Guiding the way to digital transformation in the utilities sector
In order to compete in a volatile, crowded and consolidated market, utilities businesses must be on top of two core challenges: operations must be lean and efficient to reduce unnecessary spend and keep costs competitive; and the service provided to customers must be fast, convenient and seamless.
Customer experience has become a key battleground in the sector. With challenger brands just a click away, businesses want to remove any friction from their customer interactions. These businesses know that today’s consumer simply doesn’t have to tolerate poor service. Communication across several channels adds further complexity, challenging businesses to ensure that these various touchpoints are interconnected and that communications remain consistent and seamless.
Digital transformation describes the adoption of digital technologies to improve processes, reduce costs, manage risk and deliver an improved customer experience. By adopting a digital transformation strategy, enterprises accelerate the migration from legacy processes to a nimble, effective and unified customer communications infrastructure to improve the customer experience.
At first glance the phrase ‘digital transformation’ might appear daunting. There is an implication that ‘transformation’ means completely reinventing processes from top to bottom in one sweeping action. In fact, digital transformation is a path that can be taken step-by-step at a pace dictated by each organisation.
Our expertise lies in identifying sensible pathways for businesses to begin their digital transformation journey and in guiding them every step of the way.
The resulting improvements to the customer experience are clear. Rather than requiring customers to conform to legacy communication channels, service provision is made more customer-centric. Organisations have the agility to flex to suit the customer - processes are more personalised and customers are presented with more choice over how, when and where they interact.
For example, consider the sector’s challenge regarding debt recovery. Research suggests that Covid has caused one in three consumers to enter into debt. Many individuals are worrying about how to pay their bills during this testing financial period. To support customers through 2021 and beyond, utility firms will have to pay careful attention to the circumstances of their customers and their ability to pay any debts. Those businesses able to introduce debt recovery strategies that are more personalised and sensitive to individual circumstances will gain an advantage over competitors restricted to sending more standardised legacy messaging.
This is just one example. There are many more everyday processes within the sector that can be rapidly and dramatically improved.
Change can be daunting, and we know that businesses - across every sector - can often feel overwhelmed by the scope of the digital challenge. But there is no need to go it alone. We’ll guide your digital transformation, working with you to identify where the journey should begin and creating a roadmap to competitive advantage.