This article is the concluding piece in a two-part series on enhancing customer experience in the utility industry. The first article explored key strategies for utilities to fortify their omni-channel communications, emphasizing customer-facing interfaces.
Many consumers continue to grapple with a fractured experience while communicating with their utility providers. Despite the modern demand for convenience, many utilities haven’t caught up with technologies like SMS account notifications. Customers often find it challenging to get through to a live agent capable of addressing their queries. This leads to long wait times and interactions with frustrated agents who lack the tools and skills to provide real-time information and resolution.
The negative impact on customers is evident: A recent utility customer satisfaction study shows that customer satisfaction with electric utilities has reached a nadir, hitting just 754 out of a possible 1,000 points.1 Inefficiencies not only make for a poor customer experience but also escalate the total cost of ownership by consuming valuable time and resources.
In the dynamic landscape of North American electric, gas and water utilities, creating seamless customer experiences is crucial. But there’s a big, glaring problem: The lack of agent-facing Customer Experience (CX) tools. This void doesn’t just slow things down – it creates headaches during process changes, especially those triggered by new projects. The fallout? Lower Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and skyrocketing operational costs.
This article explores the challenges utilities face in delivering transformative CX and how an agent-focused approach can help unlock a new era of excellence.
The Challenges of Inadequate Agent-facing CX Tools
Utilities operate in a complex, aging system where keeping customers happy is a top priority. Yet, the focus often lands on customer-facing interfaces, overlooking the critical role of tools that agents need.
These tools are the backbone of customer interactions, helping agents offer timely and accurate support while managing complicated systems and processes. In the absence of robust agent-facing CX tools, utilities face several critical challenges:
01
Production Losses
Without efficient tools, agents struggle with inefficiencies, leading to longer resolution times and increased downtime. This not only hits productivity but also disrupts service delivery, leaving customers frustrated.
02
Inefficiencies during Process Changes
Project-driven process changes are inevitable in the utility sector, driven by evolving regulations, technological advancements or infrastructure upgrades. However, without adequate tools to support agents through these transitions, utilities risk operational disruptions and errors, exacerbating the impact on both customers and internal operations.
03
NPS Impact
Customer satisfaction relies on seamless interactions with utility providers. When agents don’t have the tools to handle inquiries quickly and accurately, customer satisfaction drops, dragging NPS down. Adverse experiences during critical times, like billing issues or service outages, can damage a utility’s reputation and erode customer loyalty.
04
Total Cost of Operations
The ripple effects of inadequate agent-facing CX tools hit the bottom line hard. Longer resolution times, more escalations and reduced efficiency drive up operational costs. Moreover, the need for manual re-work and extra resources adds to these expenses, further increasing the total cost of operations.
Strategic Approaches to Addressing the Gap
Addressing these challenges demands a strategic approach. Promisingly, research suggests that CX leaders are being empowered to embark on these journeys. Data from Forrester reveals that a majority expect larger budgets to help them face a turbulent landscape, while more than half plan to build capabilities that help them understand customer insights and experiences with the brand.2 When it comes to empowering agents to deliver next-generation CX, utilities would do well to zone in on three areas :
Investment in Technology
Utilities must invest in comprehensive agent-facing CX tools and technologies tailored to their unique operational requirements. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can equip agents with real-time insights for highly personalized services. Already, we are witnessing utilities pilot Generative AI (Gen AI) projects. A recent survey by HFS Research, in collaboration with WNS, revealed that utilities are leveraging Gen AI to record and transcribe customer calls, generating summaries integrated into customer relationship management systems.
Companies must integrate these next-generation tools seamlessly with existing systems, empowering agents with real-time insights, automation capabilities and intuitive interfaces to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
Training and Support
Implementing new technology is only part of the solution. Utilities must also provide comprehensive training and ongoing support to enable agents to leverage these tools effectively. By fostering continuous learning and adaptation, utilities can maximize the potential of their workforce and technology investments.
For instance, when an energy services and solutions company experienced an exponential increase in customers, developing a digitally simulated training environment as part of the holistic CX solution helped it improve the quality of customer service.
Data-driven Insights
Leveraging data analytics and customer feedback is essential for optimizing agent-facing CX tools. Utilities must harness insights from customer interactions, service metrics and NPS scores to identify areas for improvement, refine processes and enhance customer experience.
Consider the example of a leading energy supplier grappling with below-par Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores. While it had visibility into high-level trends, it lacked granular insights into customer expectations. Deploying an analytics center of excellence helped the company develop targeted CX initiatives based on improved insights into customer journeys and sentiments.
Unlocking Transformative CX through Agent Empowerment
The lack of agent-facing CX tools is a significant void for North American electric, gas and water utilities. By addressing this gap and prioritizing investments in technology, training and collaboration, utilities can reduce production losses, streamline process changes, boost NPS and cut operational costs.
An increasing number of organizations seek to collaborate with partners to realize these benefits. According to research from McKinsey, 55 percent of companies currently have strategic alliances as part of their customer care operations, and 47 percent of those organizations expect to intensify these partnerships over the next two years. 3
For utilities, doing so means unlocking holistic approaches to customer experience management – critical for navigating the evolving landscape of the utility sector and meeting the growing expectations of customers in the digital age.
About the Author
Shane McDonald is a Senior Vice President in the WNS Energy and Utilities Practice. With over 25 years of experience across retail energy, financial services, telecom and SaaS, his focus lies in orchestrating business transformations to enhance customer satisfaction and lower cost of ownership. Shane’s expertise encompasses customer lifecycle transformation, risk management, process design and control, digital transformation, and data analytics and reporting.
Dive deeper into strategies that can help utilities transform customer experience and operational efficiency.
References
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Electric Utilities Unable to Halt Slide in Business Customer Satisfaction | J.D. Power
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Planning Guide 2024: Customer Experience
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Where is customer care in 2024? | McKinsey