CS Week 2022: Digital in the Desert

CS Week 2022 wrapped up in Phoenix a week ago today, with attendance roaring back to pre-COVID levels. And it wasn’t just attendance that climbed over last year’s delayed event; the quality of the workshops, the level of engagement, and the breadth of attendees were quite strong, which bodes well for other industry-focused conferences later this year.?Here are some observations from the conference I found interesting:

Digital is hitting its stride, but unevenly applied across the industry. Some utilities noted great success with their digital transformations while others are stuck at the starting blocks. In a panel during the Executive Summit moderated by Gregg Knight of CenterPoint, a speaker noted that their cost to complete customer transactions via digital channels is 14 times less expensive than agent-handled transactions.?That tremendous cost advantage has them exploring additional digital use-cases beyond customer interactions into internal operations.?On a later panel, my colleague Barbara Porter cited EY research that indicates a majority of Americans prefer digital channels for the 10 most common interactions they have with their utility providers.?

Taken together, this broad and increasing preference for digital from customers, the opportunity to save precious O&M dollars by utilities, and the growing maturity of the digital platforms providers is creating a win-win-win situation.?If your utility is still dipping its toe in the digital ocean, it’s time to take the plunge.

Utilities are not immune from the workforce challenges facing all employers.?For most of my career, utilities have enjoyed a reputation as a preferred employer for service workers, in part due to the job security that comes from offering a countercyclical, essential service.?That advantage has dissipated in a tight labor market, where qualified applicants have less concern about their next job.?On a panel discussing today’s job market challenges, Eversource’s Penni McLean-Conner spoke of the innovative changes her company has made to compete for talent more effectively.?These changes start from the instant a person expresses interest all the way through the offer.?In fact, she cited a remarkable 12X reduction in the application-to-offer process time.?And from a benefits side she spoke of new options to work fully remote and performance-based rewards.?We’ve been talking about the “greying” of our industry for so many years that it no longer demands the degree of interest it once did, but clearly steps like Eversource has taken will be critical to hiring the next generation of utility workers.

Portals, portals everywhere.?Lots of buzz around portals and the enhanced customer engagement they promise.?I predict we’ll see a significant turn-over in the stodgy MyAccount sites that populate so many utilities today with refreshed, more intuitive customer self-service options over the next two years.?One thing I found striking was the degree of success some utilities were touting while others – using the same platform/technology – were decidedly unhappy with their provider.?It’s a good reminder that even though digital projects are typically smaller than CIS replacement efforts, because they are client-facing, they need the same care and attention that CIS replacement projects demand. This challenge is compounded by a general desire to implement digital projects using Agile methodologies even though the implications of Agile are poorly understood across most utilities.?Before initiating your portal project, consider the following questions:

• Do you fully understand the customer-need you’re trying to address??What about your future customers?
• Is your project funded in such a way to accommodate enhancements immediately after it’s deployed?
• Have you assembled the right cross-functional team so that it’s seen as a customer-engagement initiative versus an “IT project”?
• Do you have the right metrics to measure success?
• Is your technology provider treating this like a transaction or a long-term partnership?

Closing thoughts. Beyond the wonderful opportunity to learn and catch-up with friends and colleagues, it was a delight and honor to see two of our clients win Best CIS Implementation of the year awards: SDGE for Level 1 and MGE for Level II.?Congratulations to both for your tremendous execution, resilience, and dedication to better customer outcomes.?

And congratulations to the entire crew at CS Week including Rod Litke, John Sild and Lisa Collins for producing a terrific conference. Looking forward to seeing you next year in Charlotte.

#EYEnergy