Customer Corner: Monthly Digest of Insights Shared by Your Peers in the Energy Central Customer Care Group – March 31, 2022

Welcome to the 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 how to better serve residential renters, how to implement social customer service, and more. Be sure to like and comment on your favorite posts. Happy reading!

How Utilities Can Better Serve Residential Renters

Nathan Shannon

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/c/cc/how-utilities-can-better-serve-residential-renters

In their efforts to achieve energy equity, utilities shouldn’t overlook renters, who make up more than one-third of American households today. In this article, Nathan Shannon, President & CEO at the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) explains the unique challenges these customers face, including a limited ability to make changes to their residences, and therefore to participate in EE programs. He offers key findings from a recent SECC study, which show that renters are willing to participate in programs but need help from utilities to do so.

Utilities Can’t Ignore Social Customer Service Any Longer

Mark Wilkinson

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/c/cc/utilities-can%E2%80%99t-ignore-social-customer-service-any-longer

Customers are increasingly expecting companies, including utilities, to respond to customer service requests via social media. Yet many utilities are not prepared to incorporate this channel into their customer service offerings. In this post, Mark Wilkinson, SVP Products at Ibex Digital explains that any utility can learn to do so using a few simple steps. Given benefits like lower costs and reputation boosts, all utilities should at least consider this move.

Tout Your Utility’s Ukrainian Charitable Efforts

Andy Gotlieb

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/c/cc/tout-your-utility%E2%80%99s-ukrainian-charitable-efforts

Getting the press interested in a utility’s charitable efforts can be challenging but linking them to a bigger news story can help. Here, Andy Gotlieb, Editor of a specialty publication and former public relations practitioner, recommends actively promoting any campaign in support of Ukraine, the story currently dominating the news. Such promotions can help with any effort underway — such as collecting supplies — and draw attention to the utility’s caring attitude.   

“Institutional Change Is Hard”

Nevelyn Black

Link to original article: https://energycentral.com/c/cc/institutional-change-hard

In this piece, Independent Writer Nevelyn Black describes the efforts of ratepayers in Maine, who are pushing to replace investor-owned utilities (IOUs) with a consumer-owned utility (COU) called Our Power. The effort is in response to hefty rate increases from the IOUs, occurring while existing COUs within the state offer far lower rates. However, introduction of a COU involves risks on the part of consumers, making change a complex matter.

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’re not receiving the Community Group's Updates? Log in, and then follow this link to manage your newsletter Subscriptions.