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Social Networking as a Marketing Tool

By Steve Schugart, Director of Business Operations, ePsolutions, October, 22, 2009 - Social networking is no longer the next big craze, it's now as much a part of the web experience as search engines. Today's networking strategies allow you to reach out to a much broader potential business base. Social networking site participation is one of the most powerful means to reach prospects and reinforce professional relationships today. According to Nielson Online, two-thirds of the world's Internet population belongs to a social network and as of April 2009, the total minutes that individuals spent on social networking sites increased by 83 percent when compared with the same period a year ago.  more...
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Five Fast Ways to Reduce Utility Write-offs

By Ted Nolte, Managing Consultant, PA Consulting Group, September, 24, 2009 - As the media pundits point to glimmers of hope of an economic turnaround this year, the reality remains that more people are unemployed or underemployed now than in the previous 20 years. High unemployment, restrained consumer spending, and growing bankruptcies increased utility write-offs approximately $400 million in 2008 to an estimated $2.8 billion according to PA Consulting Group's Polaris Customer Service benchmarking data. For the companies surveyed, average utility net bad debt as a percent of revenue increased to over 0.7 percent of revenue from 0.6 percent a year earlier. As businesses and consumers manage payments with diminishing income, and the more unscrupulous customers attempt to exploit loopholes in business processes and regulations to avoid repayment, utilities are scrambling to ensure that customers pay attention when their bills are sent and reduce write-offs.  more...
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Improving Customer Contact Quality

By Christine Kozlosky, Vice-President, Ascent Group, Inc., August, 24, 2009 -

Call quality monitoring is one of the most effective methods for improving the level of service you provide to your customers. Call quality monitoring refers to the process of listening to or observing an agent's phone conversations or other multi-media contacts with customers. While companies can measure customer satisfaction through customer focus groups, customer contact follow-up telephone surveys, and written satisfaction surveys, the results are often not timely enough or detailed enough to help individual agents understand their impact or contribution. A call monitoring session on the other hand, if done correctly, can instantly deliver a wealth of customer information, gauge individual agent performance and reveal a lot about your business processes and policies. Not only can it improve the customer experience, it can also improve overall call center performance, reduce callbacks, focus training efforts, identify process improvement opportunities, and facilitate employee development.

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Becoming More Interactive With Your Customers

By Scott Braynard, VP of Sales, Public Services, HP Enterprise Software, Hewlett Packard Co., July, 23, 2009 - In today's challenging economy, the business of utility providers is about more than energy supply and competitive pricing. Increasingly, we find that the utility companies who are rising to the top are those who provide valuable customer service, thereby retaining and growing a loyal customer base, and those who can implement a cost savings strategy automating regulatory compliance in the document-production workflow.  more...
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September 1, 2009: What's Your Game Plan?

By Mark Friedman, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer, SoundBite Communications, June, 25, 2009 - In 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted an amended Telemarketer Sales Rule (TSR) citing consumer protection against unwanted marketing communications. As of December 1, 2008, prerecorded sales calls must provide an easy opt-out feature. More significantly, beginning September 1, 2009, automated sales communications can be delivered only to those recipients who have provided their "express written consent" to receive them. Having an existing business relationship (EBR) will no longer suffice as sufficient approval for organizations to attempt to sell a good or service via an automated, prerecorded message.  more...
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Reaching Out to Customers in Troubled Financial Times

By Alexandra Behringer, Research Manager, E SOURCE, May, 28, 2009 - Many electric and gas utilities reported record numbers of customer arrearages and disconnections in late 2008 and early 2009. Although the U.S. Congress doubled the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds to $5.1 billion, 2009 may be unique in terms of the number of consumers having difficulty paying their utility bills. Increasing numbers of customers will need to learn how to access payment assistance and avoid disconnection. How are utilities communicating with customers and what messages are they using?  more...
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Customer Preference Critical for Successful Utility Customer Communications

By James Lovegrove, Utilities Director, SoundBite Communications, April, 22, 2009 - Consumers have become accustomed to choice in how they interact with their product and service providers. With utility and energy service providers, they want to know how utility service impacts their lifestyle, make necessary decisions and adaptations, and then quickly get on with their lives. Oftentimes, the customer's satisfaction with his/her utility is directly tied to his/her interactions and communications with that provider.  more...
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Energy Workforce Opportunities in the New Economic Climate

By Peter Weigand, Chairman, Skipping Stone, March, 25, 2009 -

It's a mixed message out there. On the one hand the media is claiming the energy sector is the place to be; on the other hand, energy companies are not immune to the current economic woes. With commodity prices down, industrial demand destruction a reality and the inevitable increase in slow or no paying customers, energy companies are definitely experiencing the effects of our current economy.  more...
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Generating Accurate News Coverage

By Eric Seidel, Founder & CEO, The Media Trainers, LLC, February, 26, 2009 - If there's one industry that has an inherent interest in getting it right when talking to the news media, it's energy. It's top of mind, it's one of the most basic staples of our existence and future, it's controversial and there are billions of dollars at stake.  more...
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Utilities Deploy Virtual Mutual Assistance for Customer Care

By Ferdinand E. Banks, Professor, , January, 22, 2009 - Mutual assistance is practiced by all utilities in times of trouble. It is the cornerstone of an industry that truly values safety and service. Until now, mutual assistance has meant line crews, trucks and equipment, or other resources directly related to the actual restoration efforts. However, there is a recognized need for support on the customer care side of the business as well.  more...
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