Utility Week

18 | 9TH - 15TH NOVEMBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Roundtable CX Success: optimising customer journeys in energy retail 18 September, Century Club, London T here is no doubt that energy suppliers' relationships with their customers are changing. The customer oen has more information than a supplier, which is a rever- sal of the historical relationship energy com- panies have had with their customers. So it is increasingly important for suppliers to really listen to their customers to understand what they want. This was one of the main conclu- sions of a recent roundtable held at London's Century Club, hosted by Utility Week in asso- ciation with Thunderhead and chaired by UW acting editor Suzanne Heneghan. It is the responsibility of everyone within an organisation to "own" the customer relationship, attendees decided, but it is important that a customer-focused organisa- tion is led from the top. It is up to the chief executive, the chief data officer and the chief customer officer to drive a company-wide customer-centric culture. Try as they may to facilitate the perfect customer journey, energy suppliers oen find regulations get in the way of giving cus- tomers what they want. This was one bug- bear of those sitting round the table. "The industry process, regardless of the experi- ence you want to give your customer or what the customer wants, dictates a large part of the customer journey," said one. It was suggested that energy suppliers must be braver about pushing back against regulations, and one or two attendees expressed disappointment with trade body Energy UK, which they felt acts more like a mouthpiece than an industry champion. There are internal challenges too. For example, especially in larger businesses, dif- ferent aspects of customer service can oen get siloed into different departments. Con- necting these silos is key to creating an effec- tive customer journey. Another key aspect of providing the journey a customer wants is transparency. If you're going to raise your prices, tell the customer in plenty of time why this has to happen. If a customer is going to receive a higher bill, let them know before it happens to avoid "bill shock". Try to solve problems before the customer even knows about them. Equally important, suppliers must remember there is more than one "type" of customer. One of the questions posed at the roundtable was about whether one-to-one personalisation is just a pipe-dream. Attend- ees were almost unanimous in stating that it is not, but it requires a new way of working in which suppliers try to understand custom- ers on almost an individual level. For this, they need to be able to analyse the abun- dance of data that is at their fingertips. Data was an issue that cropped up throughout the aernoon. Amid the influx of data and technology innovation hitting the sector, how well-equipped are companies to deal with the explosion of information com- ing their way? Participants suggested there are varying levels of preparedness. However, generally the level is pretty low. Data, or rather the insight companies can gain from data, is key to delivering an excel- lent customer journey, and there is certainly no shortage of data available to suppliers as technological advancements such as smart meters and electric vehicles increase its out- put. However, many suppliers don't know how to handle this data and get the best and most useful information out of it. In other words, there is, as one attendee put it, "loads of data and not much insight". "A lot of companies are struggling at the moment because they've got some of the data, they've got some of the messages in terms of how they can present to the cus- tomer, but they haven't linked the two things together yet," another participant said. Sup- pliers need to make sure they have the cor- rect data analysis team in place so that they avoid what one participant referred to as "analysis paralysis". One thing is certain, the customer jour- ney is changing, and in order to facilitate an excellent customer journey, suppliers must learn to analyse data in an effective way which gives them insights into their cus- Don't be a stranger to your customers Energy suppliers have a wealth of information about their customers, so they should use it to provide a perfect customer journey. That was one of the conclusions of a roundtable hosted by Utility Week in association with Thunderhead, reports Lois Vallely. Customers

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