Want to create excitement with customers about energy efficiency? Start with your employees January 24, 2012
Posted by Allison Herdic in Utility Industry News.Tags: Chartwell, customer contact management, customer interaction, educational campaign, energy efficiency, engaging employees, media channels, smart grid data
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While organizations across the industry have provided numerous reasons why becoming more energy efficient can be beneficial to utilities and customers alike, customer adoption is still a work-in-progress. Rather than taking an outside look to bolster adoption of energy efficiency programs, a number of utilities are finding success in first engaging employees. After all, knowledgeable employees can easily inform their families, friends, neighbors, fellow association members and others of various energy efficiency initiatives while ‘off the clock.’
During Chartwell’s Webinar last week on Transforming Employees into Energy Efficiency Advocates, Gulf Power and New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) provided a more in-depth look at how internal support and communications have increased their respective utilities’ energy efficiency program visibility, as well as employee buy-in.
Gulf Power is working with employees to take ownership in its energy efficiency programs, encouraging them to sign up for various offerings. Through this ‘seeing is believing’ approach, Gulf Power is providing employees with rebates or programs for appliances such as heat pump water heaters, air conditioners and refrigerators. The utility has also launched a comprehensive educational campaign that uses internal media channels to create champions of Gulf Power’s energy efficiency messaging.
NJNG has been able to successfully involve its customer service representatives (CSRs) in spreading the utility’s Conserve to Preserve® (CTP) messaging. When appropriate, CSRs are encouraged to pass along CTP energy and cost-savings tips. By offering incentives and friendly competition, NJNG has considerably increased the number of tips provided during customer calls. The utility’s reach also expands across many other departments, through efforts such as a monthly E-tips email and company-wide events featuring energy efficiency information through games and contests.
Energy efficiency isn’t the only facet of the industry that is requiring a change from the inside out. As smart grid data becomes increasingly available, customer-facing employees are going to be tasked with speaking this new language. This will require a culture-change for many organizations on at least a micro-level in the years ahead. We’ll discuss these issues in more detail next month (Feb. 23-24) at our Customer Contact Management Summit in Atlanta.
When looking to create ambassadors, sometimes it takes the ‘been there, done that, got the t-shirt’ approach. Creating energy efficiency advocates from within can generate an excitement that can be conveyed externally, one customer interaction at a time.
Do you live in a barn?! October 6, 2011
Posted by Stacey Bailey in Uncategorized.Tags: cfl, Chartwell, Chartwell research, customer engagement, energy, energy conservation, energy efficien, energy efficiency, energy usage, marketing, Residential Energy Efficiency, school-based programs, utility
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Last week I was sifting through 1500+ responses on one of Chartwell’s recent residential consumer surveys and laughed out loud at a response with which I strongly identified.
The question was “How likely are you to use the following tools to monitor and control your energy use in the future”. We gave respondents choices of website, programmable thermostat, smart phone app, etc. and also gave them an “other” field with a text box to see what they would come up with.
One respondent had written: “a way to get my kid to close the front door.” I can’t even imagine the ROI on that one.
Panelists share recipes for successful customer engagement with demand response October 3, 2011
Posted by Scott Johnson in Utility Industry News.Tags: Chartwell, Chartwell Blog, Chartwell research, customer engagement, demand response, energy efficiency, energy usage, market research, smart grid, smart meter, utilities, utility, utility customer engagement, utility customer service
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Consumers’ fears about smart meters have generated more than their share of headlines over the last few years. The resulting misinformation and noise has made it harder to hear the success stories that continue to define the majority of smart meter deployments. (more…)
Go Ogres! Beat those Hogs! September 19, 2011
Posted by Stacey Bailey in Uncategorized.Tags: Chartwell, customer engagement, EMACS, energy, energy efficiency, FPL, mascot, NJNG, PECO, TVA, utility, Westar
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College football season has (finally) begun and bulldogs, tigers, and elephants are appearing all over my community –which unfortunately for an ACC girl is SEC country. In honor of the most wonderful time of the year, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few of the most interesting utility mascots I’ve come across.
Answering the $64,000 question: customer engagement in energy usage data July 14, 2011
Posted by Stacey Bailey in Utility Industry News.Tags: biggest energy saver, Chartwell, Chartwell Blog, EMACS, energy, energy efficiency, energy usage, Google PowerMeter, Grid 21, Microsoft Hohm, online energy information, smart grid, smart meter, utility customer engagement, Utility Market Research Summit
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The exit of Google and Microsoft from the smart meter arena a few weeks ago was big news in our industry. Citing “inability to scale” (Google) and “slow overall market adoption,” (Microsoft) these technology giants were unable to engage customers in sufficient numbers to justify continuing these projects.
