The size of the energy and utilities market in the U.S. alone is staggering. For example, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated that in 2020 there were 156 million customers for domestic electric power, who were billed an estimated $393 billion.
While customer support has long been vital in the case of service outages, multiple factors are converging to raise the stakes for customer experience (CX) across this sector.
Raised Expectations Among Energy and Utilities Customers
The energy and utilities industry used to treat customers merely as ratepayers who had little choice of providers or how they could interact with their provider. In today’s landscape, more of those customers have a choice of providers and can be sold additional services and products by energy and utility companies with expanded offerings.
According to Deloitte, the way customers see their roles has changed in recent times. People expect more from the companies with which they regularly do business than in the past, especially that communication needs to be friction-free and experiences more personalized. It is up to utility companies to build stronger relationships with their customers, who are squarely focused on improved interactions.
Customer Experience Transformations in the Utilities Industry
Deloitte also outlines three energy industry transformations that are in the process of changing how customers think about their utility suppliers:
- Industry digitalization that generates data about usage
- Decentralization as energy comes from multiple sources
- Decarbonization as energy production focuses on cleaner technologies.
Simultaneously, the looming threats of growing demand, service disruption, and increased likelihood of disasters make effective customer engagement more essential than ever. Deloitte adds the potential value of leveraging technology as a solution for potential disruptions. One significant opportunity lies in analytical capabilities linked to smart meter data that will drive personalized offerings and customer experiences.
How Energy and Utility Providers Can Be More Customer-Centric
Elevating CX is now imperative across the utilities and energy sector. Sysfore advises adoption of these measures beneficial to customers:
Omnichannel
experiences
Give customers more control and choice over their interactions.
Social Media
Integration
Leverage social media to improve CX, whether for education, branding, promotions, vital communications about service issues, etc.
Digital
Operations
Smart homes linked by Internet of Things (IoT) and automation will be data generators. Use it to personalize and optimize energy and utility industry customer experiences.
Technological
Adoption
Employ solutions like big data and predictive analytics to understand customer behavior and assist them with real-time updates, value-added services, and other personalized options.
ResultsCX Experience Relevant to Energy/Utilities
Using Reveal™ Analytics to Enhance Support Performance and Improve CX
When a long-term client wanted to improve its already impressive support quality, it asked ResultsCX for an in-depth analysis of support drivers to identify areas for improvement. Not only did performance improve further as a result of the study, but customer satisfaction rates jumped, as well.
Download Case StudyThought Leadership
Brands Without Effective Digital CX Risk Irrelevance
One way for companies in the energy and utility sector to protect their customer base is to transform support operations with AI-powered tools.
Learn more about the benefits of AI-empowered customer journeys that can reduce customer care costs while improving experiences.
Word-of-Mouth in the Age of Digital
Energy and utility companies cannot neglect the potential value of interacting with customers through social media. Social media must be monitored for any mention of a company’s products or services, and customers may use it as another avenue for seeking support.
Learn about the benefits of protecting your organization’s online reputation and using social media as another support option for customers.
