Utility Week

21 ISSUE 02 FEB/2019 A p p s Apps can be a great way to drive engagement with customers, many of whom will prefer to check their bills or interact with their water or energy company via their mobile phone for convenience. ey perhaps hold the greatest potential for utility companies in the short term. Vickers says the sector is seeing some "excellent" innovation on the apps front – both within the big six and outside it. He suggests financial services has been a leader in smartphone engagement through apps, but there is the potential for energy to compete. United Utilities and mobile technology company Apadmi won the Utility Week Customer Engagement Award 2018 for an app they developed to make it easier for customers to deal with the water company. United Utilities was the first water company to offer a native self-service app, which was innovative in its design and functionality. Since then, more and more water companies are starting to offer this, helping to drive change in the market as well as internally. Customers can now use the app to pay bills, view statements and check their payment history. ey can also take and submit a meter reading. In their awards submission, the companies said the contact hour restrictions associated with contacting United Utilities directly have been completely removed. ey claim the mobile experience is more engaging, as it has streamlined the customer journey and removed "time-consuming processes and forms". Many utility firms, though, are not making the most of apps. Marcus Hadfield, chief strategy officer for Apadmi, suggests energy providers are currently ahead of the water suppliers, but "they're still only getting the basics right". When it comes to utility company apps, simplicity is key. " e temptation is to think that an app should be all things to all people," says Ben Lind, strategy lead for utilities and energy at Hedgehog Lab. "But I would say that making the most of an app is to clearly define what your users would want from it and making sure it does that perfectly. A good example of this is the app from Octopus Energy – all you can do is submit meter readings and view your account details – it's a great example of simplicity." en, there are those who have reservations about the extent to which apps are needed at all in the utility sector. Customers typically don't interact with their water company on a regular basis, says Jacob Tompkins, chief technology officer at e Water Retail Company, and if an app is not used regularly there's a risk it will be removed from a customer's smartphone. "Companies need to focus on solutions which enable digital interactions to work across all customer devices. Even if they get this right, if they don't digitalise all the business processes that make up the overall customer experience, water companies won't be able to deliver personalised services," he says. Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson, too, suggests the need for energy company apps is not strong currently. "Banking is different," he says, "you need an app for convenience. Security and frequency of interaction are so much greater than energy. Indeed, banking apps also often offer instant payment capability. At Utility Week's customer conferences held in Birmingham in January, many of the speakers and participants spoke about the need for utility companies to "get the basics right", before attempting to take on the mountain of new tech. Another consensus at the event was that utility companies should not be pioneers of new tech and should instead "let other sectors make the mistakes". But Ted Hopcroft, energy and utilities expert at PA Consulting, holds a different view. He tells Flex energy companies are still "too focused on price and the basics", whereas success now depends on a "sophisticated response" to empowered customers and a "clear understanding" of their priorities and the choices they have. Companies will need to increase their use of technology to drive this kind of change in the sector, he adds. Matthew Vickers, chief executive of Ombudsman Services, says the sector has seen some major improvements and innovation in recent years, but there is still a "long way to go". And, he warns, technological development mustn't be just for the sake of it. "For me, the most successful and impactful technological innovations will always be those that are built with customers and their needs in mind and improve the customer journey and experience," he says. "Otherwise, it's just tech for tech's sake." And this could do the opposite of what technology is supposed to, thereby decreasing engagement and damaging trust. In the future, who knows – perhaps customers will use their intelligent robots to manage their entire household, from controlling their heating to walking their dog. Maybe they'll have no need for a traditional utility company at all. But in the meantime, we pick the technological developments that are making, or have the potential to make, the biggest impact on engagement and trust in the utility sector. AI 42% Automation 30% Scalable CRM systems 18% Other 7% Chatbots 1% Blockchain 1% What digital technology is most important in improving customer service? Source: Utility Week poll To find out more about promotional opportunities in Flex please contact Sarah Wood on 01342 332116. Or email her Sarahwood@fav-house.com

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