Like most industries, the utility landscape is undergoing some changes, and so are the customer expectations. The impact of the pandemic only amplified these expectations; customers want seamless customer experiences, personalization, frictionless customer service, better interactions and self-service options. This presents a huge opportunity for utility providers.
Utilities now have the chance to adopt new technology that improves the customer experience (CX), making their customers’ lives easier by seamlessly answering their questions across multiple touchpoints.
Digitization is now at the forefront of utility transformation, so how can utility providers ensure they keep up with these new innovations and continue to keep delighting their customers?
To help your utility do just that, silverblaze – an award-winning developer of a Customer Portal for Utilities and customer experience consultant – has created a resource to help.
The eBook, entitled ‘Top 5 Customer Experience (CX) Trends For 2021 That Will Impact Utility Providers’, is an in-depth look at the top five trends that will impact how utility providers build better customer experiences and boost customer satisfaction metrics.
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What trends can your utility expect to see over the course of 2021?
In a new eBook, created specifically to help utility providers improve customer satisfaction and build better customer experiences, silverblaze has listed the top five trends that will impact how utility providers interact with their customers in 2021.
#1 – The Pandemic’s Long-Term Impact on Customer Expectations
We’re now a year into the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus is still having a dramatic impact on people’s lives all around the world. The pandemic has changed how customers interact with their utility providers, possibly forever. For example, remote workers need better outage alerts, customers want their utility to provide them with access to government-assisted response programs, and empathy is now a top priority for any utility’s customer service approach.
#2 – Environmentally Conscious Decision Making on the Rise
Sustainability is a key concern for many customers around the world. They don’t just want to live more environmentally-friendly lives themselves, but they also want the companies they interact with to be more sustainable as well. As a result, utilities need to both provide usage and analytics data to help customers reduce their own carbon footprint, as well as build conservation and demand management programs that show their own initiatives to make sustainable changes.
#3 – Alternative Energy
In a bid to lead a more environmentally-friendly way-of-life, customers are also investing in alternative energy sources in their own homes – such as solar panels. It’s likely going to be more common that utility providers offer customers the ability to sign up for renewable energy production programs aimed at homeowners, small business and commercial customers, and that utility providers will begin to make the most of opportunity to broaden their horizon on what they consider a utility service – such as delivering electric vehicle charging stations.
#4 – Mobile Access to Customer Utility Accounts
Smartphones are ubiquitous in today’s society. Utility providers can no longer just have the traditional desktop-designed websites, they simply must have mobile-friendly websites and customer portal applications that make it easy for customers to access and change their account information on a smart device.
#5 – Continued Focus on Cybersecurity
Cyberattacks are becoming more common, and the fact that utilities hold a huge amount of customer data makes them particularly vulnerable to these attacks. To protect both their business, as well as their customers from cybercrime, utilities will invest more heavily in cybersecurity strategies and technologies over the coming years.
Do you want to learn more about the trends that will impact utility providers over 2021, and gain more information on how the silverblaze Customer Portal for Utilities can help your utility significantly improve the customer experience? Then read our ebook below or contact our team of experts today with any questions that you have.
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About silverblaze
silverblaze is an award-winning software innovation, development and consulting firm. Founded in 1999, silverblaze partners with utility providers equipping them with value-focused, highly-customizable, self-service customer portals and smart forms software.
Over the past 21 years, silverblaze has successfully empowered clients throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean to maximize customer engagement through their utility customer self-service portal software. Some of silverblaze’s clients include Alectra Utilities, the Bermuda Electric Light Company, and the City of Provo. silverblaze is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harris Computer Systems. Learn more at www.silverblaze.com.
