Cogent™ Reports, a division of Market Strategies International, released a list of the 48 utilities it has named as 2014 Utility Customer Champions. Designees were determined based on in-depth responses from 40,000 residential customers of the 127 leading US electric and natural gas utility companies. These results, along with an in-depth analysis of all utilities covered in the study are included in Cogent Reports¡¯ Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™ report that will be published next week.A preview of the report was delivered on Wednesday via webcast to a national audience of over 100 utility executives by Market Strategies Senior Vice President Chris Oberle.
All 48 utilities named Customer Champions ¨C 19 electric utilities, 19 gas utilities, and 10 combination utility providers ¨C received Engaged Customer Relationship (ECR™) index scores of at least 710 (out of a possible 1,000 points).ECR is a composite score that takes into account separate measures for Operational Satisfaction, Product Experience, and Brand Trust. When introducing the new metric earlier this year, Cogent Energy Reports published research proving the impact of its 360-degree customer relationship metric on utility franchise value.
In achieving their status as Utility Customer Champions, utilities had to be among the industry leaders on ECR on building customer trust, achieving operational excellence and offering value-added products and services. The findings showed that customers who trust their utility tend to engage with them more proactively and provide higher ratings in all other areas including when commenting on social media.
¡°While customers certainly appreciate utilities keeping service flowing and being available when issues arise, meeting these expectations are considered table stakes, or just part of what they pay for,¡± said Chris Oberle, author of the report.¡°So, comparing providers on operational excellence alone does not meaningfully separate one utility from another.¡±
Noting that one hallmark of a Utility Customer Champion is a customer base that is more proactive about adopting service programs and supporting management initiatives, Oberle points out that ¡°Consumers like to deal with brands they can trust and perceive as listening and contributing meaningfully to the relationship. Otherwise, they become skeptical of the motives and reasons behind every utility action and they pull back.¡±
Following is a list of utilities that have scored 710 or higher on the ECR™ index to be named 2014 Utility Customer Champions (click here to view larger).
