Level up CX: Self-service and data are the keys to utility success
Doug Adams
Digital Transformation | Customer Experience (CX) | Application Management & Modernization - Head of Commercial
For decades, the utility industry has been synonymous with reliability. Keeping the lights on, the water flowing, and the heat humming – that's what utilities do, and they do it well.?
But the world is changing. One recent survey found that the utility sector has garnered the lowest customer satisfaction score among all business sectors. It seems that merely keeping the lights on isn’t enough.
Today's consumers are not just demanding a new standard of service; they are expecting it. This standard is defined by convenience, personalization, and a seamless digital experience. They want their utility providers to adapt to their needs, and those who fail to do so risk falling behind in this rapidly changing landscape.
So, where are the opportunities for prioritizing customer experience (CX) for utilities in the digital age? How can they begin to bridge the gap between the traditional utility model and the expectations of today's tech-savvy consumer?
Meeting the needs of the new customer
Consumers now expect the convenience of managing their electricity or water bills with the same ease as booking a flight or ordering groceries online. Self-service portals, now rapidly becoming the norm, empower customers with a suite of features that put them in control. No more searching for misplaced bills or worrying about late fees.??
Self-service portals allow customers to view their billing history, make secure online payments, and even set up automatic payments for added peace of mind. McKinsey research has found that utilities that improved these digital services saw overall customer satisfaction rise by an average of 2%. However, when these tools are absent or poorly designed, it’s a jarring experience that leads to the dissatisfaction mentioned above.
Harnessing the power of data for personalized experiences
Utilities have access to a wealth of data on customer energy usage that can be utilized to personalize communication and offer targeted services by harnessing the power of analytics. Customers can start receiving alerts when their energy consumption spikes or recommendations for energy-saving programs tailored to their usage patterns. We’ve already seen that powerful AI capabilities can deliver more than a 30% improvement in customer satisfaction in select journeys.
To understand how vital AI-enabled CX will soon be, Gartner predicts that by 2025, 80% of customer service will be applying generative AI technology in some form to improve agent productivity and CX. In addition, 38% of leaders see improving CX and retention as the primary purpose of initiatives to deploy applications trained on large language models.
Building trust through transparency and proactive communication
Trust is also a cornerstone of any successful customer relationship. This means clear and transparent communication about billing, outages, and planned utility maintenance. Proactive communication, keeping customers informed about potential disruptions, goes a long way in building this trust and reducing customer frustration.
It’s also a two-way street when it comes to payments and fraud. Having a better view of your customers when onboarding and managing your relationship enables your agents to spot suspicious activity and ensure the wrong person isn’t being lumped with the wrong bill.
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Connected workflows to connect with customers
What’s the real secret to strong CX? Frictionless journeys and proactive services boost loyalty and help customers be more responsible with their energy consumption.
But you’ll struggle to reach this ambition with disparate and disconnected workflows.
Connecting critical workflows – across IT, employee, and customer operations – is more vital than ever to embed flexibility and automation across your business. This means connecting your cross-department data to create a complete view of the customer and the insights to anticipate their needs, identify opportunities, and mitigate issues proactively. Then you can design excellent interfaces that leave the right impression on anybody who uses them
Beyond CX to Total eXperience (TX) transformation
Until recently, businesses tended to divide customer, employee, user, and marketing experience initiatives into separate silos. While this might have suited organizational boundaries, it doesn’t maximize the potential of digital transformation to iron out gaps in processes that cause inefficiencies and frustration. Total eXperience (TX) transformation, advocated as a top strategic priority by Gartner, is today’s approach to optimizing business operations.
Fujitsu is already working with energy and utilities companies to implement process automation that reaches across silos to create this total experience. Our global-scale partnerships with sector leaders mean we can deliver transformation rapidly and reliably.?
We use fast-to-deploy, low-code solutions from ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Microsoft to build seamless, automated processes. We also integrate with sector-specific platforms from long-term tier 1 partners Oracle and SAP. This is how we go beyond Customer Information Systems (CIS) to deliver multi-channel operations across all aspects of your business:
That’s why we’re excited about attending the upcoming CSWeek from April 29 to May 2 in Fort Worth. The team and I will be there at Booth 123, so come and talk to us if you’re attending.
We’re looking forward to discussing the challenges your company faces in delivering this next generation of CX and the leading technology platforms that will enable you to build better relationships with customers through automation, analytics, and AI.?
About the author:
As the Head of Industry at Fujitsu North America, I’m passionate about innovation’s power in helping companies reinvent their current business models around new technologies and capabilities. If you would like to discuss the strategies that will allow you to modernize your business around the new needs of your customers, please feel free to get in touch with me.