It has become quite well-known that the utility industry has traditionally been slower to embrace newer technologies and innovative solutions due to a lack of competition. After all, why invest money into new offerings when your business has little-to-no competition within your market?

Improving a utility’s customer satisfaction is largely driven by the customer experience (CX) and the benefits of internal efficiencies. It’s for that reason modern utilities simply must focus on reducing friction in their customer support strategies. To do this, utility providers must implement new changes that will reduce customer effort and improve customer engagement.

Today’s customers want fast, seamless experiences when interacting with brands. The customer experience (CX) is now a vital component of any customer service strategy and is a crucial aspect of driving up customer service ratings.

A recent tropical storm in New Jersey has brought attention to just how important a successful digital communication strategy is for utility providers.

According to a new report from NJ Spotlight, 1.4 million households were left without power after Tropical Storm Isaias made its way across the east coast of the US last week. Utility providers in the area have come under scrutiny for their efforts in responding to the storm.

Self-service solutions aren’t a new idea. Think of the last time you put fuel in your vehicle. Unless you live in certain states, you likely pumped your own gas. ATMs are commonplace all over the world because people hate waiting in line to deposit or withdraw cash from a human teller. Convenience factors into how a customer will perceive a company, brand, product, or service and how frequent they’ll use it. 

The most important consideration for the success of your utility is its customers. Engagement is a crucial aspect of the customer experience, and creating satisfied customers should be at the heart of every utility’s business model. 

With that being said, a protected customer is a satisfied customer; therefore protecting your utility’s customers from external scams should  be a priority. This is particularly important right now since utility scams are on the rise in a number of locations across North America. 

Today’s consumers are spending an increasing amount of time on their cellphones and other mobile devices. It’s for this reason that an increasing number of utility providers are now investing in eBilling to improve customer satisfaction. 

In fact, the new Billing Industry Benchmarks report from Chartwell found that utilities can save an average of 54 cents per customer each month by distributing online bills rather than paper bills. 

In an on-demand world where customers expect a response from a customer service rep at a few clicks of their mouse or a couple of taps on the screen of their favourite device, self-service for utilities is king. 

This is because customers now seek information and want answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They don’t want to wait until the morning for your customer service team to get into the office, and they certainly don’t want to wait on hold for an hour while they wait to get through - they want to resolve their issues on the spot, in real-time.

Utility providers are taking a growing interest in customer experience strategies in a bid to boost customer satisfaction and engagement, knowing technologies play an essential role in that. In fact, research from McKinsey’s Journey Pulse survey in utilities shows that delivering stand-out moments that go above and beyond customers’ expectations can lead to dramatically higher satisfaction.

Customers in the past few years have come to value personalization and convenience in all areas of their lives. As a result, utility companies are beginning to see the positive impact of satisfied customers, better engagement and improved customer experiences.

In fact, many utility providers are now doing a great job at improving the customer experience - and reducing customer effort has been a driving force in that.