Customer experience should be at the center of your utility. However, technology challenges often prevent you and your team from delivering the modern experience your customers demand.
These include everyday customer requests, such as addressing billing discrepancies, understanding consumption trends, providing proactive communication, and sending automated alerts about potential leaks, service requests, or disruptions.
Today, utility customers want options. They expect to be able to interact through multiple channels, including phone, email, chat, social media, or online, at all times and on their terms.
However, staffing a 24/7 call center is expensive and unrealistic for utilities. To deliver on the expectations of a modern customer experience, you must invest in technology that provides customers with the self-service tools to get the answers they need on their terms while still arming your front-line CSRs with real-time information at their fingertips.
Innovative utilities, such as Easton Utilities, are putting customer service at the forefront of their business.
”We’re in the customer service business, not the utilities business…We do an annual assessment, and consistently hit 96% positive index. Our incentives are all tied to customer experience, so we are over the top when dealing with our customers.” -Fred Christie, CIO, Easton Utilities.
As a SpryPoint client, Easton Utilities is transforming to deliver a modern customer experience that meets expectations by embracing automation, cloud-based technologies, and AI.
A modern customer experience is no longer optional
The bar is set. Utility customers expect instant answers, interaction options, and proactive communication of their account and utility information.
“The citizens’ expectations have changed. They want easier access to their bills, the ability to view them online, and the option to pay online. They don’t want to receive their traditional paper bill anymore. -Pam Kummer, Utility Billing Application Support Supervisor, LOGIS.
In fact, 73% of customers expect utility providers to offer real-time updates and self-service options. But many utilities have fallen short on these expectations.
At SpryPoint, we hear from utility leaders every day about these growing customer demands and the challenges they face in meeting them due to outdated and legacy technologies. This results in higher call volumes, increased customer frustration and complaints, and delayed or missed payments, which in turn increase collections requirements.
What leading utilities are doing to modernize customer experience
SpryPoint has worked with hundreds of utilities across the Americas. Innovative utilities embrace automation and cloud-based technologies to meet growing customer experience demands and contend with the rapid pace of change.
Here are some of the ways innovative utilities are delivering a modern customer experience:
- An omnichannel customer portal that empowers utility customers with 24/7 immediate access to information and answers, account information, billing, usage trends, analytics, and actionable insights on their terms.
- A consumer-like checkout and payment experience that enables customers to pay however they want online, mobile, POS, or on the phone, that updates immediately on their customer portal and your CIS to prevent unnecessary service interruptions.
- Proactive notifications and alerts are delivered to customers across multiple channels regarding consumption trends, potential leaks, and service issues that impact their service.
- Self-service tools and access to commonly used forms for onboarding, offboarding, moving, contact changes, and more, eliminating the need to contact customer service.
- A cloud-based CIS built specifically for how utilities work across the meter-to-cash process and interoperable with other core front and back office systems. This provides Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), billing, and collections with the most up-to-date information in one place, supporting customers, reducing wait times, and increasing customer resolution and satisfaction.
Innovative utilities modernizing customer experiences through advanced technology report 40% lower customer service complaints and 30% faster resolution times.
Is your utility prepared to meet the growing needs of your customers? SpryPoint partners with hundreds of utilities, helping them navigate the intricacies and requirements as they manage this transformational change. Let’s connect.