The ongoing mission to discover what makes customers want to manage their energy usage continues…
An interesting approach to this mission was announced at the Grid Modernization event hosted by the White House in mid-June – the launch of Grid 21, a nonprofit off-shoot of GridWise Alliance. Founding Grid 21 partners are utilities Oncor, CenterPoint and San Diego Gas and Electric as well asIBM, Landis+Gyr, Itron and GE. Grid 21 states its purpose as, “engaging electricity customers in using a new generation of tools and technologies to better manage their electricity consumption.” (more…)
When it comes to energy conservation, energy consumers consider their wallets first June 8, 2011
Posted by Dennis Smith in Uncategorized.Tags: Chartwell Blog, Chartwell research, energy conservation, energy efficiency, energy usage, market research, online energy information, smart grid, utilities, utility customer engagement, utility market research
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Chartwell’s Smart Grid Customer Engagement Council is well into its second year of studying the behaviors of North American consumers concerning their energy usage and attitudes. With a focus this year on energy usage tools and behaviors, the Council, which is made up of utility companies that work with Chartwell, has already made a couple of important findings. Among those:
- Consumers are interested in their energy usage and see the long-term need to stay abreast of it; but
- Engaging them with the right tools is the real challenge. In other words, utilities will have to offer energy monitoring products that are easy to use and which add value to their customers’ lives.
One thing is clear, however, from Chartwell’s years of research and thousands of consumer interviews: (more…)
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…)
One utility is getting the picture on customer engagement May 6, 2011
Posted by Darren Epps in Utility Industry News.Tags: CEIVO, Chartwell, customer communications, demand response, energy efficiency, energy usage, Glendale Water and Power, in-home display, marketing, online energy information, smart grid, smart meter, utility communications, utility customer engagement, utility customer service
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The effort to engage customers in their energy usage is prompting utilities to test web portals, direct mail inserts, in-home displays and other dashboards to determine the most effective strategies.
Glendale Water and Power, a California municipal serving 84,500 electric and 32,500 water customers, presented a different idea at Chartwell’s Smart Grid Customer Education Summit in Phoenix last week – coupling utility messaging with pictures of Mom. (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…)
Information overload or golden opportunity? February 15, 2011
Posted by Allison Herdic in Utility Industry News.Tags: Chartwell, convenience, energy efficiency, energy usage, mobile, smart grid, Summits, utilities
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As new applications are buzzed about on a regular basis, mobile users can search the sea of options becoming more readily (and sometimes overwhelmingly) available.
Don’t get me wrong; I am an equal opportunity lover of a number of electronic products. From the Droid to the iPad, I frequently enjoy a wealth of information at my fingertips. The challenge is the information overload consumers face when trying to juggle all that is available. While all of the options may offer a major shot in the arm to the entertainment world and productivity on-the-go, a little caution must be exerted when designing applications for the mass market.
What does this mean for utilities? When searching for an application, a mobile user is likely asking him/herself prior to download: Is it fun? Is it useful? Or, is it going to enhance my day-to-day life in any way? The key is how the industry evaluates and answers these questions now and going forward.
More utilities are considering or creating mobile applications for bill payment, a definite step in the direction of making customers’ lives simpler. There is also chatter about making smart grid data available in application format, as more utilities move to smart meters in an effort to create heighted awareness about energy usage.
But, will energy usage information alone be enough to get customers excited? Currently, applications are available for download that allow customers to control their home lighting, thermostat and/or security systems via mobile device using Wi-Fi or a 3G network. This can certainly bolster energy efficiency efforts and create awareness about how often and how long lights are used within the home. But some tech-savvy enthusiast may desire such a feature simply for the convenience and ‘cool’ factor.
When designing a proprietary application, utilities have the challenge and opportunity of creating applications that will grab customers’ attention and make their lives a little easier. An assessment of different consumer types could be beneficial, as utilities should evaluate customers that will likely be early adopters and contrast to those that may never be interested whatsoever. In the process, careful consideration of the other available features already on the market may also offer greater results post-launch.
I look forward to hearing conversations on these questions and more at Chartwell’s upcoming Summits on Web and Mobile Customer Interaction and Smart Grid Customer Education in Phoenix, April 28-29. With a conglomerate of some of the industry’s foremost thought-leaders on these topics, I expect the future of mobile applications and energy information dissemination will be conferred about continuously over the two days.
In the meantime, I’ll be interested to hear about what’s new in the mobile space from the utility and other industries. Despite the information overload, the fun and convenience this new technological world offer are just too tempting to for me and many others to ignore. At least, for now…
