Using Power Outages to Increase Customer Satisfaction
In an article summarizing a recent J.D. Power and Associates report, MarketWatch.com noted that overall satisfaction of residential customers with their electric utility has increased from 2009 to 2010. In addition to a decrease in customer-reported power outages, customers who do experience outages seem to be satisfied with their utility’s handling of outages.
Power outages create a unique circumstance for a utility: a situation that has the potential to incite much frustration among customers, yet also an opportunity to actually improve overall customer satisfaction. Jeff Conklin of J.D. Power and Associates explains that although a “negative impact on satisfaction” can result from power outages, “utility providers who manage these incidents properly” may be able to increase their customer satisfaction. How should utilities properly manage their power outages? Part of the solution is “providing sufficiently detailed information about the outage” according to Conklin.
In today’s technologically-advanced society, most utility customers are accustomed to using their computers and phones to access information and news as well as communicate with both businesses and their social networks. iFactor’s Storm Center and Notifi products allow utilities to communicate with their customers using web and mobile channels. If customers are reaching for their phones and laptops to interact with their banks, schools, retailers, and other companies, why not provide them with outage information through the same avenue?
Tags: Notifi, Storm Center
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September 1, 2010 at 2:50 pm
[...] other iFactor blog articles have noted, communicating effectively with customers has a profoundly positive impact on customer [...]