Utility Week

24 | 19TH - 25TH OCTOBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK EXECUTIVE SUMMARY t's clear that a thorough understanding of the customer journey is vital for energy companies. In fact, some – such as First Utility's director of customer service Andy Eadle – say it is the most important thing a company can do. Getting the customer journey right, after all, will result in a better customer experience and means customers are more likely to stay with the company. This research shows that, when it comes to who "owns" the customer within an organisation, an effective customer journey will not be achieved without joined-up thinking between different departments. For the research, we spoke to seven senior leaders and key decisionmakers at energy suppliers and consumer groups. Input from these individuals was gathered via individual interviews. Equally, many of the challenges of delivering truly customer-centric outcomes in the organisation are in changing the mind-set, culture, skills and processes to genuinely place the customer at the centre of decision- making, rather than simply changing its technical systems. It is agreed that firms can become more customer-centric without having to change disparate back-end legacy systems, and that one-to-one personalisation is perfectly achievable with existing technologies available to utility companies. The scale of the task ahead may feel seismic, but it is entirely achievable for firms to make huge differences in short time and with little upheaval if they have the ambition to be more customer-centric. Amid the influx of data and technology innovation hitting the sector, how well-equipped are companies to deal with the explosion of data coming their way? Preparedness, it seems, ranges from those "burying their heads in the sand" to those with a well-thought-out long-term strategy to capitalise on these new opportunities. In order to understand the customer journey, companies must know what a fit-for-purpose journey looks like, and this depends entirely on the needs, wants, characteristics and preferences of the specific customer. Ultimately then, a fit-for-purpose customer journey is what the customer tells you it is. The concept of a customer journey goes beyond just talking about "putting the customers at the heart of the business", to making it so that the customer "designs" their own journey. If a firm can shift to listening, enabling and empowering customers, this has a direct impact on business fortunes. ustomer journeys' are changing. Customer engagement and an optimised customer journey may be core to business success in the retail world, but do utilities really understand what this means? Can they break out of their public sector past to give customers the service they expect, as Virgin Atlantic or Amazon would do? Many organisations have a dated view of the term "customer journey". Journeys used to be directed by companies, and now customers are in the driving seat. The challenges are manifold. For one, customer expectations are radically increasing as transactions migrate online and customers view faster, better service as the norm. Meanwhile, the 'three d's' – decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalisation – are transforming the role of consumers in the energy value chain as they move away from the top-down, one-way interaction of old. What does this mean for how energy retailers engage customers, and improve the customer experience? And how does an improved customer journey benefit the bottom line? This Insight Report from Utility Week, in association with Thunderhead, explores how companies inside and outside of the energy sector are taking on the challenge of changing customer expectations, how they can improve customer journeys, and the role customer engagement plays in their growth plans. PROCESS AND CULTURE rguments about who owns the customer within an organisation are in danger of missing the point. Industry leaders agree that without joined up thinking, an effective customer journey will not be achieved. Although it is primarily the marketing team which "owns" the customer, a core focus of all the teams across the organisation should be how their work impacts their customers – from the pricing team and the marketing teams to the back-office teams. First Utility's Eadle says every part of the business should and does "own" the customer. And Greg Jackson, chief executive of Octopus Energy, says whether departments work effectively together is "core to culture". Stuart Whyte – vice president, energy at Thunderhead – says the CXO, CCO and CTO now sit alongside the CMO but, "depending on who we speak to, the official customer owner differs". "We don't see this as a problem per se," he says, "so long as the customers' needs drives business behaviour, at least to a significant degree, and everyone's pulling in the same direction." Ultimately, then, it is down to every individual within an organisation, regardless of whether they work in legal or customer services, to deliver for its customers. EDF Energy's digital, data and process excellence director Geoffrey Mills insists that the delivery of this should be based on ensuring everyone "clearly understands" the customer outcomes and experience that they are expected to deliver. Victoria MacGregor, director of engagement and energy at Citizens Advice, says the consumer group regularly sees examples of both good and bad practice. "Generally, when a company is experiencing customer service problems, their front and back offices are not working effectively together," she suggests. The risk is you lose customer centricity as you grow. The challenge is to keep the customer, rather than your processes, at the centre of things as you grow OPTIMISING CUSTOMER JOURNEYS IN ENERGY RETAIL I N S I G H T

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