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Customer communication is key

Customer communication is key

01/12/2007 | Channel: IT / Technology

Improved data management can bring a range of benefits, particularly in terms of customer satisfaction levels

Businesses in the utility sector face a variety of challenges. In an industry having to transform due to deregulation, industry consolidation, increasing environmental concerns, and competition, utilities are also expected to reduce costs and create new revenue streams while cultivating more positive relationships to meet increased customer expectations.

IT focus in utilities has traditionally been dedicated to customer information systems solely to meet billing needs. Increased regulatory pressure, along with increasing competition, means it’s essential for utilities to rethink traditional customer communications. Utilities no longer have the security of being unique or irreplaceable and must achieve competitive advantage to differentiate themselves by offering and communicating customer-relevant products and services, and implementing state-of-the-art systems to meet or exceed customer service expectations. Capturing relevant customer details through improved data management will allow utilities to deliver pertinent, quality communications.

Utilising your existing customer monthly meeting
These days customers are in control and their expectations are on the rise. Forward-thinking utilities are exploring ways to increase customer satisfaction not only by ensuring reliable energy supplies, but also by taking full advantage of the monthly billing statement - a utility’s most consistent contact with the customer. Implementing a wellplanned customer communication strategy can move you ahead of the competition by dramatically reducing document production costs, and getting important information to your customers faster and with a more personal touch. But most importantly, it will help keep your customers more satisfied in the long run.

With the right solution in place, it is possible to provide highly personalised billing. By utilising vacant white space on documents to incorporate messages relevant to the recipient, each bill can now be personally tailored to offer a customised roster of
information about individual billing items, and new products and services specific to individual customers.

With an enterprise platform, you can take information from disparate systems and data sources (in real time or on a scheduled production) to drive creation and multichannel delivery of clearer, more personalised communications of any type, such as complex customer bills. Business rules determine what information and messages are incorporated into each bill, ensuring only timely and relevant information is delivered to each customer. The ability to streamline complex document creation processes reduces time and costs, and clearer, more relevant communications improve customer satisfaction and reduce customer-care costs. The right solution will provide clearer, simpler information, reduce the number of calls from customers requesting explanations of their bill, exceed customer expectations, and get messages to market faster.

Marketing-savvy businesses are using the monthly invoice and other customer communications as a way to update their image, re-create themselves as customercentred, and inspire customer loyalty. Cleaner, more effective design supports this effort, along with personalised and relevant marketing messages incorporated directly into the bill and other communications.

Managing the process
Bombarding customers with miss-targeted and irrelevant communications is a mistake and can easily become the catalyst for customers to switch to another service provider. Transparency is essential, as utility customers want to know exactly what they are paying for, to compare and contrast with other providers, and be informed of products and services only that are truly relevant to them.

E.ON gains competitive advantage
As an example of what enterprise document automation software can accomplish, E.ON, the world’s largest investor-owned energy company, used personalised customer communications to get ahead of the competition. It’s retail business, branded Powergen, is a leading UK energy supplier, with over nine million electricity and gas accounts. In an increasingly crowded market, E.ON needed to differentiate itself from the competition to gain a competitive advantage and ensure it continued to attract and exceed the expectations of its new customers.

Reaching out
E.ON looked at how customer communications could be developed and improved for existing and new customers. In 2001, E.ON selected Exstream Software’s Dialogue solution to implement these improvements. Dialogue enabled E.ON to
create a new fulfilment programme, which combined all utility charges for each customer into one statement for greater clarity and allowed greater flexibility for marketing messages and campaign management.

Having improved the billing, E.ON then directed focus to its new customer fulfilment. In 2006, E.ON held focus groups with 80 consumer customers from all service process segments to learn the most preferred fulfilment document style. The E.ON research provided respondents with two fulfilment options: the traditional black and white letter (including a leaflet/pamphlet letter) or a fourcolour, all-encompassing, leaflet. The survey found that consumers preferred the information in a single document rather than separate communication pieces, and they preferred an A3 document folded to A4.

Trusted technology
In response to its findings, E.ON again selected Exstream Software’s Dialogue as the enterprise document automation solution to redesign the fulfilment for its new customers. Traditionally, new E.ON customers received a generic black and white letter with a coloured leaflet insert, sometimes receiving information on products and services they already had or that weren’t relevant. Additionally, it’s critical to manage the process properly during any transitional period to ensure the customer has no lapse in service. Any communication lapse will only serve to confuse the customer in the transfer period, leading to customer frustration and confusion.

Measurable results
Dialogue was used to create a new, customised, full-colour order fulfilment piece that would walk E.ON customers through the whole transfer process, utilising flow charts, diagrams, and images to explain exactly what they will receive, when they will receive it, and what the process is. Previously there were approximately 40 different inserts that had to be split into separate print streams and many different postal runs. Now E.ON has one single print stream, significantly reducing costs, and as the print stream can be mail-sorted instead of going standard tariff, E.ON saves just under £500,000 annually in postage costs.

Improving the readability and clarity of the bill, such as providing explanations right next to transactions, can significantly reduce calls to your call centre. And this clear communication helps manage customer expectations. As a result, E.ON has found customers are asking fewer questions and calling the contact centre less as they understand more, saving money for both E.ON and its customers.

Today, E.ON provides targeted, customised communications that reduce the amount of paper used, with environmentally-friendly results. Employing the document automation capabilities of Exstream Software’s Dialogue solution to improve customer communications allows E.ON to get new messages to market faster, and save time and money by reducing calls to the customer contact centres. Leveraging opportunities from existing customer touch points allows you to get ahead of the competition, and, as E.ON has discovered, gives you the flexibility to easily implement new ideas in the future and respond and reach out to customers in a more efficient and personalised way.

Leading the pack
To remain competitive and forward-thinking utilities must continue to differentiate themselves and explore ways to increase customer satisfaction. Implementing a strong customer communication strategy is essential to ensure customer satisfaction.

Personalisation is no longer confined to name and address, units of energy consumed, and postcode. Implementing the right enterprise document automation solution allows utilities to leverage existing systems and data sources, eliminating point solutions, and making document-related processes more efficient - and they can do all of this while generating significant cost savings, streamlining operations, and making customers happier.

Ranked among the world’s fastest growing technology companies, Exstream Software provides enterprise software solutions for businesses around the world to streamline document creation processes and produce higher quality, relevant communications of all types for delivery through print/mail and online channels

For further information please visit: www.exstream.com