The average regulated utility customer doesn’t think much at all about their provider — until the lights go out. How customers react when they lose power or water depends largely on the kind of relationship that regulated utilities have built with their customers. When your utility company provides a positive customer experience during normal operations, customers are more understanding during emergencies.
Utility outages aren’t the only source of frustration for customers. Service calls in the utility industry often involve long waits and paperwork. Energy cost fluctuations, supply chain disruptions, and rising inflation affect customers and their wallets. Customers have also come to expect outstanding service from large online retailers — like Amazon and their 2-day shipping — and are demanding better service from every company they do business with, including their utilities. What’s more, customers aren’t shy about making their demands public on social media.
The outdated systems and processes found in many utility companies can hinder their ability to provide efficient and personalized service to their customers. As a regulated utility, you need to find ways to build relationships with your customers and provide the same level of service they get from other industries.
Implementing modern utility technology solutions can help companies overcome these challenges and improve customer satisfaction. By adopting modern utilities technology, you can streamline your customer interactions and offer them a seamless experience. Letting customers access digitized documents through an online customer portal where they can manage their accounts, report issues, and receive timely updates, empowers them with the tools to effortlessly track their energy usage and billing.
When your company adopts utilities technology to modernize your customer service, you’ll better serve your valued customers. Plus, you’ll lower your operating costs with faster, paper-free customer transactions.
You don’t have to redo your entire customer interface to provide better service and communication. Implementing utilities technology in a few key operations will make a big difference in your interactions.
A common frustration for utility customers is waiting for service technicians to arrive on site and complete the required paperwork — whether it’s for an installation, service transfer, or repair. You can’t control the number of service requests or how far your technician has to drive. But one thing you can control is the paperwork process.
Reduce the paperwork burden on your technicians by equipping them with utilities technology like mobile devices that integrate with your company's document automation system. Technicians can use these devices to easily generate necessary documents on the go, and even let customers e-sign them in person. This eliminates the need for manual paperwork and reduces the overall turnaround time, resulting in faster service and increased customer satisfaction.
Your customers already get hyper-personalized communications from online retailers, coffee shops, and movie theaters, with unique offers based on their preferences and past purchases. They expect the same personalized interactions from all companies they do business with, including their water and electricity providers.
You can leverage utilities technology to provide tailored communication and offers to your customers. With customer data and analytics, you can gain insights into customer preferences and behaviors and deliver targeted communication and offers. This personalized approach enhances the customer experience and improves loyalty and retention.
Another effective way to improve utility customer service is by providing self-service documents through a customer portal. Customers often need access to important documents such as bills, statements, and service agreements and want them available at a moment’s notice. Investing in utilities technology that provides a user-friendly self-service portal with self-service documents empowers your customers to access and manage these documents at their convenience. They no longer have to contact customer service representatives for routine document requests, saving time for both them and your company.
Utility companies are known for their extensive paperwork, which is not only laborious but also contributes to environmental waste. Document automation and paperless interactions can significantly reduce your utility’s reliance on paper-based processes. Electronic documents can be created, shared, and stored digitally. With no need for physical copies, customers can complete paperwork quickly and employees can process it faster. What’s more, your company reduces paper waste and contributes to its sustainability efforts.
Though many companies have adopted some elements of utilities technology, the regulated utility industry can make customers’ lives better with the widespread implementation of document automation. Utility technology solutions such as mobile document creation, self-service portals, and paperless interactions allow companies to transform their customer service operations from a source of frustration to a delight for customers.
Automated, paperless documents help your company increase its customer satisfaction and also contribute to operational efficiency and environmental sustainability, resulting in a win-win situation for everyone.
S-Docs is ready to help with document automation to digitize forms on your utilities customer portal and mobile document creation and distribution for your field service employees.
Request a free demo today!