Executive Advisor
Q: Electric utility residential Customer Satisfaction Studies reveal that residential utility Customer Satisfaction has dropped in recent years. In your opinion, what is causing the drop?
Well, there’s multiple drivers and here’s a couple. One, higher energy costs. Higher energy costs result in higher bills and consumer sentiment is directly related to the price of their bill. And two, grid reliability. How utilities respond to the frequency and duration of unplanned outages directly impacts overall customer satisfaction.
Q: What impact could Generative AI have on Customer Satisfaction?
Generative AI will have a generational impact. That’s not a play on words. That’s the reality of the power of the technology. The positive impact on Customer Satisfaction will be the new norm. Generative AI goes way beyond just accessing content and data, the capabilities help deliver a better customer experience. Most consumers prefer a quick, simple and an easy-effort experience. Generative AI helps make that happen.
Q: What impact could Generative AI have on competitive Gas & Electric markets?
Competitive markets lead to innovation and a sharper focus on creating value for customers. To be clear, competitive markets are designed to create value, not extract customer value. In competitive markets there are plenty of choices for consumers to decide on various price plans & term length along with ‘value add-ons’ for customers like smart home technology, energy efficiency products, home security services, protection plans, etc. In the competitive markets, Generative AI can help consumers shopping for a provider compare companies & make a choice that is best for the consumer’s lifestyle, budget and needs. Once a choice of providers is made AI can help the consumer stay on top of ensuring the choice made continues to be the best option.
Q: What about in markets where consumers don’t have a choice?
In the markets where consumers have no choice of provider, meaning the utility is their only option, there’s still plenty of opportunities for Generative AI in having a positive impact particularly in customer service and the ‘order-to-cash’ process. Volumes of customer interactions and other transactions are high in numbers, even in smaller utilities. Generative AI has an ability to help the utilities be more efficient and deliver a much better experience.
Q: How can retailers in competitive markets, where consumers have the freedom to choose, create a premium customer experience and ensure satisfaction to stay competitive?
There’s a great opportunity here for competitive electricity providers to be helped by Generative AI in segmenting customers and target marketing based on customer preferences, buying signals, etc. There’s also an opportunity for retail electricity providers to become better at forecasting customer acquisition across various sales channels while being proactive in minimizing customer attrition through signals of what’s happening in the wholesale & retail markets.
Q: How much of an effort does it take and what’s the level of difficulty for a utility or competitive retailer to implement Generative AI?
Expect quick win results in 6 weeks from ‘concept to implementation’ for a single use case. A single use case could be implementation of an AI sales advisor, or an AI Assistant improving key business processes such as the customer enrolling or transferring service, inquiring about charges or making a payment, etc.
Q: What’s the typical cost for an implementation?
Of course, the cost varies based on scope however, I think the best way to answer the question is by saying the return on investment is typically within 12 months and for some quick-win use cases as soon as 6 months.