Have you ever brought a new idea to your utility only to run into these responses?

• Our legacy system prevents us from doing that
• We tried that XXX years ago, and it didn’t work
• But we’ve always done it this way
• Regulators would never approve that

If these responses sound familiar, that’s because these are some of the barriers that your utility peers wrote on the Wall of Excuses at the most recent E Source E Design 2020 conference: Powering What’s Next for the New Energy Consumer.

Every new technology must cross the “chasm of death”—the high-risk, precommercial phase of market adoption where costs are high and value is uncertain—before it can take off and penetrate the market at scale. Utilities test and promote emerging technologies, but these efforts often only address technical and market potential, not market development.

Since 2013, the average number of customers per key account representative has stabilized at around 40 customers, according to the E Source Account Management Assessment. Because of enhanced key account manager support staff, customer satisfaction has stayed consistent over the same time period, even though account reps have taken on more customers. To learn more about business customer satisfaction, check out the E Source Business Customer Satisfaction Surveys.

According to data from the E Source Account Management Assessment, utility key account managers’ tenure and salary have decreased, indicating a workforce shift to a younger generation. It’s important to have account plans and processes in place so you can seamlessly transfer knowledge from seasoned veterans to the new workforce.

Download  How a Younger Workforce Affects Trends in Account Manager Salary and Tenure (PDF)

US residential customers typically pay their bills using automatic payment or online through their service provider’s website, but bill pay methods vary by demographics—especially age and income—according to data from the 2017 Claritas Technology Behavior Track and Energy Behavior Track studies (Figure 1). It’s important to offer customers choices in how they pay their bills and interact with billing and payment information. By understanding their payment preferences by customer segment, you’re more likely to get your message right.

The E Source Utility DER and Electrification Benchmark is an annual survey of US and Canadian utilities’ distributed energy resource (DER) strategy–related efforts. It’s intended to help our utility members develop more-effective and comprehensive DER strategies and tactics. Check out our infographic for some high-level results from the 2018 study.

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At the 2017 E Source Forum, Todd Lazurca, manager of communication services at SaskPower, talked about blending analog and digital content to create experiences for customers. According to him, “experiences are the foundation of our lives—and they’re the foundation of the conversations that we have.” Those conversations have helped SaskPower generate word of mouth among its customers and encourage them to embrace shared experiences within their community. Lazurca explains:

Learn how E Source Consulting & Advisory Services helped a leading manufacturer of wire products for the building, energy, and original equipment manufacturing sectors create and implement a comprehensive voice-of-the-customer program that’s building customer loyalty.

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