Smart customer communications: Simply being a 'resource provider' doesn't cut it any more

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Editor's note ... Utilities involved in smart meter rollouts have a wide range of options to choose from as they consider the best business model to guide them in educating their customers about the new technology and related services, and how those customers can benefit most from them. We think this piece illustrates one of the options worth considering.

Many utilities have implemented smart meter pilots, with hundreds of billions of dollars being committed globally to upgrade utility systems. Countless hurdles remain, but the greatest barrier between utilities and the realization of benefits from smart meter implementations isn’t technical, it’s behavioral. The promise of smart meters hinges not on technology but on persuading people to change how and when they use electricity.

Influencing customer behavior requires that utilities establish a new type of relationship with customers, moving from a simple provider of resource to a Trusted Energy Advisor. Establishing this relationship requires an early and ongoing communication program regarding the choices and benefits enabled by smart meters.

Situations such as the class-action lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in Bakersfield demonstrate the need to disseminate clear, concise, and relevant information. As illustrated by the lawsuit, utilities must ensure that customers understand how to use their new smart meters before they are installed.

The cost of not communicating

Customer backlash, low program adoption and the resulting failure to reach energy efficiency targets aren’t the only costs of uneducated customers. Experts agree that call center costs will also rise. McKinsey recently reported that even a well-planned smart meter roll out will increase net call center minutes by 12 to 15 percent, and research firm IDC found a 10 to 30 percent increase in call volume.

Smart meters also generated new call types, such as variable rate enrollment, in-home display support and conservation coaching. And these calls cost more than outage and billing calls. For example, conservation coaching calls averaged eight to 15 minutes and required more highly skilled call center representatives.

A multichannel, persona-segmented, customer correspondence education program can mitigate the impact of smart meters on call centers and promote customer adoption and success with smart grid programs.

Since its Bakersfield experience, PG&E has said it should have done a better job of educating customers prior to installing the meters. That’s the first step. Utilities must have the will to communicate and they must formulate the right messages for the right customers at the right time. It’s a long, bumpy road from class action to the ultimate goal: Trusted Energy Advisor.

The right tools pave the road to Trusted Energy Advisor

The smartest utilities realize that one message and one communications medium do not fit all customers — particularly when talking about the smart grid. Some customers are swayed by convenience. Others value eco-friendliness. And for many, cost outweighs all other considerations. A Trusted Energy Advisor will offer choices and messages that resonate with each customer persona, as well as take into account previous customer interactions.

Smart grid correspondence tools should not only provide personally relevant information to each customer, they should deliver it through each customer’s preferred communications media, whether print, Web, email and/or mobile. Such tools should also offer these capabilities in a single, scalable platform that permits content creators to write and design highly personalized multichannel communications that accommodate sophisticated business rules, graphics and data, integrate with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems, and leverage the familiar word processing and design environments they use every day.  And these tools should accomplish all this — as well as the inevitable revisions — without requiring support from IT professionals.

A unified communications infrastructure with multichannel, personalized correspondence capabilities can enable utilities to communicate early, often, and in a variety of ways about changes and benefits the smart grid will bring. In other words, it can help smooth the road to Trusted Energy Advisor.

Dan Pearl is the global solutions lead for the utility sector at EMC Corporation. Tom Rossi is a product marketing manager responsible for customer communications management solutions at EMC Corporation.

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