Ideas for Increasing Utility Customer Engagement
Sales of commodities like oil or gold are based on price, not customer engagement. Yet while utility companies are often considered commodities, that sentiment is changing.
Today, it is important for utility companies in the energy industry to increase customer engagement to become a trusted energy resource for their customers rather than just being viewed as a monthly bill that has to be paid.
What’s Changing
Utilities face a similar problem to what cable companies are going through. Previously, consumers who wanted to watch a wide variety of TV shows could only choose from one company to receive those services, and whether or not these cable companies provided quality customer service, consumers faced the binary option of sticking with the company or receiving no cable at all.
Yet as competition started to arise from satellite TV providers and, more recently, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, cable companies faced the prospect of losing customers. As such, many of these companies are making investments in customer service.
For utilities, many businesses only have the option to contract with one electricity provider, and customer service isn’t often top of mind. In fact, energy utility companies have seen customer satisfaction scores drop for three straight years, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
However, organizations are gaining more choices that will allow them to leave their energy utility companies if they’re unsatisfied, making utility customer engagement more important than ever.
For example, distributed electricity generation and storage solutions, such as solar PV and battery technologies, are growing rapidly. Solutions like this allow businesses to generate and store their own energy, enabling them to go off the grid at any time, which will increasingly reduce utility revenues and add volatility.
Additionally, in deregulated markets consumers can choose their own 3rd party energy supplier. Using an open bid format, energy suppliers can now bid supply contract costs to businesses, putting downward pressure, and frequently evaporating utility supply margins. While this used to be a large source of revenue for Utilities, competitive pressure has made the supply business unsustainable.
What Utility Companies Can Do
Even though some businesses may choose an alternate energy provider and some may install their own storage and generation assets, many will want to stick with the same provider, particularly if that utility can better engage with the business to help them meet their energy goals.
To do so, utility companies can offer their customers energy analytics software (EAS) so that both the customer and the utility can gain better insight into energy
EAS allows the utilities to better understand the nuances of their customers’ operations. As such, they can recommend products, services and incentive programs that are more aligned with what the customer needs to save money and/or reduce their environmental
While this may seem contrary to a utility company’s’ goal of maximizing revenue, it is the reality they face, like cable companies trying to hold on to their customers with offerings such as on-demand shows and faster repair times. For utilities, it’s better to develop a customer engagement plan to become an energy efficiency advisor and help customers increase their sustainability than to lose that customer entirely.
And as regulation grows within the industry, a certain portion of energy sold must come from renewable sources. So, using EAS, utility companies can identify good candidates for renewable energy projects, such as if they see that a customer is trying to take their own steps to use less electricity.
By doing more to engage with customers, utility companies stand a better chance to keep their customers as competition increases.
Request a complimentary energy efficiency assessment to find out how Artis Energy’s RTIS® energy analytics platform can provide you with the visibility and insight to transform energy from a fixed cost into a distinct competitive advantage.