Today’s customers demand more from the organizations they engage with than ever before. That’s why there’s a growing need for utility companies to transition to customer-centric business models if they are to improve customer satisfaction metrics.
In fact, offering customers personalized choice, control over their energy usage, digital management of their accounts and improved engagement channels is now essential to any utility strategy.
Despite this, a study by J.D. Power found that utilities are one of the lowest-performing industries for digital customer experience.
That’s because many utilities lack the competition associated with other industries. However, staying relevant to customers and keeping up with modern technologies will ensure your utility is able to meet customer expectations in an increasingly customer-centric world – and many utility providers are starting to realize this.
So, how exactly can utility providers maintain relevance with their customers and continue to drive their business into the future? SilverBlaze has listed the three most important ways to become customer-centric:
1 – Implement paperless billing
With the average American now paying more than half of their bills online, the implementation of paperless billing is now a fantastic way to improve the convenience of paying bills. eBilling gives your customers a way to receive bills and pay them on their favourite device, at a time that’s convenient for them.
Through paperless billing, your utility will be able to improve customer satisfaction, reduce the strain on your customer service team, strengthen your revenue cycle, reduce the costs spent on physical bills and much more.
2 – Put customers in control of their energy usage
Becoming customer-centric is about helping your customers to make smarter decisions that will help them save money on their monthly utility bills and, at the same time, reduce their carbon footprint.
Providing your customers with usage data and analytics will do just that. By engaging with your customers and giving them tools that help them manage their energy usage, you’ll become a customer-centric energy partner – not just another supplier that’s taking their money.
3 – Engage with your customers in real-time
The digital world means customers not only expect increased communication from the businesses and services they use, but they also expect to be sent real-time information that keeps them constantly engaged with your utility.
Push notifications and alerts can keep your customers updated with their current energy usage, inform them of any outages, notify them of any changes to their account and much more. Proactive communication will show your customers that you’re willing to go the extra mile to ensure they are happy with your service.
Bring all these customer-centric strategies together in one easy-to-use solution
To add these into your customer-centric strategy, your utility will have to invest in a variety of new tools. So how do you make sure your customer can access all these tools in one user-friendly solution? That’s where the SilverBlaze Customer Portal for Utilities comes in.
Our unique and innovative customer portal allows your utility customers to manage their entire account – from usage data, eBilling and any other third-party tools – on one secure website, smartphone or web-enabled device.
By storing your customers’ entire account information on one secure solution, your utility will greatly reduce customer effort, improve the customer experience and be in the perfect position to keep up to date with the expectations of the modern customer.
Are you looking for information about SilverBlaze’s unique customer portal and how it will ensure your utility stays relevant in a customer-centric world? Contact us today.
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