Today in Orlando, utilities are gathering at the EUCI 12th Annual Billing Conference to discuss the latest developments and improvements in customer billing. The speakers include utilities of all sizes, from coast to coast, and the focus, of course, is ultimately about customer satisfaction.
Orlando may have been spared the kind of weather this winter that has lit up call centers across the U.S. and Canada, challenging customer satisfaction well beyond the monthly billing process. However, most regions have experienced ‘the perfect storm’ of increasing customer expectations simultaneous to severe weather increases. And the summer months have brought challenges, as well.
Not coincidentally, I believe, SAP has seen a huge spike in utilities implementing our market-leading Customer Relationship & Billing solution. We are seeing utilities of all sizes move from their legacy systems to systems that offer the kind of flexibility needed today, to respond to evolving customer demands in the most cost effective manner. SAP announced today a number of utilities that went live recently with solutions that directly improve customer engagement.
Just as sure as more storms and severe weather are brewing across North America, and utility customers will use social media on their mobile devices to share their experiences—not usually positive ones—we will continue to see utilities upgrading their customer systems.
If you’re a utility evaluating your options, I’d like to personally invite you to visit us at CS Week, May 6-9, in San Antonio, TX. We also just aired this live webcast that you can listen to: Focusing on the Customer - A Multi Channel Approach to Customer Service. (You’ll have to complete a quick registration form, but then the webcast comes right up.)
One final word if you’re looking for new customer service software: you’d be in good company if you selected SAP, as more than 660 utilities are using the SAP customer service solution today, including over 380 municipal utilities, and more than 135 water utilities.
Let me know if you have any questions as you are evaluating. I’ll be happy to help you get your questions answered.