Customer Service & Billing: A Smart business is a productive business
Customer service and billing (CS&B) is the main point of interaction between
businesses and consumers, and is the way in which energy
suppliers can optimise the cost to service customers through
shortening the time between consumption and payment.
John Russell, president of motorcycle manufacturer Harley
Davidson, once said: “The more you engage with customers
the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine
what you should be doing.”
Smart allows utilities to use
customer data and insight from engagement to develop new
products that provide consumers with the very highest level of
customer service.
Customer knowledge and tailored customer
experience, when supported by reliable and accurate billing, will
help deliver profitability and competitive advantage. However
Smart has also brought uncertainty into the future of the
energy market and seen the emergence of three main trends:
the need for flexibility in business processes and IT systems;
the challenge of obtaining operational efficiency improvements;
and the need to emphasise client benefits.
A Smart, productive future
Smart meters and grids are set to redefine how energy
operators interact with customers, particularly how they
supply and receive energy from them. Utilities now have to
consider what services to offer in the future, what partners
to work with, and how to prepare for increased competition.
How flexible an operator’s approach to CS&B becomes
is dependent on several trends, including the impact of
regulation, level of competition and quality of service. A
client benefit-centric attitude has become imperative as
the relationship between consumers and operators has
evolved. To maintain competitive advantage utilities need
to understand customers, their needs and the benefits of
better interaction and knowledge.
Multi-channel efficiency
Alongside food and shelter, energy and utilities such as water
are the most fundamental needs of citizens anywhere in the
world. Unlike televisions or vehicles, energy is something that
every single person needs to access in some form or another.
Energy and utilities companies are therefore considered by
consumers and governments alike as vital service companies
that are responsible for delivering critical commodities to citizens
of every country
There are ten key issues that energy players must address for them to fully realise the benefits of operational efficiency:
- Simplify the processes and limit exceptions
- Automate wherever possible
- Eliminate the causes of claims
- Detect and manage sensible customers
- Know how to open a new service
- Manage the quality of service across processes
- Fill up the customer basket
- Outsource low value activities
- Manage partner efficiency
- Company specific
Logica
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