OFGEM
Customer Service Survey – Are utitlities companies looking after you?
We are conducting a quick survey on behalf of a client and hoped you might spare five minutes to click on the link and complete the survey.
The findings of this research will be used to prove to gas, electricity and water businesses in the UK that there needs to be a cultural change towards fair and efficient customer service, a change that would positively impact us all.
If you could share …the link / forward it to your own contacts we would really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Caroline
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/utilitiesfeedback
Hosepipe Ban Could Cost Water Companies £792 Million as in-bound Customer Calls Surge
2 April 2012: Calls to customer services teams at the UK’s 25 water companies have surged following the announcement that seven water companies in southern and eastern England will be implementing bans from 5 April, with further regions on high alert. The impact on customer service teams has been significant.
The average hosepipe related enquiry is taking 10 minutes to resolve, at a cost of £12 per customer, on top of the expected daily call levels. However, this cost and administrative pressure is not necessary.
Customer analysis has identified a common question: “What impact will the hosepipe ban have on me?”
Having established the key customer concern, it would be far more effective, both in terms of cost and administration, for the water companies to take a proactive approach to customer management. With the technology now available there is no excuse for customers to feel ill-informed and therefore for huge spikes in call numbers in the event of a planned service change, such as the hosepipe ban.
“It is very easy and cost effective to proactively communicate with high volumes of customers, quickly and accurately via letter, email, SMS and social media,” explained Rob Gillam, consultant to the utilities sector, CDC Respond.
“Service providers must use the intelligence provided by customers to pre-empt issues and communicate. Not only will this limit the number of repeat enquiries, the more informed a customer is, the less likely they are to escalate an enquiry to a complaint. This not only reduces the administrative burden, it ensures that the customer management process remains compliant with the requirements of the regulator,” continued Rob Gillam.
From a regulatory perspective it is vital that customers are happy with the communications. OFWAT, the water regulator is increasingly taking action against water companies that provide poor customer service and inadequate complaints management processes.
Whilst the water ban is an environmental consequence, how the provider manages the restrictions will impact compliance and could open the company up to a considerable fine, in addition to the increased administrative costs.
For more information on proactive customer complaints management visit http://www.cdcrespond.com; email: rgillam@cdcrespond.com or Twitter: @cdcrespondrob
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CDC Respond tells Utilities Businesses to as EDF Energy Joins List Fined for Poor Customer Complaints Management
There is no excuse – technology can manage the end-to-end process and recover service reputation whilst providing vital, potentially revenue generating businesses data
12 March 2012 – With EDF Energy now ordered to pay a £4.5 million ‘fine’ and npower and British Gas fined over £2 million each for failing to manage customer complaints effectively, Mark Chambers, head of consulting at complaints management specialist, CDC Respond has called on the energy sector to: “Revise customer service processes to put an end customer service misery for millions of UK customers.”
Speaking openly to those responsible for managing customer complaints mark Chambers explained: “There will always be complaints. What matters is how a complaint is managed; how the customer is handled and the processes that lead to a speedy and satisfactory resolution.”
Electricity North West, which owns, operates and maintains the North West’s electricity distribution network has significantly improved its customer complaint handling by putting in place processes that enable the handling and processing of high volumes of customer enquiries, quickly and efficiently.
According to Stephanie Rourke, connections enquiries manager at Electricity North West, “The step-by-step processes, driven by CDC Respond, a widely available customer complaints management platform, allow us to manage our process to deliver the regulatory requirements of the CEAR Act when dealing with customer information requests or complaints.”
Stephanie Rourke continued: “Each step is guided by the fields set-up in the software. All communications are recorded and can be analysed at any point during the processes. We can also export data directly into Ofgem reporting templates to demonstrate that processes are being followed. This is invaluable in the case where a complaint is escalated to the regulator,” explained Stephanie Rourke.
There is no reason why other utilities businesses are not following the customer service excellence route being taken by Electricity North West.
“From an intelligence and administrative perspective, CDC Respond has proven to improve efficiency and highlights choke points within our processes, those that create dissatisfaction with our customers.” The uniform data collation means information can be shared easily between departments, therefore reducing handoffs and interfaces for the customer,” continued Stephanie Rourke of Electricity North West.
Tools, such as CDC Respond, provide customer facing businesses with the ability to manage and respond to customers as individuals, or as groups of similarly affected customers. Controls can be put in place to ensure that every step of the complaints management process, from initial information gathering, through to the point of resolution is recorded.
“Reports generated from customer feedback can be used to improve the business, but also to demonstrate to regulators that all efforts are being made to rectify customer issues and to put in place effective customer complaints management processes,” concluded Mark Chambers, CDC Respond.
@cdcrespondmark http://www.cdcrespond.com
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