Customer Engagement

dvances in mobile and web technologies customers rely on every day are requiring expanded access to information across disparate platforms and putting control in the hands of customers. On top of this, new customer demands for lower costs, enhanced services and transparency are forcing utilities to accelerate investments in IT, smart grids, and other operational technologies. For both commercial and residential customers, these changes are necessary and expected from the brands that they choose to do business with and trust.

In order to meet increasing customer expectations and for utilities to remain relevant in a dynamic market, utilities can no longer make decisions and implement change on the same timeline as they have done in the past. Gone are the days of taking a year to implement a new ACD or IVR.

Customer Operations needs to be viewed strategically whether your objective is to become the customers’ trusted energy advisor, sell additional products and services in an energy marketplace or if you are just trying to meet customer and regulatory expectations.

Relying on outdated Customer Information and Billing Systems (CIS) to manage the customer experience isn’t enough. Knowing your customer, understanding their needs and preferences, and communicating with them in the channel of their choice offers both lower operating costs and opportunities to increase customer satisfaction.

Implementing or improving these channels needs to be done in a holistic way to ensure customer transactions are handled in an efficient and effective manner. New Energy Efficiency Programs, Demand Response and even services like pre-paid requires a thoughtful approach to promoting, servicing, and supporting customer needs.

Utilligent has been helping our clients come to grips with the new realities of managing the customer experience and improving customer engagement – an emphasis that began almost 10 years ago before anyone had even thought of responsive design or behavioral science in the context of utility customer service. We have developed and implemented transformative programs that have:

Moved millions of transactions from traditional phone calls to mobile and web channels taking tens of millions out of operations and maintenance expense while increasing customer satisfaction to the highest levels the utility has achieved in the last five years
Developed segmentation schemes and built analytical databases allowing the client to gain deeper insight into which customers to target for programs, incentives and even collections campaigns saving millions in program expense and increasing response rates five times higher than before
Identified and resolved significant CIS-related issues impacting hundreds of thousands of customers and millions in accounts receivable, bringing tens of millions in customer payments in the door
Updated the design and structure of customer websites supporting tens of millions of visits per year increasing click-through, transaction completion rates and program participation
Developed and implemented advanced customer analytics and business intelligence platforms providing deeper insight on millions of customer transactions from payments to communications preferences

Utilligent’s combined operational and technology expertise across the entire scope of customer operations gives us a unique ability to dream up a solution, and implement it.

EXPERIENCE. INSIGHT. STRATEGY. GRIT.