As with everything else in the utility industry, customer service is changing rapidly. While emerging technology is playing a large role, in other instances, old-fashioned hard work and thinking outside the box have made the difference in how utilities are engaging with customers.
Texting to Boost Customer Service
Your friend sends you a text message that he is leaving his house now to come over for dinner. That’s nice, but expected.
You receive a text message from your utility company that its truck is leaving now to turn on your gas as per your appointment. Most people call that great customer service.
How about if you receive a phone call from your utility company that tells you that the technician on the way to your property has been called away to an emergency—and then offers you options to reschedule your appointment for the same or a future date? Some people would call that the epitome of customer service.
In the Atlanta area, a small, innovative Southern Company Gas team is making that happen through “Keep Me Informed,” or KMI, text messaging.
“With a desire to transform the way our gas utilities interact with customers, KMI text messaging became an excellent way to showcase how we’re reshaping the customer experience through technology,” said Angela Carter, senior business systems analyst with 16 years of experience at the company.
Roy Chapman, the “product owner” of the project who has 23 years with Southern Company Gas, said that companies like Amazon, Apple and Uber have changed customers’ expectations: “We realized that customers’ demands are changing, and we wanted to better align with what we know they’ve come to expect and appreciate.”
In April 2019, Chapman, Carter, an Agile coach and a small team of developers assembled to get the project underway, using an Agile project methodology to deliver results in just four months. The Agile methodology allows a project to identify a minimum viable product for its first release, then continue to release product enhancements over time.
Under a traditional approach, a large team might have taken a year to deliver a result. However, customers’ desires can and do shift, and at the end, the original product may no longer have met their expectations.
“The Agile approach enabled us to roll the project out in phases,” said Chapman. “That way we could discover problems early in the process, rather than at the end, to avoid having 4.2 million unhappy customers. Also, having a small team meant that we could discuss what we were going to do and even have a mock-up within a few minutes. We could also see potential problems right away, since our team included programmers and coders.”
The team members had to stay focused as sprints were built into the schedule: Every two weeks, they had more to release to build onto their initial viable product. The team began in August with releases to customers in Georgia before expanding the program to customers in Virginia, Tennessee and Illinois. Only those customers who signed up for the text message service participated. The opt-in rate for the first release was as high as 67%, as customers were eager to sign up when scheduling appointments with customer care centers. And early returns were encouraging, as customer satisfaction survey responses averaged 9.6 out of 10.
Customers who sign up for the program receive appointment confirmation and day-before reminder text messages. The third text provides the customer with day-of-appointment details, including when the technician is on the way to the property and a photo and first name of the technician. A final text includes a link to a three-question survey after the technician completes the work.
“We’re also taking a concierge-style approach for interacting with customers when a tech has been called away to an emergency or due to other unforeseen events, such as a flat tire,” said Chapman. “Our customer service teams who sit near our dispatchers are able to quickly learn of impacts to the customer and communicate changes to them in a way that respects their time and possibly reschedules the appointment.”
This proactive approach is gaining traction quickly. Nearly 10,000 customers opted into the program by the end of last year. That number is now up to 17,000 in the four-state area where Southern Company Gas has customers.
The team did face some obstacles in getting the new program going. “We have two large customer management systems that needed to be accessed, along with other technology systems,” said Carter. “What made it especially challenging was the number of systems impacted to ensure employees, particularly field employees, were trained and ready for each release.”
In any large corporation, a good idea might not always get the attention it deserves. However, at Southern Company Gas, a group of executive sponsors helped shepherd the program along with support and encouragement from the CEO. According to J.D. Power, “Customers who recall great communication score overall satisfaction higher than those who don’t have the recall. Proactive communication through KMI will continue to net high marks and great customer comments.”
In addition to building customer goodwill through convenience, the text messaging program has meant fewer missed appointments and fewer “empty” trips for company technicians. It also has resulted in fewer calls to the company’s customer care centers.
“We are excited to be pioneering this new technology for our customers and look forward to continually offering new features to align with increasing customer expectations,” said Chapman. “We understand our customers’ time is extremely valuable, and this project helps us minimize how long they wait for us to arrive for their appointments.”
Creating a Culture of Respect
The customer care center for Baltimore Gas and Electric handles about 18,000 calls per day, including turn on/turn off issues, billing, service and more. No matter how well a company operates, disgruntled customers call, which can cause a drag on the morale and motivation of the people answering the phones. Often that translates to high turnover in personnel.
Not so at BGE in Baltimore, where turnover is low, some employees have stayed for decades and employee surveys give the job high marks. “It starts with treating your employees with respect,” said Unae Hutchinson, senior human resources business partner at BGE. “We have held training sessions about how managers can treat the call center personnel with respect. If you treat the workers right, they will treat the customers right.”
For example, Hutchinson and the call center leadership team work to make sure the 200 people in customer care don’t feel locked into their current positions. Most of the current supervisors have been promoted from within, and the company has a generous tuition reimbursement program for those who want to further their education.
A recent Career Expo held for call center employees showcased other divisions and opportunities in BGE, which employs approximately 3,000 people. “We want employees to meet people from other areas within the departments and to help them see what their next career move might be,” said Hutchinson. “I want them to see that starting out in customer service doesn’t mean they will end up in customer service long-term.”
The customer care center also hosts “chat and chill” sessions where employees can bring questions to the director. The sessions provide an opportunity for managers to connect with workers to find out how they are doing and hear their suggestions.
“We encourage our managers to engage with our employees but also to listen in on the calls to get a taste of what is going on,” said Hutchinson. Managers who walk the floor need to be alert to a difficult or challenging call that might mean the employee needs a quick break before taking the next call.
“Trust is super important,” she said. “Not only do we trust and support the call center workers, but we also need to know that they are returning that trust by reaching their service level. They know they are being held accountable to treat the customers correctly.”
It might seem trite, but awards help build incentive—especially when fairly earned. Managers give out small incentive awards for good attendance, meeting specified targets and individual achievements.
Hutchinson added, “A satisfying job is more than just a good paycheck. A company needs to create the right culture for a person to work in and want to stay in. We have created a culture where our people feel good about making a positive impact on how our customers are treated.”
Customer service solutions are as varied as the utilities who implement them. Knowing their customer demographics and expectations, working within budget, promoting a positive work culture, and implementing both innovative and evergreen communication methods are just some of the ways forward-thinking utilities can create and reinforce vital touchpoints with customers.
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