ATLANTA – Some utilities have invested millions in automated customer service technologies, from outage management systems to advanced call center and CRM applications. Those investments, however, are compromised if the utility’s customer contact data is inaccurate.
Dirty data is the issue at hand in Chartwell’s latest industry report, Ensuring Accurate Customer Data in the Utility Industry. It is not known what percentage of customer contact information is inaccurate in the databases of North American utilities, but most industry experts agree it is substantial. Based on an industry analysis, Chartwell estimates that upwards of 20 million utility accounts nationwide contain inaccurate phone numbers and/or billing addresses.
The problem occurs as energy utilities struggle to capture telephone numbers for new customers and keep up with transient customers who sometimes abandon their billing address or frequently change phone numbers. Studies show that between 70% and 80% of consumers contact their electric utility before they approach the phone company when moving to a new address; therefore no valid telephone number is available.
Ensuring Accurate Customer Data in the Utility Industry contains examples of utilities that have taken strides to clean their customer information, either with vendors or via solo efforts. Industry experts are also interviewed for their knowledge and suggestions on how to meet the challenge.
Many interactive voice response units recognize customers who call their utility by telephone number when, for example, reporting a power outage. If the phone number is inaccurate, customers may be asked for an account number or other alternate form of identification that may or may not be available, and a large percentage of those callers will be transferred to a customer service agent, at which point the benefit of automation – both for the utility and the customer – has been lost.
Ensuring Accurate Customer Data in the Utility Industry is a part of the Chartwell Customer Care Research Series, an ongoing information service that provides utility case studies; topical analysis and research revolving around customer service technologies and management practices in the utility and energy services marketplace. The report is available from Chartwell for $250 or as a part of the subscription series.
For information about the ongoing Research Series or this industry report, please call (800) 432-5879, or (404) 237-9099.
Press contact: Dennis Smith (404) 237-9099.
