Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | MARCH 2023 | 35 Electricity "And make it easy. Customer e ort is a massive thing. You have got to make it easy." The upheaval from the pandemic and ensuing cost of living crisis, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has thrown up even more challenges for a sector facing an unprecedented amount of criticism. It is in this wider context that Ngoma says consum- ers have become much less tolerant of error. She adds: "What we're seeing in this cur- rent context is that tolerance for error, toler- ance for inconvenience, is completely falling. Customers are just intolerant, whether that's a website crashing, whether it's waiting on the phone, whether it's having to deal with two people instead of one, etc. She says the company is constantly moni- toring feedback from customers and front- line sta and that the richness of data and insight they provide is what tells the com- pany where things are going wrong and what needs to be „ xed. Engagement counts Cameron interjects with a stat from a previ- ous UKCSI which said for every 1% employee engagement increases, you can expect a 0.41% increase in your customer satisfaction. "Because highly engaged people feel highly empowered to deliver the right out- comes for their customers," he adds. Yet it's not only down to specialised cus- tomer agents to deliver customer service, with people working in „ nance and even asset management personnel stepping in to support their customer-facing colleagues in times of need. Says Cameron: "In a storm, Alex's team don't go 'oh, my word I'm on my own because I'm now getting hammered by loads of calls'. What happens is we rally round. So we've got an additional 500 people; „ nance people, asset management people, people in back o' ces. Within minutes they put a headset on, go online from home, and can be become call agents. They are trained and they absolutely love it. "What it does is it allows people who never talk to customers to really engage and understand." Not every vulnerable consumer will want, or for that matter expect, their local network operator to send them an action „ gure in the event of a power cut. Many will require more pressing measures such as a hot meal or a place to store their medication. Yet that WWE toy serves as a strong reminder that each person is a ected by power cuts di erently. A• er all, it's not about the power – it's about the impact. Adam John, senior reporter TEN HIGHEST RATED ORGANISATIONS Jan 23 Jan 22 Organisation Sector Jan 23 Jan 22 Difference in Rank Rank score score in score 1 2 First Direct Banks & building societies 86.2 85.7 -0.5 2 7 John Lewis Retail (non-food) 85.6 85.7 -0.9 3 4 UK Power Networks Utilities 85.4 85.4 0.0 4= 22 Tesco Mobile Telecoms & media 85.2 83.7 -1.5 4= 11 M&S (food) Retail (food) 85.2 84.2 -1.0 6 no data Starling Bank Banks & building societies 85.1 no data no data 7 63 Next Retail (non-food) 85.0 81.4 -3.6 8= 17 Suzuki Automotive 84.6 84.0 -0.6 8= 17 M&S Retail (non-food) 84.6 84.0 -0.6 10 21 Amazon.co.uk Retial (non-food) 84.4 83.8 -0.6 AVERAGE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH ENERGY AND WATER COMPANIES Source: UK Institute of Customer Service Jan 19 Jul 19 Jan 20 Jul 20 Jan 231 Jul 21 Jan 22 Jul 22 Jan 23 "The question the advisers ask is, what's the impact? That's the word we use to the customer, 'impact'. What's the impact of having no power? Alex Williams, head of the service delivery centre, UKPN "Highly engaged people feel highly empowered to deliver the right outcomes for their customers." Ian Cameron, director of customer service and innovation "Highly engaged people feel highly empowered to deliver the right outcomes for their customers." , director of customer service and innovation "The question the advisers ask is, what's the impact? That's the word we use to the customer, 'impact'. What's the impact of having no power? Alex Williams, head of the service delivery centre, UKPN 71.3 71.2 71.7 72.2 73.1 Water Energy 74.1 73.2 70.3 73.8 74.0 73.8 76.1 74.8 75.9 74.6 73.4 73.4 74.5

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