1、 CREATING LINKS TO LOVENEW ENERGY CONSUMERActivating the connectedenergy experienceThe case for becoming a Living BusinessCatching up with consumersReimagining CX for valueHow to gain consumer love Shaping the connected energy experience578911CONTENTSNEW ENERGY CONSUMER:CREATING LINKS TO LOVE2NEW EN
2、ERGY CONSUMER:CREATING LINKS TO LOVE2As the energy value chain becomes more decentralized,digital and fragmented,energy providers must create a more vibrant,connected customer experience(CX).Our latest New Energy Consumer research found that understanding and improving CX is at the heart of value cr
3、eation in the new energy ecosystem.A survey of nearly 70,000 customers across 42 brands worldwide,including36 energy provider brands,found that customers in competitive markets who rated their CX as“high”are 20 percent more likely to stay with their current brand,37 percent more likely to recommend
4、their provider and 22 percent more satisfied.Accentures multiyear New Energy Consumer research program has shown that consumers are now more energy-aware than ever.They are seeking more compelling value propositions.They want new,open and collaborative relationships with their energy providers.Above
5、 all,a growing number of consumers are demanding a connected energy experience(see Figure 1).FIGURE 1.NEW ENERGY CONSUMER RESEARCH PROGRAM:LATEST HEADLINES FROM OUR MOST RECENT RESEARCH.42%of active digital users feel their energy provider did not meet expectations with digital channels.73%would cho
6、ose a digital-only service for a discount on their energy bill.71%would allow their utility to share their data with a third party.65%of switchers are comfortable for their energy provider to gather additional personal information to offer more personalized offers and experiences.DIGITAL MINDSETDATA
7、 AS CURRENCYPERSONALIZATION SCALEOPEN TO ALTERNATIVE PROVIDERSSIMPLICITY IS KINGAS-A-SERVICE MENTALITYWE-CENTRISM76%would use a digital agent to learn about new products and services.80%value personalization for any new products and services offered by their providers.80%would consider purchasing el
8、ectricity,energy-efficient products or related services from alternative providers.82%would be willing to buy additional products and services if they were personalized.61%are interested in an online marketplace to sell the electricity they produce to their neighborhood.Nearly 50%are interested in c
9、ommunity and solar leasing programs rather than purchasing.In the new energy ecosystem,the customer side of the value chain is where to build new value.Creating a connected energy experience is how to deliver that value.NEW ENERGY CONSUMER:CREATING LINKS TO LOVE3Theres good reason to give consumers
10、what they want.Our analysis suggests that much of future growth will likely come further downstream through new energy retail products and services and new ways of delivering value to consumers.Possibilities include distributed generation and electric vehicle products and related services,as well as
11、 adjacent markets for connected buildings and cities.Our analysis suggests that the global market for connected energy products and services could reach$240 billion by 2023 at an overall growth rate of nearly 15 percent CAGR.Meanwhile,the definition of an energy consumerand the role of energy retail
12、 and customer serviceis fundamentally changing.Energy providers need to nurture two-way relationships addressing a broad set of needs.And the need is urgent,as new market entrants,industry convergence and even consumers themselves are disrupting the energy ecosystem.25%through the introduction of ne
13、w revenue opportunities.While energy retail typically accounts for about 10 percent of total industry revenue,Accenture predicts by 2030 it will rise to aboutNEW ENERGY CONSUMER:CREATING LINKS TO LOVE4THE CASE FOR BECOMING A LIVING BUSINESSOur research found that Living Businesses are characterized
14、by their vitality(see Figure 2);in other words,high-vitality businesses demonstrate strengths in five capability sets:Targeting core and disruptive growth initiatives that fuel continuous innovation.Against this backdrop,energy providers cannot stand still or cling to old ways of operating and servi
15、ng customers.To stay relevant to consumers,they need more than just good customer data and technology and more than strong marketing,sales and service.To become hyper-relevant to consumers,they need to reshape themselves into what Accenture calls a“Living Business.”In Accentures Living Business stud
16、y,nearly 70 percent of all utilities executives surveyed acknowledged that their business needs“a much more iterative,dynamic and agile approach to doing business compared to three years ago.”They know they need a new,customer-centric mindset that inspires different behaviors and leads to fundamenta
17、lly better performance.1Living Businesses continuously evaluate and adopt new capabilities to be more agile,responsive and innovative.By studying these companies across industries,Accenture has uncovered that Living Businesses are three times more likely to achieve above-average revenue and profit g
