Give them what they want: SMB customers are interested in saving energy through their utility
Sarah Baker Findings from the 2019 Small and Midsize Business Gap and Priority Benchmark

The utility-provided products and services that most SMB customers are interested in are:

  • HVAC systems
  • Power monitoring
  • Energy management consulting

According to our 2019 survey, close to 50% of respondents have already participated in an HVAC program.

Study methodology

The E Source Business Customer Satisfaction Study (formerly known as the Gap and Priority Benchmark) is a nationally recognized study that determines the best utilities in business customer satisfaction and the top attributes that lead to high satisfaction. This study provides insights into your small and midsize business (SMB) customers’ needs and where you’re succeeding and failing.

We fielded the study from April through May 2019. We allowed partially completed surveys when respondents answered all questions related to the utility, account reps, and business customer reps. We surveyed SMB customers on various topics, including satisfaction, value, attribute importance and performance, communication preferences, and program and product interest.

We surveyed more than 3,300 SMB customers in 2019, and the benchmark results are based on the 13 utilities represented in the study that met the 10% margin of error at the 90% confidence-level requirement. For public content, E Source removes actual percentages from figures.

SMB participation rates for power monitoring and energy management consulting are less than 20%, even though SMB customers are more interested in them than in other revenue-generating products and services (figure 1). Utilities need to figure out how to turn program interest into program enrollment.

Figure 1: Interest and participation in utility-provided revenue-generating products and services

About half of SMB respondents who answered this question have participated in or purchased at least one revenue-generating product or service. Power monitoring and energy management consulting continue to hold SMB customers’ interest over the past three years, ranking in the top five options for product or service interest.
Bar chart showing data from the 2019 Small and Midsize Business Gap and Priority Benchmark. The chart shows business customer interest and participation in utility-provided products or services. HVAC systems, power monitoring, and energy management consulting are the three programs with the most interest. The three programs with the highest participation are outdoor lighting installation and maintenance, HVAC systems, and energy managemetn control systems. Call us at 1-800-ESOURCE for more information.

You can improve participation rates in your revenue-generating products and services by:

  • Surveying your SMB customers to find out which products and services they’re most interested in.
  • Benchmarking these programs against your current participation levels to determine where to focus your marketing efforts.
  • Customizing your revenue-generating products and services by business sector so SMB customers feel like they’re getting a personalized program.
  • Creating email marketing campaigns that point out SMB customers’ pain points and offering your revenue-generating products and services as a solution.

By offering products and services that customers want and tailoring the offerings to their needs, you can help SMB customers save energy and money. And you will improve your relationship with them.

If you’re curious about how to improve participation from large business customers, check out our data snapshot Are you recommending the right products and services to your large business customers?

For more information about the Business Customer Satisfaction Study or this data, call us at 1-800-ESOURCE (1-800-376-8723) or email us.

Small and midsize business Account management Customer satisfaction Revenue-generating programs or services