Energy and utility providers aren’t usually known for proffering delightful customer experiences. As a matter of fact, until recently most enterprises didn’t prioritize customer satisfaction or experiences because customers often didn’t have the luxury to choose what’s best for them. As per a study by J.D. Power, the utility industry is one of the lowest-performing industry for digital customer experiences.
However, with more customers expecting personalization and convenience in all the areas of their lives, energy and utility-related industries have started to see the positive impact of customer experience. In fact, a multitude of companies has begun transformations to foster stronger relationships with customers and provide improved service. In doing so, they are tapping into new technologies to deliver personalized and omnichannel experiences with ease.
Recognizing Customer – Centricity
For any business to become successful, “the customer comes first” must be the motto. This customer-centric philosophy has absolutely transformed what it means for organizations to do business with their trading partners and ultimately deliver maximum customer delight. And the utility enterprises is no exception to this philosophy. In short, customers of utility-related industries also do want to be heard, understood, and served with phenomenal speed as well as personalized service.
As far as the utility industry is concerned, customer satisfaction has taken a powerful role in the success of the entire organization compared to years before. As per a Deloitte study, it is realized that customers’ expectations for higher engagement keep growing with utility providers.
On meeting these expectations, organizations can:
- Get an upper hand in rate case negotiations
- Eliminate the possibility of fines
- Reduce the threat of deregulation
- Build goodwill among both regulators and consumers
Sometimes to meet these changing expectations, leaderships put a lot of pressure on their IT teams in order to provide value. However, with right technological aids in place, especially those that help them easily handle customer data, companies can improve customer experiences through easier data access, personalized services, and higher engagement.
Improving Customer Experiences with Data Integration
Data integration platforms enable business users working in utility industries deliver value to their customers in an easier manner. They make businesses capable of harnessing value from customer data and thereby leverage the value extracted to meet customer changing expectations with ease and precision. And all this can be done without utility providers to rely on their IT departments.
Self-service data integration solutions can empower these providers to ingest and integrate all kinds of data, in myriad formats, in a unified database – where it can be stored and used. Since even non-technical users can carry out these tasks, there is a little need for IT teams to interfere. IT teams need only to control and govern the process, which allows them to focus on other strategic tasks.
With features such as pre-built application connectors, shared templates, user-friendly dashboards, and more, utility owners can integrate, manage, and leverage customer data in a better and faster way. As the data gathered from customers are analyzed, it’s easier for companies to deliver faster value to their customers, and ultimately become easier to do business with.