Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 1ST - 7TH FEBRUARY 2019 | 25 Customers Water companies should be a "known force within communities" and be more "visible", but she warned: "With visibility comes challenge." Social purpose Bristol Water's Ben Newby delved further into how water companies can become more visible and connected to the communities in which they operate. The chief customer officer explained "the little things matter" to make local communi- ties better as he gave a potted history of the company, which was formed in 1846. Newby took the opportunity to outline the work Bristol Water has been doing to become the first water firm to publish a "social contract", which it will use to measure the social value it is adding. The contract follows more than a year of discussion and countless conversations with the people of the West Country. It forms an important part of the company's PR19 business plan – Bristol Water For All – submitted to Ofwat in September last year. Bristol Water said the social contract will be a framework to help it continue to deliver societal benefits, but also a way local people can hold it to account. Newby said: "There has been a lot of talk about trust and legiti- macy in the water sector. Customers are concerned about service providers doing the right thing." He suggested it is not always a "clear-cut distinction" of nationalisation or privatisation being the answer. Learning from other sectors Water companies are o'en told to look beyond the sector for inspiration on how to deliver the best customer service. It may have come as a surprise to some in the room that John Lewis – a company o'en held in high regard by the industry – does not always come out on top. Sanjeev Kumar, head of business trans- formation at Enzen, told delegates the likes of Superdrug, Wilko and Greggs o'en do better on customer service. Meanwhile, Shub Naha, head of utilities and business development director at Content Guru, reminded the sector that trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. He advised delegates to "raise the bar but don't just do it for the sake of regulation". Attendees were also able to learn a thing or two from the energy sector. Rebecca Dibb- Simkin, marketing and product director at Octopus Energy, discussed serving custom- ers better through innovation in technology that is efficient, responsive and iterative. She explained that new customers of the energy supplier get an email from the com- pany's chief executive, Greg Jackson, and if Customer service in 2019 A rise in artificial intelligence The art of automation The drive to self-serve Personalisation Agent empowerment according to Content Guru's Shub Naha Big things changing customer experience in 2019 Artificial intelligence Channel adoption Crowd servicing according to Customer Whisperers' Nicola Eaton Sawford From the floor "Keep an eye on what's going on in other sectors. What you are doing today someone has done yesterday or will be doing tomorrow. There are lots of lessons to learn – you don't always have to start with a blank page." NICOLA EATON SAWFORD, CONFERENCE CHAIR AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, CUSTOMER WHISPERERS "Water companies need to do what they think is right for their customers and not just blindly follow the perceived best practice of well- known retailers." SANJEEV KUMAR, HEAD OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION, ENZEN "If you talk about data you miss the point, you have to get under the skin of what data is telling you." STEVE ARTHUR, DIRECTOR OF MARKET PERFORMANCE, MOSL "There has been some progress in the water market to speed up getting answers and resolutions for businesses and other organisations, but there's more all market participants can do to help customers." ANDY HUGHES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, WATER PLUS "Digital will just get you the same problems quicker." ROB MUSTARD, DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL, SCOTTISH WATER Brought to you in association with they reply he will respond. Having Jackson at the "front line" also helps the supplier identify and resolve customer problems. Dibb-Simkin said the company's "efficiency and great customer service" is underpinned by Kraken, its own technology platform. Simon Kirkham, chief technology officer at United Utilities, suggested companies should not fear technology but they need to be aware of it "to keep up with the Joneses". "Blockchain gets stuff from one place to another and is about a trusted transaction but it is not the answer to all the world's problems and won't help solve Brexit," he joked. Kirkham suggested that how the data of regulators is presented to the market could be useful to customers. Rob Mustard, director of digital at Scottish Water, suggested personalisation is one of the key focuses to providing a great customer experience. He argued there is no answer to what the perfect customer experience is – "you have to try to understand all aspects from community to technology". He added: "Life has significantly moved on in terms of technology in the past 25-30 years – customer expectations have also moved on. Future cus- tomers will continue to expect a fair price." The pace of change feels faster than ever before and water professionals need to prove that not only can they address the challenges they face today, but that they are ready to deal with those of tomorrow.

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