Increasingly, utilities companies are facing significant pressure from regulatory bodies and consumers alike. Over the years, these organisations haven’t always had the best reputation for customer service and support, leaving clients feeling frustrated and underappreciated.
However, as the number of clients choosing to switch utilities companies continues to increase, and economic issues strain consumer loyalty, the industry is evolving. Brands throughout the utilities sector are beginning to invest more time and focus into their CX initiatives. According to studies from McKinsey and similar analysts, it’s these customer-focused organisations who are most primed for success, even in the face of an emerging recession.
By investing in better strategies for serving and supporting their clients, utilities companies can differentiate themselves from other brands, and accelerate opportunities for growth. Here are some of the top case studies showcasing the impact of CX strategies on the success of utilities brands.
Genesys and Utilia
Utilia, a leader in the prepay energy landscape, found itself dealing with a huge volume of customer calls and queries in recent years. The brand was concerned about the potential for damaged customer satisfaction rates when clients were left on-hold for too long, waiting to resolve a problem. As a result, they chose to work with Genesys on the development of a new digital strategy. The updated CX solution gives consumers multiple choices for how to manage and pay for their services.
Genesys DX allowed Utilia to create a self-service system which provides consumers with a quick and efficient way to deal with issues, without the need for agent assistance. Not only does this cut down on waiting times for clients, but it also reduces the pressure on the call centre agents responsible for handling customer concerns. At the same time, the Genesys DX landscape still allows Utilia to provide clients with access to an expert customer service team when their issues require the input of a human agent. With Genesys, Utilia has created a more efficient, customer-focused contact centre.
Avaya and Superior Propane
The Superior Propane brand has been leading the Canadian market for propane utilities for over 70 years. Part of the reason for the company’s success, is its commitment to phenomenal customer service, and high client satisfaction. In recent years, however, the company noticed its existing communication technology stack was limited in terms of flexibility, agility, and scale. Agents were struggling to collect insights from customer interactions, and hybrid work was practically impossible due to an on-premises system of tools.
Implementing the OneCloud solution from Avaya allowed Superior Propane to access a flexible platform, which opened the door to innovations like AI and advanced reporting. The solution includes a custom-built IVR integration for self-service, and enables proactive automated outbound communications. What’s more, speech and desktop analytics built into the tool have helped Superior Propane to reduce its average handling times by up to 30 seconds per call.
Enghouse Interactive and Hitachi Energy
A global organisation committed to advancing the future of sustainable energy, Hitachi Energy is committed to staying on the cutting edge of the utilities landscape. With B2B customers across 140 countries, however, the organisation has regularly struggled with delivering a phenomenal level of support across multiple channels, in different languages. A legacy voice contact centre solution was preventing the brand from achieving its goals for excellent customer satisfaction and retention.
After reviewing the market in search of solutions, Hitachi Energy chose to work with Enghouse Interactive, using its cloud contact centre as a service solution to build a global platform for customer connections. The solution allows the company to access the flexibility, agility and optimisation capabilities required to thrive. Plus, the tool integrates closely with the solutions already used by the team for collaboration and customer relationship management. The unified solution now allows the company to offer multi-language service to customers on a 24/7 basis.