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What is the status quo for customer satisfaction and digital service performance in the utilities sector?
Over the last year, the relationship between customers and the utility sector has grown increasingly fraught, adding a new complexity to the way companies engage.
From concerns around environmental impact to unprecedented bill increases, it is unsurprising that customer satisfaction has taken a significant hit in the last 12 months.
The UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) , published twice a year by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), is a national barometer of customer satisfaction.
The last UKCSI findings, published in July 2023, show that satisfaction in utilities has fallen down from 74.1 in the previous barometer to 69.5.
Utilities are now the worst performing sector, sitting 7.1 points below the UK all-sector average, according to the index.
The water sector generally fared better than energy in the latest index – a disparity perhaps linked to the eye-watering price hikes customers were subjected to during the recent energy price crisis. Water companies dropped by just 3.5 points to 72.6 – with dissatisfaction likely driven by high profile storm overflow incidents. Meanwhile, energy companies dropped 5.3 points to 67.9 on the index.
So, how can water and energy companies turn around the decline? According to ICS chief executive Jo Causon, the digital experience has an important role to play in improving customer satisfaction.
“Digital interaction as part of the overall customer experience is critical as part of the omni-channel approach,” Causon explains. According to our research, almost 70% of customers last interacted with their utility organisations via a digital channel.”[1]
“Satisfaction varies between channels in all sectors, but on average in the utility sector, satisfaction with a provider app, website and communications via messaging services – like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger – is higher than email, web chat and social media.”
However, Causon says that ultimately, the “biggest area for improvement in utilities is finding the right person to contact”. This suggests that customer journeys, which usually start with a digital channel, need greater attention.
She adds: “Really understanding the reason for contact and needs of the customer is critical.”
“Digital interaction as part of the overall customer experience is critical as part of the omni-channel approach. According to our research, almost 70% of customers last interacted with their utility organisations via a digital channel.”
Jo Causon, chief executive, Institute of Customer Service
Martin Ridley, former customer experience CIO at Thames Water and a director at Charles Marcus Consulting, agrees that utilities need to establish a “clear vision” on customer requirements to “effectively digitalise their proposition”.
He says: “The focus then needs to be on things such as usability and the overall user experience. Without establishing the right foundations for your digital strategy, there will be major challenges in the longer term.”
Ridley, explains that flawed digital strategies often result in disengaged and dissatisfied customers, which can exacerbate issues around billing and payments.
“Customers do not want to pay for things that they do not understand,” he adds. “There are key issues around billing, payments and how the customer is directed through that journey.”
“From my experience, there are a lot of companies who have to improve the experience for customers to ensure that they have a better grasp of their usage and how that correlates with the amount they have to pay.”
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