18、rowth.Whats more,our research has unveiled a formula for companies that want to evolve into a Living Business.Designing products and services as hyper-relevant platforms that reflect vision and purpose.Building,prototyping and scaling new and innovative experiences across a range of engagement chann
19、els and enabling live feedback.Scaling a broad and essential set of ecosystem partners and increasing their ability to reach their market potential through platforms,partnerships and alliances.Rewiring culture and workforces by infusing and powering a mindset that keeps customers at the core.32451NE
20、W ENERGY CONSUMER:CREATING LINKS TO LOVE5CASE IN POINT:ARCHITECTING A CONNECTED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AT PUGET SOUND ENERGY 90%of high-vitality utilities(vs.62%of all other utilities)act on insights derived from customer analytics90%of high-vitality utilities(vs.64%of all other utilities)use the techn
21、ology platforms that will best drive relevant customer experiences94%of high-vitality utilities(vs.71%of all other utilities)ensure that customer data moves seamlessly and securely across organizations/partnersUtilities with high vitality leverage customer platforms to drive customer centricity:Puge
22、t Sound Energy(PSE),a North American energy provider,is actively building a new connected customer experience.PSE is radically transforming the customer experience by creating digital channels that enhance existing services,introducing new services and offering innovative solutions to better anticip
23、ate and meet the needs of their customers.To succeed,PSE is focusing its customer-centric strategy on key customer trust points for the moments that matter along the customer journey such as initiating new service,paying a bill and receiving alerts or notifications.They began by identifying five key
24、 billing and outage processes they knew would improve the customer experience and reduce calls to customer service agents.PSE rearchitected the customer experience foundation,making it easier for customers to do business with them,to meet the demands of its growing digital-savvy and energy-aware cus
25、tomer base and remain competitive in a rapidly changing utility environment.The overall program started with“getting the basics right”by investing in a multiyear Digital Customer Transformation program aimed at:Providing accurate and consistent information no matter how customers contact PSE.Deliver
26、ing a better and more integrated customer experience across channels and across functions including customer service,operations,supply chain,energy efficiency and all support teams.Anticipating customers needs,through their preferred communication channel(s)informing and offering customers products
27、and services they care about,such as offering business customers a Green Direct Program,where 100 percent of energy use comes from local renewable sources.To do so,PSE deployed a highly scalable cloud platform and integration layer to provide customers with a world-class self-service experience,buil
28、ding the capability to provide more real-time information,integrate customer self-service capabilities,and create a dynamic and productive work environment that fosters innovation and continuous improvement.Among other things,PSE has upgraded and enhanced the interactive voice response(IVR),redesign
29、ed and implemented a new customer mobile app,designed and released a centralized customer communication gateway and re-platformed their corporate website and customer portal.The new website and portal will deliver personalized customer experiences based on the customer journey and proactively provid
30、e real-time data that can be shared across the other digital channels to create a more seamless customer experience.PSE is already seeing strong results.Customers are migrating to the redesigned channels,resulting in decreased call volumes,improved self-service rates and enhanced customer experience
31、s across digital channels.PSE now has a flexible,scalable foundation that provides the ability to quickly adapt to changing customer experience needs.Early wins focused on IVR,billing and collections improvements netted an increase of over 13 percent in self-service and over 7 percent decrease in ca
32、ll center volumes.As further phases of the program are deployed,PSE anticipates further increasing self-service,decreasing call volumes and continuing to improve the customer experience.NEW ENERGY CONSUMER:CREATING LINKS TO LOVE6*based on 120 interviewsSource:Accenture Living Business Research,2018,
33、.High-vitality energy providers are:85%more likely to grow profits faster than peers24%more likely to grow revenue faster than peers37%more likely to be prepared to endure industry disruptions36%more likely to outperform peers at innovating compelling new customer experiences45%more likely to outper
