Andy Mack, software services director at utilities customer engagement specialist, Echo Managed Services takes a look at at how water companies can improve their communications with customers at vital touchpoints.

Andy Mack: For water companies, billing is a vital customer touchpoint as communication with customers can be less frequent than other sectors. Therefore, bills must be clear, correct and concise. As a large proportion of water customers are only billed once or twice per year, and contact outside of this can be limited, the bill and associated communications are also opportunities to engage better with customers about the issues they find important.

We recently conducted a study into the topic, The Secrets of Better Billing, which found that more than 2.5 million households are being unfairly charged for their water and almost 8% of customers received an inaccurate bill in the last 12 months.

The research also found that a similar number of customers have wrongly received a bill after vacating their property, meaning almost 5 million households could have been subject to wrong bills in the last year alone.

Findings like these can turn what should be a positive communication touchpoint into a negative one, leading to a fall in customer satisfaction.

Billing issue implications

Our survey demonstrates that customers are understandably sensitive to billing issues - 68% of customers we surveyed stated that billing issues would negatively affect their relationship with their water supplier. The latest Institute of Customer Service UK Customer Satisfaction Index also highlighted billing as the number one customer satisfaction detractor in the water sector.

Whilst billing issues may not impact on loyalty and supplier choice in the same way as they might in a competitive market, there is still a real impact in terms of customer satisfaction. This may become more apparent with the introduction of C-MeX, with previously unnoticed frustrations revealed through the new customer experience survey.

So, finding ways to both improve billing and resolve issues quickly will no doubt be high on every water company’s agenda.

Resolving issues

However, our study and research has highlighted a range of negative experiences and frustrations for customers when it comes to the resolution of billing issues. Just 16% of those we surveyed said that their provider was keen to listen and quickly correct any problems – with almost a third of customers neutral or unhappy about the way that their provider deals with billing issues.

More than a quarter (26%) of consumers have previously had a negative experience when facing an issue with their bill, stating that it was difficult to get in touch with their provider, that their provider would not listen to them, or that they didn’t seem to want to take responsibility for their errors. These negative experiences when attempting to resolve an issue simply compound the customer’s existing frustrations.

Enabling better service

Ensuring customer service teams are empowered and well-equipped to deal with billing concerns is therefore crucial to ensure consumers can easily access the support and help they may need.

This requires the right systems, tools that enable and not hinder great service, and support customer service teams to get it right first time. Ensuring employees are empowered and well-equipped to support customers through a ‘single view’ of the customer; with all the history and information they need at hand to be able to resolve the customer’s problem and get it right first time, is crucial.

Issue prevention

One in seven consumers surveyed had received a higher than expected bill without warning in the last year. This issue – one which frustrates customers – can be simple to fix in many cases with the right tools and technology.

Investing in intuitive software which can spot and alert customer service teams to an unexpected spike in customer consumption can support a more proactive approach to service, enabling them to contact the customer to investigate the issue, rather than simply sending out what might be an inaccurate bill, that the customer may then dispute.

An opportunity for change and innovation to meet regulatory expectations for AMP 7 and beyond

Bills and billing processes provide a real opportunity for water companies to innovate to answer the regulatory expectations set out for AMP 7 and beyond. This goes beyond clear and accurate bills, and involves taking steps to become more digitally enabled, offering customers more choice in how they receive and pay for their water bills.

Bills can also help water companies to improve transparency by offering customers more information about where their money goes and how it is being spent. There is also an opportunity to drive more tailored and personalised engagement, an important area for improvement, given that 51% of consumers told us that they feel like their water supplier treats them as just another number. With customer expectations around bill personalisation low, there is a real opportunity to delight customers with content and messages matching their own specific needs and preferences.

Of course, all of this relies on a billing system designed for enriched customer experience and ease of change, something that the legacy systems of yesterday are no longer able to achieve.

From passive to positive

It’s not all bad news; survey respondents rated their overall water billing experiences as 7.5/10 on average, with the relationship being more of a passive one than a negative one. But, there is clear scope for water companies to improve the billing experience and journey – striving to surprise and delight customers with a positive experience, rather than just settling for contentment.

As new technologies and forward-thinking companies drive improvements across all aspects of customer service - including billing - those that choose not to invest may see their ratings fall. Consumers increasingly compare their water billing experiences against the service they receive from other innovative service providers that have already embraced contemporary technology.

Water companies should ensure their systems and people are ready for better billing through the next AMP to support the delivery of great service, enhanced customer satisfaction and higher C-MeX scores.