Utility Week

26 | 4Th - 10Th NovEmbEr 2016 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Market view A customer engagement survey con- ducted by online recovery specialists Optilead, which works with a number of energy providers including two of the big six, identified that energy providers are fail- ing at customer engagement and missing opportunities to maximise web conversions. With more than six million energy accounts being switched in 2015, no-one in the energy sector needs to be told how com- petitive the marketplace is, but this survey highlights that the majority of energy sup- pliers are missing huge opportunities to win new customers. We conducted this survey because we wanted to understand how effectively the energy market manages customer engage- ment with online visitors. But, we did not expect the results to be so poor. Other indus- tries have better results so we believe this sector needs to really understand what is happening. To understand how online energy compa- nies in both Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland responded to customer engagement, Optilead conducted testing on 28 energy websites. Each site was tested three times for online abandonment (the moment a web- site visitor part fills the switching forms but does not complete the switching process) to see how well they managed switching aban- donment, and once for callbacks (where a website offers the visitor the opportunity to request an agent call them back) to see how they engaged with customers that require assistance. A total of 89 per cent of the companies tested did not make any attempt at all to re-engage with these abandoned prospects. That means of the 28 companies we tested, only three picked up our abandonment and made any attempt to connect with us in a bid to win our custom, despite the average yearly energy tariff being in excess of one thousand pounds. Of the 84 tests conducted over the 28 com- panies, our researchers only received nine emails letting us know how to complete our order for switching, but not one company called us to see if we needed assistance and to guide us through the process, even though they all received our name, phone and email details. Having the ability to deliver online aban- donment leads directly to your call centre in real time is critical at this point. Our experi- ence shows that visitors who abandon the switching process have normally done so for basic reasons such as not understanding the switching process, uncertainty about cost, uncertainty about switching dates. All of these issues can be overcome by speaking to a customer service adviser, and experience has shown us that our energy clients see sig- nificant increases in conversion rates when engaging with these "abandonees" by phone instantly. Optilead's second stage of testing on the 28 energy sites was the callback feature. Callbacks offer a fantastic way for custom- ers to request an instant call back relating to switching, and again speaking to an agent directly can o"en be easier than completing lengthy web forms. Of the 28 energy provid- ers, only three offered a callback feature, and the quickest response was one hour and 33 minutes – more than enough time to for an online visitor to find another energy provider. The longest response was nearly 22 hours, which is well beyond the recom- mended timeframe of 5-15 minutes to gain the most significant decision-maker contact rates. Each year vast numbers of customers are looking to switch energy provider, but they are not getting the help they need. By call- ing within the first ten minutes, you are over three times more likely to convert than call- ing a"er one hour. High rates of abandonment are o"en put down to complex switching processes. But what energy providers should be looking at is what they can do to make the most of cus- tomer engagement and help customers com- plete switching when they show an interest. Undoubtedly, Optilead's own experi- ence within energy providers, including the big six, is that companies using a real-time multi-channel customer engagement solu- tion which includes a mix of phone, email, SMS achieve the best results. Helen Wilkinson, customer engagement specialist, Optilead The big six weak on the web A customer engagement survey of energy supplier websites found that many do not even try to reconnect with users who have got lost during a switch. Must try harder, says Helen Wilkinson. Historical switcHing (quarterly) quarter electricity transfers gas transfers Q3 2012 835,000 572,000 Q4 2012 970,000 605,000 Q1 2013 722,000 420,000 Q2 2013 703,000 490,000 Q3 2013 696,000 447,000 Q4 2013 1,304,000 833,000r Q1 2014 745,000 546,000 Q2 2014 687,000 547,000 Q3 2014 731,000 482,000 Q4 2014 895,000 706,000 Q1 2015 867,000 703,000 Q2 2015 746,000 595,000 Q3 2015 775,000 615,000 Q4 2015 1,008,000 796,000 Q1 2016 1,093,000 858,000 Q2 2016 1,067,000 788,000 switcHing on tHe increase switcHing statistics in great britain cHange of supply events (montHly) The number of electricity transfers increased by 43 per cent between quarter 2 of 2015 and quarter 2 of 2016, with an estimated 1,067,000 transfers in quarter 2 of 2016. The number of gas transfers increased by 32.4 per cent between quarter 2 of 2015 and quarter 2 of 2016, with an estimated 788,000 transfers in quarter 2 of 2016. Source: BEIS Source: Electralink 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 Sep 2012 Sep 2013 Sep 2014 Sep 2015 Sep 2016 Source: BEIS

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