August 17 2017
Jeffrey Daigle, Customer Experience
Social Media: An Omnichannel Pillar
E Source Web Conference
Sarah Howie, Marketing & Communications
Charles Framularo, Market Research
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 2
Introductions
Sarah Howie
Practice Director,
Marketing & Communications
303-345-9166
Jeffrey Daigle
Associate Director,
Customer Experience
303-345-9183
Charles Framularo
Senior Manager,
Market Research
303-345-9210
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 3
Evolution of Utility Brand
Energy partner
Enhanced
customer
experience
Energy options,
Demand-side management
Customer service and billing options
Basic utility service
Advocacy
Loyalty
Trust
Engagement
Satisfaction
© 2017 E Source | www.esource.com 4
Advocacy Has a Clear Impact on Customer Value
Customers who advocate or promote …
Buy more
27% more than
detractors
Try more
8 times more
likely to try new
offerings
Buy again
5 times more likely to
repurchase from the
company
Tell more people
refer 3 times more
people to a company
Forgive more
If something goes
wrong, they’re 7
times more likely to
forgive the company
Stay longer
5 times less likely
to leave a provider
Advocates
Source: Temkin Group., Forrester, Accenture, Zurich
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 5
Why Omnichannel?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 6
We believe it’s critical for an omnichannel study to explore both the utility
and customer perspectives. E Source pursued a unique approach to
combine two survey audiences into a single study.
Study Background
Residential customers
Voice of the customer (VOC)
Utilities
Voice of the utility (VOU)
+
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 7
Both customers and utilities completed surveys about
eight customer-facing channels:
1. Website
2. Email
3. Phone/live agent
4. Phone/interactive
voice response (IVR)
5. Online chat
6. Text message
7. Social media
8. Mobile app
Study Background (cont.)
The utility audience completed an
additional survey about overall
omnichannel strategy.
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 8
VOC Audience
Representative sample of 802 residential customers
in the US and Canada
Survey fielded during summer 2015
Age of Residential Customer Respondents
13
12
9
24
25
17
0 20 40 60 80 100
65 or older
55 to 64
45 to 54
35 to 44
25 to 34
18 to 24
Percentage of respondents
Age
ran
ge
© E SourceBase: Total sample (n = 802). Question S1_5: What is your age range?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 9
VOU Audience
Omnichannel survey Number of utilities
Website 47
Email 42
Phone / live agent 44
Phone / IVR 46
Online chat 44
Text message 45
Mobile app 42
Social media 46
Omnichannel strategy 42
North American utilities participated in total51
Utility Respondents’ Fuel Type
Dual41%
Electric49%
Gas10%
© E SourceBase: Total omnichannel survey sample (n = 51 utilities).
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 10
Same customer experience
regardless of channel
How Does Your Utility Define an Omnichannel Experience?
A holistic view of
the customer
through multiple
channels
A transaction that happens
across multiple channels in a
seamless and consistent way
Full integration of
customer data and
experience across all
channels and devices
Information is available
to customers in real-
time across all channels
Align … individual customer
expectations across multiple
channels to create a consistent,
seamless and exceptional
experience
Communicate information customers
find valuable using the channels
they prefer
E Source definition: “A holistic approach to provide the customer with a seamless
and integrated experience regardless of channel”
Utility-provided definitions are linked by themes of consistency, preferences,
seamlessness, and integration
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 11
Moving from Multichannel to Omnichannel
Base: All omnichannel strategy survey respondents (n = 42 utilities). Question S2_10: Does your utility provide an omnichannel experience for your customers? For the
purpose of this survey, n omnichannel experience is a holistic approach to provide the customer with a seamless and integrated experience regardless of the channel.
Single channel Multichannel Cross-channel Omnichannel
2% 71%24% 2%
To move toward an omnichannel approach, it’s not
necessary to ensure that every interaction is available across
every channel
For each type of interaction, guide customers toward the
channels that are most effective for completing the task
quickly and easily with your utility
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 12
Customer Channel Usage in the Past Three Months
0
5
6
8
7
19
19
30
48
1
17
22
23
32
42
55
59
65
0 20 40 60 80 100
Other, please specify:
Text message
Social media
Mobile app
Online chat
Phone - IVR
Phone - Live agent
Website
Percentage of respondents
Cha
nnel
Any company (n = 802) Utility (n = 507)
© E SourceBase: Any company includes total sample (n = 802) and utility includes respondents who have interacted with their utility in the past 3 months (n = 507). Question S1_7: In the past 3 months I have interacted with any company via … Check all that apply. Question S1_8: In the past 3 months I have interacted with a company in the following industries via… Note: Percentages total more than 100 percent because respondents were allowed to select more than one response. Respondents that selected not applicable are not included.