34、form peers at verifying seamless,secure movement of customer data34%more likely to be adept at maximizing the relevance of products,services and experiences14%of energy providersYet high vitality is rareFIGURE 2.LINK BETWEEN HIGH VITALITY AND HIGH PERFORMANCE.Becoming a Living Business is the founda
35、tion for supporting a connected energy experience.CATCHING UP WITH CONSUMERSCentral to transformation to a Living Business,CX has become more important than ever in shaping success in the new energy ecosystem.As such,energy providers have already made CX investments.Yet many initiatives are not gene
36、rating the intended growth or competitive advantage.Nor are providers able to track and analyze the impact of CX investments over time.Why?Quite simply,energy consumers expectations are changing more quickly than energy providers can address them.Whats more,in many cases,CX are siloed experiences du
37、e to operations misalignment and unrealized data integration.THE RX FOR CXThere are some painful CX truths for energy providers.But first,the good news:Tremendous opportunity abounds for energy providers to set and capture value through CX.Now,the challenge:With customer expectations continuously ev
38、olving and increasing,it is very difficult for individual energy providers to get ahead.Providers invest in CX initiatives to engage customers,strengthen relationships and,ultimately,grow their businesses.Energy providers must not only meet but quickly adapt to,enrich and exceed consumers needs and
39、expectations by a significant margin.Take Nike as an example:the company drives customer and digital experiences by centralizing its connection to consumers.Nike excels at using leading-edge technologies to enhance customer experiences by linking their partners to their own operations.The company is
40、 increasingly using apps such as NikePlus,Nike Run Club and Nike Training Club to extend relevant Nike offers to end consumers,but also for an increasing array of external Nike partners.These actions unlock new customer data while advancing the Nike brand.Nike has also united several previously silo
41、ed channels through which customers connect with the company.These moves have increased the companys ability to gather and react to customer feedback,while providing more comprehensive,streamlined customer experiences.4 CX leaders are empowering consumers to design personalized customer journeys by
42、striving toward endless channel availability and a seamless cross-channel experiences.And energy providers must look toward personalization as a key lever in the connected energy experience.However,these investments often perpetuate an endless game of catchup to please a customer base that may never
43、 be fully satisfied.Indeed,overall customer satisfaction has remained steady over the past three years.3 Satisfaction with various service channels(such as online chat,phone support and in-store help)has remained remarkably steady.Whats more,over the same period,customer channel usage still has not
44、shifted significantly to digital channels.54%of consumers consider their energy providers CX on par with that of other energy providers.38%consider their energy experience to be on par with industry leaders,such as Amazon,Google and Netflix.5 YET JUST NEW ENERGY CONSUMER:CREATING LINKS TO LOVE7REIMA
45、GINING CX FOR VALUEAcross industries,the future of a brand has become the experience:Its how to engage,sell,service and reward consumers.CX is the summation of every interaction a consumer has with the energy provider.And it requiresa pivot in how the energy provider strategizes,prioritizes and orga
46、nizes.But before an energy provider can reimagine CX,itmust gain a clear picture of how to measure its current customer experience.Accenture Interactive and Fjord have crafted a novel approach not only to designing a brand experience,but also measuring consumers affinity for it across physical and d
47、igital encounters.This leading indicator reveals how energy consumers feel about a brandempowering energy providers to diagnose and prioritize areas of improvement and begin to unlock trapped value in consumer relationships.Using this multidimensional approach,companies can measure how their custome
48、rs feel about digital and physical experiences,including the most important service moments of the brand and customer journey.The insights measure peoples engagement with services.It also identifies the highs and lows of a customers relationship with a service and highlights actionable opportunities
49、 for energy providers to improve CX.As energy providers develop new strategies oriented to connect energy products and services,brand awareness and overall brand attributes are becoming more important than ever.Through its unique focus on the importance of CX,the research insights anchor the entire
50、design and innovation process and empower brands to target specific,measurable interventions.The research established six dimensions for measuring customers feelings toward CXdimensions that systematically explain what increases specific customer experiences:Authenticconveys distinct personality and