The Outbound Leverage in the Energy and Utility Industry
Utilities and Energy is one of those business domains that hasn't been known to be very open to experiment with the scope of its outsourcing arm in general.
While businesses in this domain do outsource some processes, they typically associate it only with the value addition aspect of the business - collection, dispute resolution, retention etc.
This also hasn't allowed them to fully use the leverage of outbound calling.
Conventionally utilities have also viewed CRM as being need based, demand driven or event specific.
They have however, not often considered CRM as a requisite throughout the customer lifecycle.
However, with time, the sector has realized that apart from better customer care, support and sales, the outbound communications have an exceptionally high potential to help avoid the higher retention costs and customer contact.
Some of the applications in no particular order that can yield such benefits to utilities are:
Let us look how the above help in the same.
Welcome Calls and EFT Confirmations At the beginning of an end - user's relationship with the utility service provider, welcome calls make sense.
A lot of banks do this to know if the debit card and the welcome kit were informative enough and if the client was happy with them.
The same can also apply within this industry.
Similarly, it is also relieving to know that the money the consumer paid has reached the right place.
I know they have the credit card / bank statement to verify the same, but have a human say this is far better.
Account Status (Activation / Deactivation) Once the account is activated, the sooner your user knows, the earlier they start using it.
Now, while they are already aware of the tentative dates, again it helps to check if they've realized it.
It creates a professional image of the service provider when the customer is informed that their account has been activated.
This helps more in cases of deactivation because then they know that they are not being charged for the service that they opted out of (for whatever reason).
Rate/Tariff Notifications, Payment / overdue reminders If you pre - inform your clients about the rates and tariff notifications and / or the payment reminders or overdue notices, this is both revenue generating as well as business empowering.
This enables them to express their dissatisfaction (if it is felt) and / or make payments in time, sometimes even instantaneously.
Crew Mobilization and Outage / Restoration Notifications Similarly when you proactively update your client about any sort of crew mobilizations or outages / restorations it helps your business.
They are thus better prepared for the crisis or change and they trust you better because they appreciate knowing it in advance.
So, in other words, customer empowerment leads to business empowerment for you.
Retention / satisfaction surveys The last stage of any customer lifecycle is when they decide to discontinue the business with you.
At this stage you try to retain them and / or help them close their account easily and smoothly.
This means that satisfaction surveys of an outbound nature will help you get feedback and feedback is always valuable.
While businesses in this domain do outsource some processes, they typically associate it only with the value addition aspect of the business - collection, dispute resolution, retention etc.
This also hasn't allowed them to fully use the leverage of outbound calling.
Conventionally utilities have also viewed CRM as being need based, demand driven or event specific.
They have however, not often considered CRM as a requisite throughout the customer lifecycle.
However, with time, the sector has realized that apart from better customer care, support and sales, the outbound communications have an exceptionally high potential to help avoid the higher retention costs and customer contact.
Some of the applications in no particular order that can yield such benefits to utilities are:
- Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) confirmations
- Payment Reminders & Overdue Notices
- Crew Mobilization Notices
- Customer Satisfaction Surveys
- Rate Change Notifications & Tariff Notices
- Account Activation and Deactivation services
- Welcome Calls
- Outage/Restoration Notification
Let us look how the above help in the same.
Welcome Calls and EFT Confirmations At the beginning of an end - user's relationship with the utility service provider, welcome calls make sense.
A lot of banks do this to know if the debit card and the welcome kit were informative enough and if the client was happy with them.
The same can also apply within this industry.
Similarly, it is also relieving to know that the money the consumer paid has reached the right place.
I know they have the credit card / bank statement to verify the same, but have a human say this is far better.
Account Status (Activation / Deactivation) Once the account is activated, the sooner your user knows, the earlier they start using it.
Now, while they are already aware of the tentative dates, again it helps to check if they've realized it.
It creates a professional image of the service provider when the customer is informed that their account has been activated.
This helps more in cases of deactivation because then they know that they are not being charged for the service that they opted out of (for whatever reason).
Rate/Tariff Notifications, Payment / overdue reminders If you pre - inform your clients about the rates and tariff notifications and / or the payment reminders or overdue notices, this is both revenue generating as well as business empowering.
This enables them to express their dissatisfaction (if it is felt) and / or make payments in time, sometimes even instantaneously.
Crew Mobilization and Outage / Restoration Notifications Similarly when you proactively update your client about any sort of crew mobilizations or outages / restorations it helps your business.
They are thus better prepared for the crisis or change and they trust you better because they appreciate knowing it in advance.
So, in other words, customer empowerment leads to business empowerment for you.
Retention / satisfaction surveys The last stage of any customer lifecycle is when they decide to discontinue the business with you.
At this stage you try to retain them and / or help them close their account easily and smoothly.
This means that satisfaction surveys of an outbound nature will help you get feedback and feedback is always valuable.
