Customer Service: Utility Style

Description

Successful utility customer service leaders are providing great service while reducing costs. This primer for customer service leaders at all levels outlines successful techniques for creating a customer focused culture, taking costs out of the business and maximizing technology, processes and efficiency. Readers of this book will find easy to implement, proven best practices combined with thoughtful discussions on current strategies and innovations. Additionally insights and case studies from successful utility leaders will amplify the challenges of successfully implementing these best practices. Readers of this book will learn how to:
• Build an aligned motivated team
• Offer new services and products to meet your customers’ needs
• Reduce unbilled losses in your meter to cash cycle
• Create effective channel management
• Define, measure and map your key customer service processes
• Utilize workforce management tools

Part One: Create a customer focused culture
1. Build a high performance team
a. Effective leadership
b. Common mission
c. Communications
d. Union partnership
2. Hire, train and retain your best customer service professionals
a. Hiring strategies
b. Training strategies
c. Retention strategies
3. Discover the magic of customer complaints
a. Create a culture where complaints are gifts
b. Establish a complaint resolution process
c. Track, trend and measure complaint data
d. Improve the process based on the data
4. Listen and respond to the voice of the customer
a. Methods to gather customer feedback
b. Common pitfalls to avoid
c. Establish a customer listening post
5. Offer new services and products to meet your customers’ needs
a. Product and service development cycle
b. Core products and services
c. Emerging products and services
Part Two: Take costs out of the business
6. Reduce unbilled losses in your meter to cash cycle
a. What is the revenue cycle?
b. Record all customers in CIS
c. Read all meters
d. Account for all usage
e. Bill all customers on the right rate
f. Collect all receivables
g. Identify and prioritize meter to cash opportunities
7. Outsourcing
a. Why do utilities outsource?
b. What do utilities outsource?
c. How to evaluate outsourcing
d. Steps to outsourcing
e. Customer service business process outsourcing
8. Reduce bad debt
a. Strategies for current accounts
b. Strategies for delinquent accounts
c. Strategies for finaled accounts
d. Common mistakes to avoid
9. Create effective channel management
a. Common channels
b. Channel management by customer service process
Part Three: Maximize technology, processes and efficiency
10. Map, measure and benchmark your key customer service processes
a. Process mapping
b. Process measurement
c. Benchmarking
11. Complete a Health Check on your Customer Information System (CIS)
a. Challenges faced by utilities
b. CIS legacy platform
c. CIS health check
d. Options
12. Apply Technology to Enhance Customer Service
a. Customer contact technology
b. Productivity technology
c. Resource management technology
13. Successfully Implement These and Other Best Practices
a. Project identification
b. Leadership support
c. Project management
d. Change management
e. Using consultants

Additional information