Will 2024 Be The Breakthrough Year for Utility Digital Experiences?

JD Power’s 2024 US Utility Digital Experience Studysm will be kicking off next month, and if trends are any indication, it will be more of the same, unless we look at 2024 as a chance to breakthrough to a more modern digital customer experience (CX) for the industry.

According to the 2023 study, digital CX actually slid a bit backwards for utilities.

• 30% of utilities in the US do not offer a mobile app for customers, an increase in the number of utilities not offering these important tools for customers from 2020, which suggests that COVID likely contributed to a handful of utilities dropping their app-plans in order to take care of pandemic disruptions.

• Customer Satisfaction has stalled. The five-year trend of overall customer satisfaction for utility digital experience, dropping a point to 843 according to the 2023 study. In industry, standing still means you’re really losing ground as customer expectations for digital experiences have surged, and the industry continues to lose ground in digital innovation compared to the companies that share our customers. Every digital advance among the most innovative and trusted brands serving our customers in other industries leaves a static utility CX looking more and more outdated.

The news isn’t all bad, but the success gets overshadowed by the absence of trends.

• Digital Adoption Surged Ahead: For utilities offering a mobile app, customer adoption increased significantly in just a year. More than half (56%) of customers use mobile apps when offered by their utilities, compared to 2022, when only 38% of customers used the app. Customers increasingly take advantage of these critical tools when they are offered. But…

• New Customer Onboarding presents significant challenges. Tenured users of mobile apps report much higher satisfaction (68 points) compared to new or first-time users of utility mobile apps.

Clearly, customers want mobile capabilities and want to use apps. Utilities, however, seem to have a problem making their apps easy or intuitive to deliver high CSAT from new and tenured users alike. If customers have to spend a lot of time learning your app, they will abandon it. Apps need to be modern, intuitive, and meet expectations largely influenced by professional tech companies whose apps proliferate. Utilities have to meet those expectations, else customer adoption will eventually suffer.

Onboarding relates to the set of experiences that takes a customer from the first engagement through enrollment in utility products and services, service set-up and delivery, and other events that indicate customers know and get full value of the services offered by a company. It’s a software industry expression that has great value for the modern utility customer lifecycle. Utilities should consider the series of steps and experiences customers require to have a positive outcome from their first connection to the utility to set up service, through service turn-on, offers of any Beyond the Meter programs, and explanation of their first bill. That onboarding cycle should include specific “gates” or steps to include key events that we know contribute to a positive customer experience:

• Seamless Commodity Set Up - either over the phone or online, customers should have an easy process for setting up service with little “friction” regardless of channel.

• Mobile App Invitation and Download - invite customers to download the mobile app and make it easy to register.

• Opt-In for Ongoing Communication - ask customers in the new customer experience for their email, permission to contact them, and their preference for text or email communications.

• Paperless Billing and Billing Portal - ask customers to enroll in auto-pay or paperless billing, explain the billing portal, and let them know the value of the extra information available to them. Drip content into their inbox, app or phone early and find a way to ensure they use the billing portal early in the new customer journey.

• Beyond the Meter Offers - expose customers to any mover services, repair and protection plans, surge and device offers, and rebates that might improve customers’ sense of security, comfort and value from their new home.

• Voice of the Customer Feedback - send a survey after the first customer experience and milestones in the early part of the new customer journey to capture insights and feedback about their progress and satisfaction.

• First Bill and/or High Bill Explanation - the most direct and important connection between utilities and their customers revolve around the delivery and billing of services, so consider a bill explanation (live, email, video or virtual) to be an important close of the onboarding experience.

Customers who have a great first experience with utilities that take the time to help customers sign up for relevant offers and enroll in helpful services like a mobile app and the billing portal, as well set their communication preferences and understand their bill are far more likely to report satisfaction with the utility and its digital experiences. Those same satisfied customers will also likely visit the mobile app or billing portal more frequently, seek advice from the utility on topics like Energy Efficiency, EVs and charging, solar and more. Customers with a great onboarding also take advantage of special offers or programs more frequently, kicking off successful BTM programs more effectively. A great onboarding experience sets up customers for high CSAT and lifetime value for the long term customer lifecycle.

2024 could be a breakout year. Utilities can make modest investments in their digital CX and take the perspective of their new customers into consideration to make lasting impacts on CSAT and the modern utility CX. It doesn’t take a lot of money, just the right mindset of how customers experience the utility processes. Think about the onboarding model to make small adjustments to your new customer experience and customer communications to see a big lift in customer engagement and CSAT in the new year. To learn more about New Customer Onboarding or Utility Customer Success programs, visit our blog site or contact us for more information.