Intelligent Utility Jan-Feb 2013

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WWW.INTELLIGENTUTILITY.COM /// JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013 CUSTOMER FOCUS 24 Customer service requires collaboration, innovation + + Stage the smart grid message well By Kathleen Wolf Davis I’M BRAND NEW TO ENERGY CENTRAL AND THEIR Knowledge Summit. You may even go as far as inserting the colloquial “spankin’” into that phrase. I am, indeed, brand-spankin’ new. In fact, at the conference, I was a whopping six days old with this gig. But, I’m not at all new to energy conferences. When I fell into the energy publishing industry after finishing my MFA in writing (a fall which was entirely an accident of geography, by the way), I spent a lot of time at conferences over the next dozen years. Figuring that the average conference lasts three days, during which time you’re busy at least 10 hours of those days, I’ve spent 2,880 hours (approximately) knee-deep in energy conferences in my lifetime (not counting planning for those I worked on). That’s about four full months of my life (or eight months at just working hours of the day) at energy conferences. At the Knowledge Summit, executives and managers sat down and discussed openly issues and concerns that they all were facing—a collaboration rather than a presentation. The collaboration at Knowledge2012 covered customer service and IT topics extensively, especially in areas where the two overlap (as with mobile applications for consumers, for example). A number of small, medium and large utilities gathered to discuss smart grid customer education efforts, key performance indicators for smart grid success, social media issues, analytics, cybersecurity and even the economic challenges utilities face—all with open dialogue and honest questions. The greatest bit of advice I heard from anyone at the conference (and the anonymity of the conference doesn’t allow me to quote her directly) was that utilities must not let anyone else drive their stories—not media, not consumers, not vendors. Utilities must get comfortable controlling the plot of their stories along with the power of their services. To that end, some customer service lessons learned from these Knowledge discussions include: ? ? If you stage the smart grid message well, consumers will (mostly) react positively. And, money remains the best mes- saging for consumers in that arena. If you do see a smart grid backlash growing, however, react immediately and personally. ? ? Know your customer better. Consider programs that exam- ine customer segmentation and the psychology of what drives both their choices and their apathy. And, use that knowledge to offer your customer options, right down to the ways they communicate with you (text, email, phone, online, app, etc.).
? ? There will always be the consumers who don’t want to change. So, look into opt-out programs, even if you’re hoping that your public utility commis- sion won’t force the issue. Be prepared. ? ? Remember that customers don’t care about data. Data has to be interpreted. Custom- ers care about benefits. Don’t simply send emails on use and think customers will make behavior changes. Gear that data to highlight benefits. ? ? Prepay is coming. Be prepared. Talk to utilities already piloting programs in this arena about options (use of kiosks or third- party partners, such as grocery stores, for payment). ? ? Your employees are your smart grid ambassadors. Train them all well (not just the field workers) and let their growing education work for you. ? ? In juggling shrinking customer service budgets, consider out-of-the-box options such as allowing workers to take phone calls from home (saving you on overhead). Hopefully, you can use some of these Knowledge lessons to help drive your stories. Overall, the idea of planning for growing consumer choice and IT systems dominated Knowlege2012. Each attendee walked away with notes on areas to research, people to talk to and changes to think about. And that makes all those hours dedicated to conference attendance time well spent. Kathleen Wolf Davis is editor-in-chief of Intelligent Utility magazine. Knowledge Summit kicked off with talk of customers, utility renaissance + + Consumers now rule By Kathleen Wolf Davis ENERGY CENTRAL’S 7TH ANNUAL KNOWLEDGE SUMMIT opened on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at the Hotel Zaza in Houston, Texas, with a utility panel discussion on the growing importance of consumers, the interaction of systems, and the growth of community outreach and education. Dan Hill, retired CIO of Exelon and IT chair for the conference began the session with a note on the evolution of customer/utility interaction. “As we think about the dramatic changes that we’re in the middle of, let’s reflect on this: Many of us in the room used to refer to our customers as rate- payers. How dramatically our perception of them has changed, and [how dramatically] their perception of us has changed. Their perception of us isn’t guided by their experience at [a traditional retailer such as] Sears, per se, but by Apple and Amazon.” WWW.INTELLIGENTUTILITY.COM 25
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Intelligent Utility Jan-Feb 2013

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