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 13
Capturing Utility Customer Information in Real TimeWhich channels are currently integrated to ensure that customer
information is consistent and up to date in real time across the
customer experience? Many utilities are
already integrating
phone and website
channels so that
customer information
is consistent and up
to date
Although email is
widely used among
utilities, only 20
percent of survey
respondents say that
the channel is
integrated
15
5
10
12
20
29
66
76
83
0 20 40 60 80 100
None of our channels are integrated
Online chat
Social media
Text message
Mobile app
Website
Phone - IVR
Phone - Live agent
Percentage of respondents
Cha
nnel
© E SourceBase: Omnichannel strategy survey repsondents providing response (n = 41 utilities). Not all respondents provided an answer to this question. Question S2_19: Which of the following channels are currently integrated to ensure that customer information is consistent and up to date in real time across the customer experience? Note: Percentages total more than 100 percent because respondents were allowed to select more than one response.
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 14
12
14
16
17
20
22
26
29
34
42
51
33
37
27
43
57
35
34
28
25
30
30
26
12
15
8
5
13
10
15
4
2
3
2
12
4
6
1
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Phone - IVR (n = 337)
Email (n = 445)
Website (n = 526)
Text message (n = 140)
Mobile app (n = 190)
Social media (n = 180)
Online chat (n = 256)
Phone - live agent (n = 468)
Percentage of respondents
Cha
nnel
Always Most of the time Some of the time Rarely Never
© E SourceBase: Respondents who have used communication channel to interact with a company in the past 3 months (n varies as shown above). Question S3_6: How often are you typically able to resolve your reason for contact during your first attempt with a company via…
How Often Are Customers Receiving First-Contact Resolution?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 15
Dissatisfaction May Be Alleviated by Moving Toward an Omnichannel Strategy
What are the reasons
that you typically
become dissatisfied
when interacting with
a company?
4
25
29
33
39
42
50
53
55
55
0 20 40 60 80 100
Other, please specify:
Interactions are generic and not personalized to me
Technical issues getting through to the company
The customer service agent had inaccurateinformation
The customer service agent was rude
I had to repeat myself on a single channel
I had to provide the same information across morethan one channel
I had to contact the company multiples times
I was unable to resolve my question / issue
It took too long to resolve my question / issue
Percentage of respondents
Rea
son
© E SourceBase: Respondents who have used more that one channel to interact with a company in the past 3 months (n = 610). Question S12_3: What are the reasons you typically become dissatisfied when interacting with a company? Check all that apply. Note: Percentages total more than 100 percent because respondents were allowed to select more than one response.
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 16
What Does This
Look Like in
Practice?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 17
Oh no! No power!
@Friendlypower #dark
#nothanksgiving
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 18
Oh no! No power!
@Friendlypower #dark
#nothanksgiving
Need outage information?
friendlypwr.com/outages
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 19
Oh no! No power!
@Friendlypower #dark
#nothanksgiving
Same here!
@Friendlypower @OP
#Candlelitdinnerfor17
Did you hear anything
yet? @OP
@Friendlypower
#Waitinginthemoonlight
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 20
How Do You Deal
With a Cacophony
of Tweets?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 21
Respond Quickly
Outage, emergency, or crisis situation inquiries (n = 15 utilities)
Mean = 1.9 hours
Mean = 1.3 hours
Customer service or customer care inquiries (n = 14 utilities)
How quickly can you respond?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 22
13 14 16 9 9 40
0 20 40 60 80 100
Percentage of respondents
Social media
Immediately Within 5 minutes Within 10 minutes Within 20 minutes Within 1 hour 1 hour or more
© E SourceBase: Respondents who have used social media to interact with a company in the past three months (n = 180). Question S3_7: How quickly do you expect your reason for contact to be resolved when interacting with a company in the following ways?
Respond Quickly (cont.)
Expected social media response time
Outage, emergency, or crisis situation inquiries (n = 15 utilities)
Mean = 1.9 hours
Mean = 1.3 hours
Customer service or customer care inquiries (n = 14 utilities)
How quickly can you respond?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 23
If You Can’t Respond Quickly, Let People Know Your Hours
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Consider Aligning to Customer Service Hours
Facebook service hours
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Consider Aligning to Customer Service Hours (cont.)
Twitter service hours
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 26
Avoid Tone-Deaf Responses
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Integrate Social Media into Other Platforms
© 2017 E Source | www.esource.com 28
Key Takeaways
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 29
1. Help me quickly resolve any
question or issue
2. Make sure I don’t need to contact
the company more than once
3. Automatically integrate my
information and interaction history
so I don’t have to repeat myself
From the customer’s perspective, the ultimate goal of your
omnichannel strategy should be to:
Creating a Customer-Focused Utility Omnichannel Strategy
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 30
Questions?
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 31
© 2016 E Source | www.esource.com 32
For More Information
Sarah Howie
Practice Director,
Marketing & Communications
303-345-9166
Jeffrey Daigle
Associate Director,
Customer Experience
303-345-9183
Charles Framularo
Senior Manager,
Market Research
303-345-9210
ES-1700014
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