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.
But it’s not just your utility that will realize benefits from the implementation of eBilling. Your utility can significantly improve the customer experience and increase customer satisfaction by providing your customer with online bills that are sent directly to their favoured device. The driving elements of convenience and ease-of-use become a major contributing factors to customer retention and ultimately, customer satisfaction.
Before we get into how eBilling can improve customer satisfaction, let’s first take a look at what eBilling actually is.
What is eBilling?
In its simplest definition, eBilling (short for electronic billing) and invoicing is the process of receiving and paying bills online. These bills are digitally generated by computer software and sent directly to utility customers on their favourite devices, with notifications to alert them when a bill comes through.
An eBill is sent to a utility customer through a customer portal, where the user can access their invoice, pay their bill, manage their account information, view payment history and much more. This bill is automated each month and sent directly to your customer with minimal effort from your back-end team, and in return, it takes minimal effort from the user to .
How does eBilling improve customer satisfaction?
The use of eBilling has a wide range of benefits for your utility, from improved operational efficiencies, saved time, reduced error rates and better cash flow – but how does it improve customer satisfaction? SilverBlaze has listed just a few of the key ways here:
1 – Improved engagement
eBilling is a fantastic opportunity for your utility to build relationships with your customers. Receiving a bill through the post can leave customers feeling like they have no real connection with the utility provider, but online bills change that. By sending bills directly to their favourite device, along with notifications to remind them when they need to pay, customers will feel more engaged with your utility and more satisfied with the service that you are providing them because things are more immediate
2 – Better customer service experiences:
Your utility is able to provide better customer service experiences when you are not being inundated with phone calls and your customer service agents aren’t desperately trying to stay afloat. By giving customers the self-service opportunity to solve billing issues online, your customer agents become relieved of stressful tasks and will have more time to provide higher-value service to the customers that truly need it.
3 – Establish trust between your utility and your customers:
Your utility can use your customer data to enhance your bills and invoices with information that improves your customer’s lifestyle, including usage analytics. For example, your bills will help your customers reach their budgeting and carbon footprint goals – this will ensure customers see your utility as an energy partner and not just a monthly bill.
How to integrate eBilling into your utility’s processes
Wondering how to integrate eBilling into your utility’s processes? That’s where a customer portal specifically designed for utility providers can help.
The SilverBlaze Customer Portal for Utilities, for example, consolidates everything your utility customer needs into one easy-to-use and functional website or phone application that can be accessed on any device that has an internet connection.
A customer portal will allow your utility to integrate eBilling for your customers, as well as a wide range of functions from customer usage analytics, outage notifications, account management, smart metering and much more.
A customer portal will truly revolutionize your utility’s customer satisfaction metrics.
Looking for more information on how SilverBlaze can transform your customer experience with our innovative Customer Portal for Utilities with integrated eBilling and notifications? Contact us today. Our team of customer engagement experts would love to help.
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