For a little over a month, I’ve been following the ups and downs of Memphis Light, Gas and Water(MLGW), which is the same amount of time that Timothy Davis has been in his new role as vice president of Customer Experience and Energy Services. The utility was slammed by customers for unreasonably long wait times and unresolved issues. Callers were met with recordings and unable to reach a live customer agent. After negative reviews and bad press, MLGW is working hard to improve their customer service. Timothy Davis is not taking his job lightly, “First and foremost, our utility customer care center, you should know that I am considering this an emergency,” he said. Not shy about the problems that need to be addressed he said, “I believe quite strongly if we improve the employee experience, we improve the customer experience.”
Since the pandemic, call volumes have increased and customer rep retention has decreased. In fact, According to Forrester Research Inc., call centers have turnover rates as high as 58 percent. Like MGLW, utility companies should focus on the employee by addressing burnout and developing more opportunities for growth. Other companies are hoping digital features will improve customer satisfaction. The top Customer Service Trends for 2022, according to Forrester Research Inc., include, shoring up vulnerabilities with technology, investing in the right software to manage and analyze data, and incentivizing agents who focus on resolution and customer satisfaction.
“I’m focusing on discovery, decisions, and execution... and once that’s been determined, I will commit, deliver and assess the effectiveness,” said Davis. According to Gartner, “By 2025, 70 percent of virtual customer assistant and virtual agent assistant projects that lack integration to knowledge management systems will fail to meet their customer satisfaction and operational cost-reduction goals.” With utility companies like Memphis Light, Gas and Water struggling to maintain normal operations, is it too soon to shift to digital services and data management software or is this the perfect time to improve the process and train new software to new employees?