Customer Corner: Monthly Digest of Insights Shared by Your Peers in the Energy Central Customer Care Group – December 10, 2020

Welcome to the newly redesigned Customer Care Group roundup, Customer Corner. As always, your fellow group members are paying close attention to utility customer care trends and sharing their insights. This month’s selection includes information about using data to solve customer engagement problems, benefits of home energy audits, and more. Be sure to like and comment on your favorite posts. Happy reading!

How Operationalized Data Solves Customer Engagement Problems & Achieves Business Goals

Tomer Borenstein

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/c/cc/how-operationalized-data-solves-customer-engagement-problems-achieves-business

Part of Energy Central’s Special Issue on data analytics and intelligence, this article explores how the sometimes confusing world of data can be used to solve utilities’ real-world problems. Tomer Borenstein, CTO and co-founder of BlastPoint, calls the process of building valuable data tools “operationalizing.” He notes that these tools can be used to achieve long-term goals like increasing customer engagement, generating new revenue streams, and saving money.

Customer Care - Why Was It So Difficult? 

Pat Hohl

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/o/esri/customer-care%E2%80%94why-was-it-so-difficult

In this piece, Pat Hohl, Director of Electric Industry Solutions at Esri, shares a story that vividly illustrates how missed opportunities for true communication can make customer care much harder. He points out that not understanding a customer’s point of view or giving them FAQ-style answers to genuine concerns can make their situation worse instead of better.

Why Home Energy Audit Programs Should Go Virtual - and Mobile

Laura Gousha

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/c/cc/why-home-energy-audit-programs-should-go-virtual-and-mobile

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, people’s homes have become the epicenter of their daily lives. That means higher energy costs as consumption has gone up. Under normal circumstances, one way to keep costs down would be to get a home energy audit from the local utility and follow the resulting recommendations. But just when people need them most, for health reasons in-person audits are ill-advised. Here, Laura Gousha, VP of Engagement at Mindgrub describes the perfect alternative: a virtual home energy audit.  

The Value of Online Marketplaces During COVID-19

Patty Durand

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/c/cc/value-online-marketplaces-during-covid-19

In this post, Patty Durand, President & CEO at Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SEEC) describes how utilities can take advantage of the increased use of online resources during the pandemic. They can set up online marketplaces, which customers can visit to purchase energy-efficient and smart home products. Patty says these platforms are enabling providers to deepen engagement with customers and serve in an advisory role – actions that build trust and help customers see their utility as a partner rather than just a commodity supplier.

Thanks again for reading this edition of Customer Corner! The authors listed above are eager to hear your thoughts and questions, so don’t hesitate to engage them. And if you want your content to be featured in this spot in future issues, be sure to publish your posts within the Customer Care Community.

Make sure you don’t miss out on these shared insights in the future.

If you’re not yet a member of the EC Customer Care community, follow the link to ‘JOIN NOW!’ Then select the “join option” in the top right of the group page.  If you are not yet registered, you will be prompted to create a profile first.

As a member, you’ll not only be able to read what your fellow peers are saying but also be able to join in on the conversations by sharing your insights (which might get featured in a future monthly digest!). Plus, you can start a conversation by discussing articles with peers in the comments section, and you will automatically be signed up to receive the Network’s weekly newsletter.

Already a member, but you are not receiving the Community Group’s Updates?  Log in, and then follow this link to manage your newsletter Subscriptions.