© graham technology 2005 the utility company of the future: from reactive customer service to...

© Graham Technology 2005

The Utility Company of the Future:

From Reactive Customer Service to

Proactive Customer Account Management

Michael CairnsGraham Technology

Business Unit Director, Utility Sector18th May 2005


Today’s Presentation

• Defect-based Customer Service

• Traditional Operating Model

• Customer Centric Approach

• Emerging Operating Model

• Multiple touch-points

• Conclusion


Global Utility Trends

Worldwide Market Changes Lead to New Demands on Processes

South AfricaSouth Africa

REDs: CT 2005REDs: CT 2005Customers: 5 millionCustomers: 5 million


Defect-based Customer Service

Current Issues Utilities have invested heavily (money and time) in the creation and maintenance of

complex IT suites. Radical or rapid change of complicated systems can be difficult and painful. Long timescales for ROI. Systems are inflexible. Systems & Processes are often not integrated. ‘IT-driven’ rather than ‘business driven’.

Results

Customer service is reactive, not proactiveContact initiated by the customerContact is normally to report a fault or problemLow visibility of customer accounts and issuesCustomer’s service experience is poorIncrease in Customer ChurnHigh Operating costs


Traditional Model

Defect-based Customer Service

Departmental Silos (Sales, Marketing, Customer Establishment, Metering, Billing, Credit Management, Operations) and multiple applications.

Replication of Data across multiple Core systems (Sales, Registration, Metering, Billing, Debt Management, etc..)

No end-to-end visibility (Sales to Credit Management)

Clear separation of front and back-office

Numerous manual & repetitive tasks

Exceptions handled manually, lack of visibility, control, etc..

No routing & recognition strategy


Defect-Based Customer Service

Traditional System-Driven rather than Process-Driven solution

BillingBillingDebtDebt ContactContact SalesSalesData-martData-mart Metering, Metering, OthersOthers

Integration LayerIntegration Layer

Mu

ltiple

M

ultip

le

Re

po

rtsR

ep

orts

DebtDebt BillingBilling CRM ApplicationsCRM Applications Various Various AppsApps

Users

What will we try next?

Management

Process?Customers

Complaint, Query, Record Defect, etc..

Field Force

3rd Parties

Not Directly connected to Core

Systems


Customer-Centric Model

Move to single, common operating platform across all users

Identification of Key Core systems & Data

Workflow based – to manage work delivery, tracking and escalation

Bring together front and back office (routing, transfer, point of contact resolution)

Increased process automation

Automation of exception handling, visibility of clearance rates, etc..

Pro-active Customer account management

Routing to provide ‘Point of Contact Resolution’


The Emerging High-Level Operating Model

Process FrameworkProcess FrameworkManagement

Reports

Enterprise ArchitectureEnterprise Architecture

Core Core SystemsSystems

Time-delay Transfer

Workflow Workflow

(Thick & Thin)(Thick & Thin)

Customers & Prospects

Pro-Active, Outbound

Calls

Routing & Routing & RecognitionRecognition

Customer Customer IssuesIssues

CustomersInbound

Calls

Generalists

Customer Customer IssuesIssues

Real-time Transfer

Specialists, e.g, Sales, Marketing, Customer Est, Metering, Ops, Networks, Billing, Debt.

Customers

Automated outbound contacts, e.g., SMS messages, email, ..

Work Delivery

Direct Routing to Specialists

External, Field Agents & 3rd Parties

Business Business IssuesIssues

Resolution with external

Customer Self-service

Str

aig

ht

th

rou

gh

p

roce

ssin

g


Proactive Customer Management

Process Approach

Integration (& Replacement) of processes and inflexible legacy systems Removes islands of technology Expands communication channels and services Rules are built into the system - prompts and scripting for agents Automated front office and back office – workflow delivery, tracking, escalation Automated reporting - use of process metrics to identify root causes Process innovation is supported

Benefits

End-to-end process – single customer viewSustainable competitive advantage through

innovationReduction in operating costs Improved use of service guarantees and

targetsFaster issue handling and access to dataConsistent companywide approach to serviceAbility to predict (& avoid) customer

behaviourCustomer Satisfaction and brand protectionEmpowered multi-skilled agents

Customer profiling and segmentation Maximises ‘first contact’ resolutionCross-selling & up-selling increase customer value


Centralised Processing:Multiple Touch-points

Compliance

Compliance

Self Service

Overall Contacts


To Conclude

Well Managed Customer Relationships are the Key to Profitable Growth in a liberalised market:

Maximises customer retention – retention is cheaper than acquisition Maximises revenue collection – shortens the credit cycle, minimises debt Maximises sales opportunities – up-selling & cross-selling

Moving towards Proactive Customer Account Management delivers:

Long-term growth and profitabilityLower cost to serve through automationCustomer retention and loyaltyIncreased value of your customer base

Keys are: Flexibility, Agility, Integration, Consistency and Visibility provided by a business process framework.

Automated processes create competitive advantage in evolving markets:

Product-driven Processes Customer-driven processes

Basic Customer Service Tailored customer servicePrice & Volume focus Value focusLimited product sales Up-sell and Cross-sell opportunities


Michael CairnsGraham Technology

Business Unit Director, Utility Sector

[email protected]


A New Approach

What Are the Benefits of a Process Framework?

Fit the system to your processes, not your processes to the system The business, not IT, has control Improve process automation without throwing away your existing core systems Data quality is assured Process-by-process rather than big-bang implementation Reduction in operating costs Multi-channel customer communication

Supports proactive customer account management

© graham technology 2005 the utility company of the future: from reactive customer service to...

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