4 Ways to Improve Utility Customer Experience in 2023

The rise in customer expectations across other sectors has led to increased expectations from your utility customers as well. Today, consumers communicate differently, and they have different expectations of utility communications. They are data-driven and informed and can be impatient if they don’t receive the service and information they require. How can your utility meet the changing needs of these customers in 2023 and beyond and ultimately improve utility customer experience?

Here are four key customer experience trends our utility experts have their eyes on. Meet these expectations, and you’ll have happy and engaged consumers this year and, in the future, as well.

Mobile-First Documents

Today’s customers are doing more than ever on their smartphones and other mobile devices. This includes reviewing important transactional documents like bills. For this reason, both your bill design and the way your bills are presented need to be optimized for customers on the go.

Be sure to work with a Customer Communications Management (CCM) vendor partner with experience in utilities bill design. Such a partner can suggest common sense tweaks to your bills to present data more effectively, increasing readability and improving customer experience. Your vendor should also be able to provide optimal bill designs for all channels, including mobile-responsive HTML design, plus PDF and print. And of course, their digital bills should be designed with accessibility in mind, to meet the needs of your Person with Disabilities (PWD) customers.

Omnichannel Payment Strategies

Document review isn’t the only thing that has gone mobile. Today’s customers also want the flexibility of paying across a variety of channels, including digital ones. Ideally, customers should have access to a variety of payment options, both in person and online. For the best possible customer experience, consider providing as many as possible of the following, to meet the needs of your evolving customer base:

• Web
• AutoPay
• Pay by Email
• Retail Authorized Agent
• Walk-in Utility POS
• Mobile
• Kiosk
• eLockbox
• Pay by Text
• Pay by Phone IVR

Be sure that the bill-to-payment solution you choose also allows you to offer one-time, recurring or AutoPay options and setup proactive payment reminders and alerts of due dates. These features will ensure shorter time-to-revenue for your company, while helping customers meet their financial obligations on time. That’s a real win-win!

Personalized Interactive Videos

Call center costs are increasing year over year and staffing your call center can be a real challenge. One way to take some of the pressure off this part of your utility company is to provide your customers with ways to solve their own problems. This will improve utility customer experience by helping customers get the answers they need, as quickly as possible.

Self-service options are now a customer expectation, not a nice-to-have. In fact, 70% of customers now expect your website to have a self-service application, and 40% of customers prefer self-service to interacting with a customer service representative. You can empower these customers to solve their own issues by giving them access to 1:1 personalized interactive video. For example, if there is a portion of your bill that customers often experience difficulty understanding, include a link to a personalized FAQ video right on the bill, so the customer can self-educate. You’ll meet customer expectations for speedy and personalized service, without driving your staffing costs up.

1:1 Data-Driven Messaging

Increasing levels of personalization in other industries have driven utility customers to also expect timely, personal, and relevant communications from their utility providers. To provide this personal experience, utilities can draw on the goldmine of data they have about their customers to create messages that truly resonate with them. These could include tailored 1:1 messages around time of use optimization, equalized billing, payment options, or cost reduction.

Hyper-personalization is the way of the future for customer communications, because it drives higher response rates and better business results. A good first step is to move away from “one size fits all” bill-based marketing. Instead, include targeted messages right on the utility bill, so you can build engagement and customer satisfaction through a document you know your customers are likely to open and review.

How Doxim Can Support Your Utility Customer Experience Transformation

As a single, trusted partner offering a holistic CCM solution that will meet all your CXM needs, Doxim can help you operationalize your utility customer experience strategy and make every interaction count.

Doxim’s omnichannel CCM platform can empower your business users to generate the frequent, ongoing, and personal interactions your customers crave, and distribute these communications through multiple channels (via print, PDF, HTML, email, text, and online interactive experiences).

The omnichannel capabilities of the platform are such that when a customer calls in to speak to a service representative or engages with a chatbot, both human and machine can provide immediate assistance by calling up the communication or document that the customer received. This keeps every customer communication connected, making multi-step, omnichannel customer interactions a reality.

Behind the scenes, Doxim’s seasoned customer experience experts can also help you encourage customer engagement and consult on creative communication design that delivers a great user experience.

And of course, Doxim’s customer communications management technology offers you all the security and compliance features you require to keep your customers’ sensitive data secure, plus the scalability and flexible pricing you would expect from a modern SaaS-based solution.