the Consumer Council for Water, said he wanted to see “more sharing of good practice”. Delegates heard that companies must “fall in love with information”, because if used correctly, it is the differentiator between one company and its competitors, but if used incorrectly it can be the weakest link in the chain, according to Tom O’Farrell, commercial director at Aiimi.

It was pointed out that awareness campaigns are expensive. Asked who will be responsible for footing the bill for making non-household customers aware of market opening, the speakers replied almost unanimously that it should be the responsibility of the incumbent wholesalers. “There is no doubt that it is the incumbents that have the prime responsibility,” said Lovell.

Flint added that there is a danger that the sector will focus on the data and the systems for market opening, but “there has to be a demand”. Companies must be ready, but the point of the competitive market is to “serve the needs of people”.

Ben Jeffs, chief executive, Market Operator Services Limited

“I like to think of 2016 as the year in which it actually happens. This year will see every single aspect of the programme complete, apart from the actual market opening.”

Richard Flint, chief executive, Yorkshire Water

“One of the key things for us to grasp as participants in the sector is that actually a greater level of granularity from different elements of the value chain is a very, very positive thing. One of the great strengths of water companies is their deeply integrated nature.”

Alan Lovell, chairman, Consumer Council for Water

“We must ensure that [market reform] works for those who can and choose to switch, whilst rigorously protecting those who can’t or choose not to.”

Sarah Bentley, chief customer officer, Severn Trent Water

“I am a customer of loads of services, and actually if I can just have an experience that delights me, that puts a smile on my face, that brings some joy into my life, that really is ace. So if I think about anything that we’re trying to do with our customers, with technology or not, it’s just simply to delight them.”

Dr Phil Klaus, professor of customer experience and marketing strategy

“Without the why – the motivation – the what, how and when makes very little sense. But once you combine them, the magic happens, and you all of a sudden can see: ‘well if we do this, this is what will happen’.”

“You talk about big data, despite the fact that data is not big, it’s not small, it is just simple data. You have lots of data and very little insight.”

Tom O’Farrell, commercial director, Aiimi

“You need to fall in love with information… If used correctly, it is the differentiator between you and your rivals in the competitive market. If used incorrectly, it can be your weakest link in the chain.”

“The water industry is a fairly low-engagement industry… customers just want to know they’ve got clean water when they turn the tap on… Should this not happen, the customer is experiencing a service failure. They don’t care why, they don’t care how this has happened, they ultimately just want it fixed.”