Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 19TH - 25TH OCTOBER 2018 | 29 "Companies need to invest now and start planning to expand their retail offering to energy technology products of the future." With all of this change and transformation shaking up the sector, what should companies be focusing on when understanding their customer journeys? Whyte says: "In the new world, a 'fit-for-purpose customer journey' is open-minded and ever- evolving; constructed with the philosophy of breaking down barriers preventing customers getting where they want to be." He suggests Who "owns" the customer at EE? Recognising the organisation as a whole! Working together and sharing the same values is the only way customer centric-organisations really work. If one any one individual owns the customer, organisations tend to rely on that individual to be responsible. At EE we expect everyone to be empowered and responsible for our customers and we use our values to provide the framework on how we do this. Do different departments work effectively together? Yes. We understand as a service provider that customers don't look at us by department or function therefore, it's really important we work together to ensure we design processes, improve them and share knowledge so we can best serve our customers. Is achieving 1-2-1 personalisation a pipe-dream? We certainly don't feel that way, in fact it is becoming more possible day by day. We're working towards this, looking at more sophisticated levels of segmentation and personalisation of service at every point of the customer journey. It's our ambition to provide the most personal, local service in the UK – and we're working hard every day to make that happen. How important is an understanding of the customer journey for EE? Very important. A common mistake for those businesses that don't do this is to optimise a specific piece of service for a customer that then has unforeseen consequences somewhere else. Therefore, understanding the end to end customer journey is essential to making customer centric decisions. What are the financial benefits of an optimised customer journey? Providing a poor customer journey isn't efficient. It can take up a lot of resource and frustrate customers which may cause them to switch provider, or develop a poor perception of us. Therefore, getting the customer journey right can really lead to significant cost efficiency in the business, which we can re-invest into an even better customer experience in other areas. What does a fit for purpose customer journey look like? Drive for simplicity. Once established you can always create more personalisation or differentiation and over time this will continue to develop, the end goal is to offer a seamless customer experience whether they're a new customer or existing. We are constantly asking ourselves, does this make sense to a customer – can we explain it and would they understand it and the rationale. In addition, we must think about our own employees, no matter whether they are customer facing or not, and how they will use these processes to help ensure they are doing their jobs well. Nick Lane managing director of customer service, EE CA S E S T U DY: implementation of Thunderhead's ONE Engagement Hub The problem With millions of customers and billions in revenue, a business, which would prefer to remain anonymous but is one of the biggest suppliers in Europe, was becoming unwieldy. It was too complex, with countless retail products, dozens of touchpoints and not enough understanding of its customer base. The company was losing a significant percentage of its business via aggregator sites and to new entrants, which were offering something fresh and exciting. The cost of acquiring new customers was also soaring, meaning retention and loyalty of its existing base had to become a business-wide strategic priority. The company needed to shift its mindset towards customer-managed journeys and engagement. The solution The company rolled out Thunderhead's ONE Engagement Hub in phases across each of its brands, giving it the ability to understand the customer and reach them on their journey. The platform then allowed the company to act, building a much more relevant and engaging experience. The platform listened across six channels to capture and rapidly build a true view of every journey. The technology uncovered challenges that were preventing customers achieving their goals and highlighted opportunities for the business to provide assistance. ONE provided a huge amount of insight, bringing journeys, customer behaviour and intent into sharp focus. Working with Thunderhead, the company focused on KPIs to improve customer engagement. Prompting personalisation Journeys became unique, personal and relevant. For example, FAQ prompts were personalised on an individual basis to make them much more useful. Reducing cost-to-serve ONE has been used to encourage self-serve and reduce the overall cost-to-serve individual customers. Providing customers with more relevant, targeted information has reduced expensive calls to the contact centre and allowed online Smart Help to be used more easily. Preventing bill shock By listening and understanding the customer's current and historical context and behaviour, ONE has helped to reduce bill shock enquiries. customer-driven journeys should be "complementary, contextual and intuitive". MacGregor says a good customer journey is accessible – multi-channel, transparent – easy to understand, and results in a great customer experience. Mills, meanwhile, suggests it entirely depends on the needs, wants, characteristics and preferences of the specific customer and the journey you are considering. "Understanding these and embedding them within your journey design processes will give you the best possible opportunity of delivering a 'fit for purpose' journey." Outsider'sview

• Cover