UTILITY WEEK | 15TH - 21ST FEBRUARY 2019|
29
Operations &Assets
Views from
the table:
There are three top
challenges for energy
companies if they
are to deliver com-
plaints excellence,
according to Alex
Prentice, sector lead
at Huntswood.
1. Complaint
volumes.
2. Root cause
analysis.
3. Vulnerable
customers.
Three top
challenges
Nicola Eaton Sawford, conference
chair and managing director,
Customer Whisperers
"You set your bar
lower than anyone
else does."
Yiango Mavrocostanti, innovation
and low carbon networks
engineer, Western Power
Distribution
"We are making
customers part of
the way we run the
network."
Lord Larry Whitty, chair of the
Commission for Customers in
Vulnerable Circumstances
"The level of empathy
is dramatically
diff erent between
companies and
within companies
for customers who
fi nd themselves
in vulnerable
circumstances."
Michael Hill, complaint
management expert at Resolver
"A 10 per cent
increase in customer
satisfaction delivers a
13 per cent increase in
customer loyalty"
Brought to you in association with:
John Hutchins, head of smarter
living, EDF Energy Blue Lab
"Most people have
their pride they don't
want to be known as
vulnerable people."
Alice Brett, senior policy
manager, Citizens Advice
"People just want to
know do I owe you
money or do you owe
me."
Bait and switch
Talking about the behaviour
of energy companies, Greg
Jackson, chief executive of
Octopus Energy, said some
have been "luring customers
in" on low † xed prices and
then‡"hiking them as quick as
they can".
To demonstrate his
point, he showed a video
of customers being enticed
into a bar with flyers and
posters shouting about
drinks costing‡£3, only for
them to suddenly be charged
signi† cantly more.
Customers complained that
they felt misled and it wasn't
the right thing to do. The same
goes for the energy industry,
he‡suggested.
"Trust is undermined
when † rms behave in this
way," Jackson said. He argued
that transparency and being
completely open with customers
is key.
"Building trust can
make‡energy companies
the‡positive force we want them
to be."
