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UTILITY WEEK | 27TH JANUARY - 2ND FEBRUARY 2017 | 29 Customers Johanna Dow, chief executive, Business Stream "We need to make sure that everybody is ready. That readi- ness isn't just about retailers, it's got to be about wholesalers as well. Do the whole- salers really know what's coming? And do they understand the amount of change that is going to be driven into their part of the business?" Peter McCarthy Ward, fellow, Institute of Telecommunications Professionals "Churn is both good and bad. It's good when you're gaining customers, but it's bad when you're losing customers. It's quite often the case that churn is an under- invested-in customer- facing activity. You need to make it really easy for your custom- ers to come back to you." Simon Oates, chief customer officer, Southern Water "The issue of tariff complexity and the risk of certain custom- ers being excluded from a market that has more complex bundles, is a risk. We've seen it in other sectors, and it has to be addressed in some way." 1. Market readiness – it is the responsibility of all market participants, not just the retailers, to ensure they are ready for market opening. 2. Customer service – the quality of customer service will increase in the new market, but so will the expectations of customers. It is vital that water companies keep up with this increased expectation. 3. Innovation – in an age of digital revolution, water companies must keep up with the pace of change and innovation, which will likely increase in the new competitive retail market. 4. Brand – when the market opens, water will have to become more of a "brand" to attract customers where it wasn't in the past. Companies that don't do this could end up being left behind. 5. Data quality – ensuring the quality of customer data is high, and does not create a barrier to switching, will be vital to the success of the new market. Five key points Ciaran Nelson, head of corporate communications, Anglian Water Services "Neither brand nor service can be fully effective unless they lean on each other. You can't have customers trusting your service if they don't feel you've got a first-class brand. And you can't hope that customers will respond to your brand and campaigning communications if they don't trust your customer service." Ben Jeffs, chief executive, Market Operator Services Limited "We have to do every- thing that we possibly can to make this mar- ket opening a success for everybody. It is a marathon challenge. It's not just a mara- thon challenge for us, it's been a mountain challenge for eve- rybody. One of our CGI team members actually likened it, this time last year, to running a marathon while doing a Rubik's Cube."