Utility Week

30 | AUGUST 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Analysis Opportunity knocks As energy retailers seek to overcome the limitations of price-driven competition and position themselves for a net zero future, could it be time to reanimate face-to-face engagement with customers? D oor-to-door energy sales – and other forms of face-to-face engagement between energy suppliers and their customers – were once recognised as a criti- cal and highly effective means of customer acquisition and retention. But around a dec- ade ago they fell heavily out of favour. A series of miss-selling scandals, a wave of negative publicity about poor sales prac- tices and the impact of sales fraud on retailer profitability stacked up to make the risks of supporting face-to-face engagement with customers seem higher than the potential rewards. As such, many companies pulled the plug on the sales route altogether. But is it time to revisit that decision? That is the question posed in a new report, pub- lished by Utility Week in association with Digital Wave Solutions. With competitive landscape in energy supply becoming increasingly brutal and price driven, and the prospect of a net zero future which will require consumers to make new and sometimes complex choices about their energy usage, the potential benefits of communicating with customers in person are compelling. It offers the chance to put forward more nuanced customer benefit stories, majoring on the potential service, experience and environmental credentials of different products, for example. And it offers the opportunity to educate consumers about the many ways in which they can con- tribute to the UK's net zero transition – by adopting smart meters and opting in to data sharing, for example, or perhaps switching to alternative heating technologies or taking advantage of electric vehicle charging tariffs combined with charge point installation. In short, face-to-face offers the potential to rescue energy retail from its gloomy spiral into low value homogeneity and enable sup- pliers to offer customers a broad variety of value-added services. But what of all the concerns and risks associated with door-to-door energy retail- ing that made suppliers abandon it all those years ago? They certainly still exist, with stringent regulatory scrutiny in place and he†y penalties for malpractice. What has changed is that today digital technologies can provide near real-time visibility of agent actions in the field and automate the ardu- ous compliance and reporting requirements involved. In Utility Week's report, we explore how advances in the technology solutions availa- ble to support face-to-face energy sales have changed the game in terms of their relevance a digital and decarbonising world. Key questions explored in the report include the role of face-to-face in driving up smart meter rollout efficiency, how it can help address bad debt in the industry and how it can provide competitive advantage in the race to capitalise on the market opportu- nities created by net zero. Jane Gray, content director

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