Utility Week

8 | 12TH - 18TH JANUARY 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Website relaunch T he use of incentives to drive greater focus on con- sumers and customer service is one of the central features of Ofgem's RIIO price control regime. And based on the headline scores achieved against the broad measure, and on my own discussions with energy net- works when I was a regulator, I have always considered this to be one of the great strengths of the framework. The report Dnos and Customer Service: Performing for the Broad Measure from utilityweek.co.uk sheds valu- able light on everything that DNOs are doing to put con- sumers first, at a time when there is concern about the returns they are getting. It also gives some real insights into what the top performing DNOs do differently that should provide pause for reflection for those not scoring so highly. Current performance Utility Week's interviews with customer service leaders at the DNOs show that all companies are now thinking actively about customers, recognising that what sits at the end of their networks are real people not MPANs. The customer satisfaction target set by Ofgem is the Broad Measure of Customer Service (BMCS) and as this report notes, all DNOs bar ENW are now achieving sat- isfaction levels high enough to avoid penalties under the measure, and which mean their performance com- pares favourably with other sectors. Top performers against the BMCS have satisfaction rates on a par with those achieved by the likes of Amazon and John Lewis in the industry standard UKCSI. And what's the real secret of those top performers? All the DNOs have now installed, or are installing, CRM systems, and are reviewing their processes and introducing new com- munication channels like webchat to give more communications options for customers to express queries, issues and concerns. But the top performers recognise that great customer service is about more than that. It's about supporting a culture that focuses on getting under the skin of the cus- tomer. It's about nurturing an organisation where individuals do what they say they will and own the customer's problems. Automated technologies like webchat are great, but a lot of people still prefer to make a phone call when they are worried, or want a question answered, and they want to talk to a human at the other end of that call. In these situations, employee attitude really matters. At the other end of the league table, it's notable that two of the lower performers make a bit of a play in this report about affordability. I find NPG's view of the budget airlines as a role model rather worrying in the context of an essential service. Of course, affordability is important, but within the price control period the savings a company makes go primarily (though not entirely) back to shareholders. So affordability is more a debate for RIIO2. Empathy doesn't cost much. Getting things right first time doesn't cost much – indeed it is probably cheaper overall. Affordability matters but companies should not use that as an excuse for a lack of ambition on customer service. What does come through in this report as a real strength across all DNOs is the attention they pay to vul- nerable customers more broadly. Future service challenges and opportunities Turning to the future, it is striking that only three out of six DNOs mention smart metering – and it is sympto- matic that this included the two top performers. With the national rollout due to be complete by 2020, smart meters are not a distant prospect but something companies need to be thinking about now. DNOs gener- ally have always applied a "not invented here" mindset to smart meters, but they ignore them at their peril. The top performers recognise smart meters will help them manage interruptions better and are starting to look at pilots for how they might use the "last-gasp" and "first- breath" functionality to do that. But there's a lot of other data smart meters will col- lect too, that should help DNOs manage their networks better, for example by anticipating potential faults. Then too, customers will have more information that will allow them to pick up on issues around voltage fluctua- tions or intermittent faults that may prompt new sorts of enquiries. All DNOs need to start thinking seriously about the opportunities and challenges to avoid being caught out. Exclusive report: DNOs and customer service We asked Maxine Frerk to review our DNO report, available exclusively to Utility Week members. This is her verdict. Exclusive commentary Maxine Frerk

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