DR action plan packs plenty of marketing punch August 25, 2011
Posted by Stacey Bailey in Uncategorized.Tags: Chartwell, communication umbrella, customer engagement, demand response, DR, EE, energy, energy effiiciency, engagement, FERC, national action plan, National Action Plan Coalition, smart grid, utility
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If the National Action Plan Coalition’s Communications Umbrella Action Guide – Part 1 hasn’t made it to the top of your summer reading list yet, I highly recommend it. While I’ll admit Kathryn Stockett’s The Help may be more of a page-turner, the Action Plan packs some great energy efficiency and demand response customer engagement insights, segmentation strategies and targeted messaging into a mere 29 slides.
Can we learn anything about customer engagement from the Caveman and Flo? June 2, 2011
Posted by Stacey Bailey in Utility Industry News.Tags: Chartwell, customer engagement, customer loyalty, customer programs, customer satisfaction, energy efficiency, market research, utility
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After a few years in banking followed by 15 years in the insurance industry – apparently I am a regulation junkie – I joined Chartwell a few weeks ago and am thoroughly enjoying learning loads of new industry acronyms. I have already found some key similarities between the utility and insurance industries:
1) An EF4 tornado provides a wealth of customer satisfaction “data.”
2) Response time is a big deal.
3) Customer loyalty is critical.
In the über-competitive world of insurance, pitchmen like the GEICO Caveman and Progressive’s “Flo” are so recognizable that they have become popular Halloween costumes. A company’s product or price advantage can be knocked off by a competitor in a matter of months. Because of this, many insurance companies have shifted their focus away from the traditional transaction-based customer satisfaction measures. These are obviously still important, but companies are now focused on finding ways to add value for the customer in order to create true loyalty, not just transactional satisfaction. (more…)
Unlocking the mysteries of customer engagement March 10, 2011
Posted by Mark Hall in Utility Industry News.Tags: customer behavior, customer engagement, demand response, energy conservation, energy efficiency, smart grid, smart meters
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Today’s industry buzz is that utilities need to better engage their customers to ensure the success of smart meter and smart grid deployments.
Pretty simple message, right?
While it’s certainly easy for anyone to point out the obvious – that more engagement is needed – strategies for accomplishing this would certainly be more useful. It should be noted that I don’t write this to knock those who hammer this point home; in fact, I am just as guilty as anyone. However, I think it’s time to offer solutions to the problem instead of just hyping it. (more…)
