Utility Week

I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H 28 | 19TH - 25TH OCTOBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK perceptions of big, complex solutions – and the need for cultural rewiring – can stall progress," he suggests. "But pragmatism is possible, and organisation implications only depend on levels of scale and commitment. By employing a tried-and-tested innovation methodology – think big, start small, scale fast – customer journey improvements are a more realistic and digestible prospect." Aside from the obvious benefit of an improved experience for customers, and the retention and recommendation that can arise from providing this experience, EDF's Mills sees another key benefit. By providing an orchestrated customer journey, a company will experience less cause for customers to get in touch, and the associated benefit of reductions in your operational costs. Additionally, cost savings will come through having a customer journey based around more intuitive processes that require less manual handling and it should also result in fewer complaints. What's more, an improved customer journey will give consumers more trust in an energy company's competence, which in turns gives that company legitimacy. Vickers says: "Get the customer journey right and cost-to-serve can be decreased while profitability is increased. In a sector like energy, where what's being provided to customers is essentially a commodity, you can only differentiate yourself in one of two ways – through price or through your brand value – an optimised customer journey being a crucial part of any company's brand. Creating value through your brand is obviously a much more viable and sustainable way of growing a business." So, to capitalise on the benefits, how can companies prove the value of adopting customer-centric practices across the business? Citizens Advice's GROWTH PLANS ome energy companies, such as Octopus Energy, say they are planning to expand their retail offering to attract more customers. Smart home products and new technology offer an opportunity for companies to offer something new to their customers. EDF's Mills says that, as smart metering and connected devices start to deliver more relevant, timely data, the opportunity to use that data to deliver value for customers is constantly expanding. An exclusive report written by Utility Week in in February this year found the main drivers behind energy company investment in home service capability derive from the diminishing margins associated with transactional energy retail accounts and a need to reduce customer churn in an increasingly crowded marketplace with rising levels of consumers switching. Firms are increasingly convinced – thanks to the availability of data and growing case study references – that home services offer a solution to both these problems. They diversify revenue streams and deepen energy company relationships with their customers, demonstrably improving loyalty and value per customer. What's more, over the next 5-10 years, the electric vehicle revolution and shift towards battery technology and renewables looks set to take off. Ovo's Russell suggests the retail offering to energy customers will not be limited to purely kWh. "To lower energy costs we need to shift as much consumption away from peak times, when demand is highest and when the grid is most congested." She says rapidly falling costs of small-scale technologies such as solar and battery storage are "completely revolutionising" the energy sector. MacGregor suggests a list of metrics which could be used: Customer satisfaction scores before and after Complaint levels before and after as well as the shift in the types of complaints received Monitor the shift in channels used by customers Monitor changes in average call handling times, email handling times, etc Staff turnover rates before and after as well as general staff satisfaction rates Mills insists that at EDF Energy there is "no debate" to be had about the benefits an improved customer journey can bring – as the benefits are clear. "However," he suggests, "if you still have to prove the case to your business, then adopting a test and learn approach to deliver small-scale trials will quickly enable you win over any remaining doubters in your organisation." Vickers says: "Beyond the tangible business benefits, if we look at the specific part of the customer journey that we deal with at the Energy Ombudsman – i.e. complaints – then for us it's about demonstrating the value of complaints. Complaints can be a source of innovation and there can be a real return on investment if you are willing to look at the data and insights." Measuring the impacts of customer-managed journeys Acquisition Campaigns Personalised content Next best action Next best offer uplift in renewals Onboarding Journey insight and optimisation Remove pain points and barriers gain in CES Cost-to-serve Self service Average call handling time First call resolution reduction in complaints Retention Renewals Relevant and timely campaigns Targeted next best offers uplift in renewals Advocacy Loyalty programs Improve customer experience Proactive customer service increase in customer satisfaction LTV Cross-sell Upsell Increase share of wallet increase in cross-sell Source: anonymised Thunderhead client data 2016-2018

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