Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JANUARY 2021 | 27 Customers Event Ensuring a good journey for all Streamlining routine interactions can free staff to deal with vulnerable customers who most need the personal touch. A Utility Week virtual roundtable debate, held in association with Quadient, explored how utilities' are adapting customer journeys to deal with tougher times.Denise Chevin reports. T he financial impact of the pandemic poses difficult questions and chal- lenges to utility providers when con- sidering how they will operate differently, and with increased sensitivity, as levels of customer debt rise. Citizens Advice esti- mates that more than six million people have already fallen behind on bills as a result of Covid-19-related issues. It was against this backdrop that lead- ers in consumer service and debt manage- ment from energy and water companies were joined by regulatory experts for a virtual roundtable discussion organised by Utility Week in association with Quadient. Utilities are well prepared Utilities leaders taking part in the discus- sion highlighted a number of measures they were taking to deal with an expected num- ber of their customers finding themselves in financial difficulties. These included setting up dedicated helplines, introducing pay- ment holidays and providing extra training for staff to deal with the changing circum- stances of customers. Participants said that the expected rise in defaults had yet to materialise, which they put down to continuation of furlough schemes. One remarked: "When it began, we all panicked and expected the worst. But seven months in, it hasn't turned out as we thought it was going to be. We're not in bad place with debt collection and overdue debts." Other proactive measures included con- tacting customers for a health check call, rather a debt collection call. "That way, it was more of a discussion about what ben- efits they were expecting and whether they going on furlough. It helped us make sure we were speaking to the right people and having the right conversations – and not focusing on the debt they owed." However, what several noted was that they were now starting to see a change in behaviour, with more volatile and anxious calls. Debt problems were more evident with business customers. "In some sectors, and particularly hospitality, with the stop-start cycle, many are not paying their rent or their utility bills – staff are their priority. This is where our biggest impact is going to be." A voice to talk to is essential – and technology is helping A trend that emerged clearly during the dis- cussion was how utility firms were putting in place measures to ensure vulnerable custom- ers and those worried about getting into debt would be able to speak directly to someone. To make this possible, firms said they were increasingly relying on automating rou- tine transactions in order to free up staff time to prioritise those potentially in financial difficulties. One energy company described how they were adapting with a new omni-channel rollout. "We used technology to increase our call-handling ability, and put webchat in place or more self-service elements to cope with non-emergency calls, but while still providing the right level of care handling and human contact." A participant from the customer services department in a water company spoke of a similar strategy: "We have much more suc- cess in being able to digitalise our water calls than we do our wastewater calls. Because if you have sewer flooding, you want to speak continued overleaf in association with

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