Despite huge investments in self-serve channels, new technologies and digital transformation programs, many energy providers are struggling to innovate beyond electronic billing and digital self-service. Energy providers have hit digital plateaus. It's unfortunate timing, as the EY Navigating the Energy Transition Customer Survey shows that energy consumers' desire for digital energy experiences is on the rise. This behavior is mirrored in consumers' adoption of digital services in nearly every aspect of their lives. To truly unlock the value of digital and build trusted relationships with their customers, energy providers need to embrace three key steps:
1. Redesign customer experiences with a new ethos: "Technology when you want it, a person when you don't."
The EY survey shows that, for the first time, more than half of US consumers prefer digital channels for all primary interactions with their energy provider. Furthermore, the generation gaps where older consumers once preferred non-digital channels have largely disappeared. And across all interactions, consumers reported an average net ease score of 82% for digital channels vs. 64% for non-digital channels.
While consumers have gone decidedly digital, they don't want self-serve for everything. For interactions such as making a complaint, managing an emergency or resolving an issue, consumers want a human touch. Similarly, when faced with a problem using an energy provider's digital services (an issue 62% of consumers say they have had), the majority want to talk to a person, either through click-to-call capabilities or by directly phoning the contact center.
The historical focus on digital channel shift at all costs is not the experience consumers want. Instead, a 360-degree view of interactions across channels, seamless hand-offs from self-serve and virtual agents to real agents, and strategically orchestrated omnichannel journeys are critical to meeting the preferences of today's consumers.
2. Create seamless digital experiences for the emerging energy "omnisumer."
Have you heard of the "omnisumer?" This new, more active and engaged energy consumer is a person or business that participates in a dynamic energy ecosystem across multiple places, solutions and providers.
Omnisumers are on the rise, and they will fundamentally change consumers' relationships with their energy providers. Interest and adoption of a broader range of new energy products and services, including self-generation, electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage, are increasing. In the US, 92% of consumers have at least one new energy product in their home, 86% of consumers are interested in generating their own electricity, 19% are interested in purchasing an EV and 17% are interested in energy storage solutions.
Creating seamless, simple, but sophisticated digital experiences will be critical to meeting the needs of the omnisumer. This means taking an enterprise approach to managing customer relationships and creating digital customer experiences, starting in areas that span traditional utility boundaries, such as new connections and EV charging. For many energy providers enabling this type of experience also requires digitalization of internal operations leveraging AI and machine learning to help automate processes and enable both customers and employees.
The new many-to-many digital energy experience also creates new cybersecurity challenges. According to the latest EY Global Information Security Survey (GISS), more than half (53%) of Power & Utilities cybersecurity leaders have never been as concerned as they are now about their ability to manage the threat. As the consumer energy ecosystem grows with more devices and providers, so too does the surface area vulnerable to attacks.
3. Digitize the employee experience to improve the customer experience.
The consumer arena isn't the only area where technology has leaped forward among energy providers in recent years. The most recent EY Utilities Digital Transformation and the Workforce Survey found 87% of utilities are using cloud computing, and 62% are using AI — with many planning to expand their use. But adopting technologies alone is not enough to deliver tangible outcomes. Energy providers need to truly "be digital" — embracing a digital workforce and leveraging technology investments to transform the employee experience as well.
Investments in the employee experience pay significant dividends in the customer experience. In fact, EY research on the employee experience gap shows 76% of employees say their organizations' employee experience initiatives have improved their ability to provide a good customer experience.
Intelligent agent assist tools, next best action, mobile field enablement, real-time coaching solutions and on-demand learning platforms can help to empower employees, reduce costs and enhance the customer experience. Digital enablement tools are increasingly important as agents take on more complex requests, support new rates and energy solutions, and help drive the adoption of energy efficiency and demand management programs.
Delivering the digital dividend.
Meeting consumers' digital demands is a challenge, but it is integral to tackling the complexities energy providers face as workforces transform and the energy transition accelerates. An organization-wide focus on transforming the customer experience — driven by the workforce, powered by consumer insights and enabled by digital technology — will propel energy providers toward success.
Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Ernst & Young LLP or other members of the global EY organization