Utility Efforts To Improve Ease of Doing Business Thwarted by Higher Energy Prices

Escalent recognizes 46 utilities as Easiest To Do Business With

As energy prices have increased over the last year, utilities have struggled to make it easy for their customers to do business with them, with Cogent Syndicated’s Customer Effort Score declining by nine points to 723 (on a 1,000-point scale), the lowest score ever recorded in the study. Despite this, 46 utilities stand out as being “easiest to do business with” among 141 of the largest utility companies in the US. These and other findings are from the Cogent Syndicated 2023 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential study by Escalent, a top data analytics and advisory firm.

While an increasing number of customers say their ideal utility should be easy to deal with, the study highlights the challenges utilities have had providing easy customer service. Customers struggled to understand why their bill is higher, leading to a decline in the ease of understanding their bill. Many of these customers contacted their utility by email and phone to get answers but were unsuccessful, contributing to a significant decrease in the ease of resolving issues through email and with a utility representative, both declining more than one-fifth of a point from 2022.

“While the decline in the Customer Effort Score is concerning, it presents an opportunity for utilities to take action and improve their customer experience,” said K.C. Boyce, vice president at Escalent. “By focusing on simplifying their bills, improving communication around their programs and providing better customer service, utilities can make it easier for their customers to do business with them.”

Although the drivers of the industry’s Customer Effort Score trend are related to billing and customer service, the lowest-scoring components of the Customer Effort Score continue to relate to programs. Many utilities still struggle to explain their offerings clearly and convey how their programs make it easier for customers to do business with them. This presents an opportunity for utilities to improve their communication and marketing efforts.

The 46 utilities Escalent recognizes today as Easiest To Do Business With show marked differences to the industry, with a three-point increase in their average Customer Effort Score from 2022. Despite facing the same macroeconomic environment as their peers, this group of utilities posted much higher scores on having an easy-to-understand bill and making it easy for customers to resolve their issues through the call center. Members of this group further distinguish themselves by scoring nearly one point higher than the industry on perceptions that their programs make it easier for customers to do business with them. Similarly, customers of these 46 utilities find their utility’s energy-efficiency programs and billing and payment options particularly easy to use.

“Simply put, the utilities recognized today as Easiest To Do Business With helped their customers navigate this period of higher energy prices across the board,” added Boyce. “These utilities made it easy for customers to understand their bills and get answers when they had questions. They also engaged their customers with valuable and easy-to-use programs and services.”

Index scores based upon 1,000-point maximum scale

About Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential

Escalent conducted surveys among 76,100 residential electric, natural gas and combination utility customers of the 141 largest US utility companies (based on residential customer counts). The sample design uses a combination of quotas and weighting based on US census data to ensure a demographically balanced sample of each evaluated utility’s customers based on age, gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities within the same region and of the same type (e.g., electric-only providers) are given equal weight to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey results. The Customer Effort Score is a composite based upon consumer ratings across 23 attributes. Escalent will supply the exact wording of any survey question upon request. All scores are based upon a 1,000-point maximum scale.

For more information on the full report, click the button below.