Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | JUNE 2022 | 33 Energy retail although the challenges of the pandemic, the energy cost crisis, plus other economic factors have impacted on the nature and the extent of this. Scottish Power "has carried out door-to- door sales at various points over the past year, adhering to all government guidelines, and continues to do so at a reduced capac- ity," the company tells Utility Week, adding that face-to-face sales are being o ered "as a way of allowing potential customers another way of engaging with us to discuss their energy tari s and use". Octopus Energy's face-to-face teams were still active in 2021 but as the values of switch- ing started to be eroded by the impact of soaring wholesale gas prices, they increas- ingly focused on engagement as opposed to sales. Octopus con rmed to Utility Week that as of April 2022 it was no longer running eld€sales. Face-to-face has been a core sales chan- nel for Utilita for 13 years, and although pro- active sales were suspended in September 2021 a… er price spikes made it impractical to take on new customers at volume, the sup- plier saw this as an opportunity to reassign the eld workforce to visit customers and update records, answer questions and pro- vide information. This engagement piece was initially "an opportunity really to ask our customers how they are doing and if there anything we can help with", says Steve Parker, chief sales o‰ cer at Utilita: "We had a number of prop- erties on supply where we didn't know who was behind the door, perhaps because a cus- tomer had moved out, there was a void prop- erty, a customer hadn't had a meter reading for a while, or we didn't have up to date con- tact details". Activities have since expanded to see teams booking in smart meter installations, explaining self-serve options, including on Utilita's smartphone app, and promoting its Energy High 5 campaign designed to improve behaviour around energy saving. Although direct sales by energy retail- ers, including face-to-face or telesales, have declined signi cantly over the past decade, there is a growing realisation that the human approach still has a role to play among a wider suite of tools for engaging with customers. Digital dilemmas Price comparison websites may be the rst port of call when people are looking for a new supplier or energy deal, but they are typically unable to o er additional advice and expertise, such as the ideal length of contract, or whether it is best to choose a xed or variable energy rate, or guide people through the process of switching providers or changing energy contracts. Advocates of the in-person approach explain that it avoids the time and e ort associated with online research, which can put some consumers o , and reaches peo- ple less likely to switch suppliers by other means. According to gures from the O‰ ce for National Statistics for 2021, some 3.36 million people aged 16 and over have never gone online. Simon Oscro… , co-founder and executive director of So Energy, says: "Face-to-face engagement could be a great channel to engage with those customers who are less digitally inclined and, in normal times, could allow suppliers to o er those customers bet- ter tari s then they would be paying with their current provider." So Energy doesn't currently have a door- step presence, says Oscro… , due to high wholesale energy pricing and the volatile environment, but it does "expect things to change towards the end of 2022". The ongoing cost of living crisis, com- pounded by the recent surge in energy bills, follows a bleak 2021 in which over a third of all the UK's energy suppliers went out of business, leaving thousands of customers dependent on the safety net provided by the market. As such, face-to-face engagement could form part of an important bridge-building exercise to regain public trust in the sector and identify households in need of support or struggling to pay their bills, especially those in vulnerable circumstances. "There's de nitely an issue with cus- tomers knowing what support is out there when they're struggling to pay their bills," says Lenton. "More engagement from sup- pliers would be really helpful because there is a lot of support potentially available to people and they don't always know what's out€there." Access to nancial support and advice is one thing, but experts also underline the importance of face-to-face interaction as part of a general education piece. This could include explanation of how changes to behaviour or the installation of a smart meter can bene t the climate and cut bills. A recent YouGov poll conducted on behalf of Uswitch found that 60% of individuals still nd their energy bills confusing, especially unit pricing and costs, which can lead to higher bills. Ernest Asensio, retail e‰ ciency & sys- tems manager at SSE Airtricity, which has active eld teams in Ireland and Northern Ireland, says: "Lots of people still think that changing their supplier means there will be a disruption in supply, which prevents them from switching, whereas the supply stays the same, it's just the billing part of it that changes. Door-to-door gives you the oppor- tunity to explain things properly, which peo- ple nd a huge bene t." David Costello, chief executive of PSI Mobile, stresses that ultimately energy retail- ers should create an engagement strategy that allows customers to be connected in the way that suits them best. Face-to-face should therefore be one of a suite of tools including telephone, web and apps among others. He says: "It has to be a multi-channel approach and in many cases a customer will start their journey through one channel before being handed over to another. The value of face-to-face engagement is o… en in starting that conversation, which can then be picked up on the phone or could build the con dence to engage digitally. Sometimes it's literally about getting a foot in the door." Costello echoes the comments made by other contributors to the report that face-to- face is even more valuable in the current cost of living crisis. "This is not necessarily about sales, there's a much wider engagement and edu- cation piece. Customers, particularly those who now nd themselves struggling with their bill for the rst time, might not know what support is available to them. They may not even know where to look for that answer so a friendly face setting out the options can be enormously valuable. And it won't be forgotten." James Wallin, editor You can watch an online discussion of key points from the research, here https:// utilityweek.co.uk/the-role-of-face-to-face- engagement-in-a-future-energy-retail-market In association with I N S I G H T R E P O R T Returning to the field: The role of face-to-face engagement in an uncertain world In this report Learning lessons from the mistakes of the past The value of the personal touch Ensuring the right checks and balances are in place Sustainable staff incentives C A S E S T U D Y Utilita's Energy Hubs Download the report Download the full report for free to learn more about best practice on implementing the right checks and balances for carrying out face-to- face sales and also advice on incentivising sta . The report also carries a case study on Utilita's Energy Hubs. https://utilityweek.co.uk/the- future-for-face-to-face-engagement-in-energy/ in association with

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