POWERGRID International

Regulated utilities with a fixed user base sometimes are viewed as putting customer experience second to major operational imperatives, such as infrastructure improvements or cyber-secu-rity safeguard implementation. Most do, however, consider customer service an important responsibility.

We Energies, which serves customers in portions of Wisconsin, is well respected when it comes to customer service. The utility is a six-time winner of PA Consulting Group’s ReliabilityOne Award as the most reliable utility in the Midwest. Improving the overall customer experience (with better reliability being one lever) is critical to building customer advocacy and supporting We Energies’ strategic objectives and position with regulators.

Over the past several years, We
Energies has built strong relationships
with customers, establishing effective
lines of two-way communications that
have helped improve process and gen-
erate significant goodwill. This aids cus-
tomer and company alike, not only at
times of crisis, such as during power out-
ages, but also when looking to introduce
new programs and services and foster
support for future growth plans.
As We Energies and PA Consulting
can attest, however, building an effective
customer experience can’t be achieved as
just a “departmental” initiative. The effort
to embrace a customer-centric culture
must start at the top, particularly in this
new energy economy. Not only is engage-
ment at this top level central to driving
satisfaction and customer advocacy, it is
also critical to a company’s future growth
and profitability.
As companies look to develop and
implement an effective customer service
strategy they should consider these key
best practices:
• Make it a company-wide responsibility
A commitment to customer service
will work only if the effort takes
place across all departmental lines. A
good customer experience is not the
responsibility of just customer service
or those in the field, but also cor-
porate communications, local affairs,
account management, finance, etc.
All groups must come together with
a focus on advancing customer satis-
faction. During a storm, for example,
We Energies will initiate proactive
and ongoing outreach to customers.
All departments will gather to analyze
the situation and identify customer
needs. Utility employees will collec-
tively convene to determine message
content, develop an outreach plan and
identify any other actions it should
take to support the community. Today