It’s tough to please everyone … but you have to try January 12, 2012
Posted by Chris Brennaman in Utility Industry News.Tags: Chartwell, customer satisfaction, customer service, J.D. Power and Associates, pricing, reliability, utility
1 comment so far
Now that the BCS National Championship is in the books, the “powers that be” are gathering to discuss the future of the Bowl Championship Series. For years, advocates of the BCS have claimed the system puts the two best teams on the field against each other at the end of the year, while opponents argue the system is not fair for all teams in the NCAA.
Regardless of the decisions made over the next few months, when the new contract goes into place prior to the 2014 season one thing will be certain: there will be some people that are happy … and some that are not. The truth of the matter – in sports or in any other facet of life – is that you can’t please all the people all the time. (more…)
The Top 10 Chartwell member requests of 2011; and other stuff to look back upon December 28, 2011
Posted by Dennis Smith in Utility Industry News.Tags: 2011, billing and payment, call center, Chartwell, Chartwell Blog, Chartwell member requests, Chartwell research, customer engagement, customer satisfaction, customer self service, customer service, electric vehicle, mobile communications, smart grid, utilities, utilities in 2011, utility, utility customer engagement, utility customer service, utility marketing, Web-based customer service
1 comment so far
It has been an interesting year to say the least. 2011 was a year of more positives for Apple and Google and negatives for BlackBerry and Netflix (remember its Qwikster fiasco). It’s been a year marked by the deaths of Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi and Kim Jong Il, a devastating tsunami and accompanying earthquake, political protests at home and abroad, and Republican presidential hopefuls rising and falling faster than a roller coaster at Six Flags. And in keeping with year’s past, Congress failed once again … and again (You can’t even cut spending when you’re this deep in debt?!), and another NFL team made a run at undefeated glory only to stumble toward the finish line. Maybe the Green Bay Packers will still repeat with another Super Bowl win – 2012 will tell that tale.
Oh, and the financial struggles of recent years continued.
The year is also one that’s been big for the utility industry. It’s been marked by several high-profile merger proposals, continued smart meter protests and the mass market introduction of the plug-in electric vehicle (EV). It will be interesting in the coming year to see (more…)
Customers rise up against banks; Should utilities care? November 16, 2011
Posted by Dennis Smith in Utility Industry News.Tags: Chartwell, Chartwell Blog, Chartwell research, customer satisfaction, customer service, EMACS, EMACS - The Customer Experience Conference, utilities, utility, utility customer engagement
add a comment
It was interesting to watch last month as Bank of America (BOA), SunTrust and the other major banking institutions that sought to impose debit card fees had to retreat from their high ground and reverse course after customers finally rose up in revolt.
Despite this consumer victory, these are still tough times for customers. (more…)
EMACS Cross-Industry Presentations Shed Light on New Era of Customer Service November 2, 2011
Posted by Vanessa Edmonds in Utility Industry News.Tags: acsi, american customer satisfaction index, Anne Bowen-Long, Chartwell research, Claes Fornell, Customer Care, customer satisfaction, customer service, EMACS, EMACS Agenda, Georgia Power, KCP&L, MLGW, Piedmont Energy, UPS, utility customer care
1 comment so far
In a world before the Internet and mobile devices, companies called the shots when it came to customer care. 
Some customers preferred to resolve issues through the call center, but navigating the voice response unit (VRU), to get through to the right person, left them dizzier than a ride on the Sit-and-Spin. Others opted for electronic communications, but were forced into frustrating chat room “conversations” with unknowledgeable, outsourced call center agents.
“Big Brown” – a model for leveraging cross-departmental assets September 6, 2011
Posted by Vanessa Edmonds in Utility Industry News.Tags: Anne Bowen-Long, Chartwell, cross-deparmental, customer satisfaction, customer service, EMACS, EMACS - The Customer Experience Conference, UPS, utility industry, utility industry conferences, utility industry research
add a comment
“I love my UPS driver.” If someone gave me a dime each time I heard that during my employment at United Parcel Service, I would purchase my dream home in Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Resort, one of the United States’ most pricey communities.
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
add a comment
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…)
Takeaways from Chartwell’s Utility Market Research Summit March 2, 2011
Posted by Jennifer Quay Allen in Utility Industry News.Tags: customer satisfaction, customer service, market research, marketing, utilities, Utility Market Research Summit
4 comments
“That which gets measured gets improved.”
We in the business world hear this a lot; it’s a philosophy that comes out of W. Edwards Deming’s theories around process improvement and his adaptation of statistical process control as pioneered by Walter A. Shewhart. This is the stuff I cut my teeth on in the business world; I authored a monthly newsletter called CQI/TQM for years. (The first person who can tell me in the comments section what those acronyms stand for wins a prize.) The theories around consistently measuring outputs to continuously improve processes (and all the alphabet-soup acronyms that went along with that) were hotter-than-hot—even n in the utility world.
As with all things “hot,” it eventually cooled within management circles. But not with me. Just ask my coworkers how many times a week I mention “process improvement.” Note: You will need to duck as they throw the nearest solid object.
Thankfully, because the theories are still quite useful and valid, data-based process improvement has not cooled among utility market researchers either. Chartwell held its annual Utility Market Research Summit in Atlanta last week; it was a gathering of about 40 of us who get goose bumps over data and have absolute heart palpitations when that data is used—you guessed it—to make things BETTER. There were several gems coming out of the Summit that I am still aglow over: (more…)
