Dive Summary:
- A new survey by Accenture reveals that customers are less satisfied and less trusting of their utility than ever before, generating a lot of chatter about the fate of utilities and what needs to be done to win back customer trust. Less than a fourth of customers trust their utilities, the study found, down 9% from last year and the lowest figure since Accenture started running the survey. As a result of this lack of trust, customers are increasingly skipping past utilities to get their energy services.
- “Utilities need to consider radically rethinking their customer satisfaction investments with a targeted approach to simplifying the consumer energy experience, addressing the concerns of dissatisfied consumers and closing the expectation gap,” Greg Guthridge, managing director for Accenture Energy Consumer Services, said in a statement.
- A compendium of experts say that utilities must really get to know the customer of today—a tech-savvy buyer who needs detailed usage information, different rate options, digital and communication tools.
From the article:
"It is not just the utilities that need to radically rethink how they do business. Regulators must also allow utilities to become energy service providers to compete with other providers. If utilities are allowed to compete, it will have to come with customer experiences that are as good, if not better, than what they can get through other channels."
