Utility Customer Engagement That Builds Goodwill and Boosts Profits

Relay utility customers have seen a 33% reduction in inbound service calls, a 40% decrease in the direct mail pieces they have to send, and record high NPS scores. Those results are symptoms of a more important, long-term business objective— increased trust and loyalty.

It’s hard to generate excitement around pure voltage — but utility customer engagement is what keeps customers satisfied and loyal. Social media and targeted outreach have trained customers to expect a world that’s curated entirely for them. To get the customer retention you’re looking for, and the lifetime value that comes with it, you need to deliver personalized, timely messages that guide customers through critical moments, reminding them of the value of your service while building a trusting relationship that keeps them around.

That’s why Relay recently attended the Energy Executive Forum — to show how easy great utility customer engagement can be with the right approach. In front of industry leaders and innovative startups, we presented the key factors that make utility customer engagement effective. The growing intersection between great CX and higher revenues has forced industries not known for being on the forefront of digital – like energy and utilities – to realize that offering a superior experience is no longer a “when” discussion but a “how” one. So, we showed off the ways Relay can help utility providers automate, personalize and deliver critical communications without the long lead times that make responsive customer engagement so difficult.

If you weren’t able to make the conference, you can catch up on the insights and innovations through the videos here— and watch a conversation with our own Chief Revenue Officer, Jay Lavin (just scroll down to the Fireside Chats section).

Energy leaders are savvy — they want to see the results. That’s why they trust Relay to help them achieve their customer engagement goals. Relay utility customers have seen a 33% reduction in inbound service calls, a 40% decrease in the direct mail pieces they have to send, and record high NPS scores. Those results are symptoms of a more important, long-term business objective— increased trust and loyalty.

Take one of our Texas-based energy providers. When Hurricane Harvey knocked out power to many of its customers, we helped the team craft an immediate message on how to get electricity back, and a follow-up message on how billing would be handled in the wake of the catastrophe. Those messages reached 40,000 customers in the middle of a crisis and reduced inbound phone calls to the electric utility customer service center. Perhaps more importantly, though, they created the kind of relationship that leads to lifelong loyalty. That level of electric utility customer satisfaction can’t be bought, and it can make all the difference to your customer lifetime value.

Relay works for a few of reasons. One, our large roster of energy clients keeps us aware of the macro-level customer experience trends in utilities. Two, our platform integrates easily with existing systems, letting you achieve a level of personalization that deepens relationships. Three, we work closely with you from the very beginning to create a digital engagement strategy that works for your utility customers.

Our customer success managers help each Relay client identify the opportunities to reach their customers with personalized messages that improve the utility customer experience. Then, our customer engagement platform supports you as you build a campaign, set triggers and schedule everything to send automatically.

That ease of use is how we were able to deliver 40,000 messages in the immediate wake of Hurricane Harvey. The personalization is how we helped one energy client use Relay to re-engage customers who hadn’t responded to seven separate outreach attempts across email, direct mail and phone — and convince an extra 16 percent of them to renew, increasing revenue.

Want to see how your competitors are using Relay for electric utility customer engagement? Click here to request a demo.