Optimising customer services
DSOs in the Netherlands have been working with a central online platform to communicate with market parties on consumer requests. However, not all customer service processes run smoothly, especially when it comes to issues concerning smart meters. Due to the novelty of the product, DSOs encounter new issues and do not solve them in the same way. Our subsidiary company Ciratum was asked to set up a unified and customer-centric process with all DSOs.
Addressing smart meter issues to the satisfaction of customers
The energy transition requires more transparency and flexibility in energy demand and supply. Smart meters play a crucial role in this transition by providing insights into energy consumption and helping to balance fluctuations in energy supply from wind and solar power.
DSOs have been working with a central platform that allows market parties to submit requests and inquiries. However, a growing number of smart meter-related issues were not being handled effectively through this platform. Smart meter malfunctions were not being addressed consistently across operators. Which left Energy suppliers, in turn, unable to provide customers with clear answers. It was time for DSOs to standardise their processes to improve response times and consistency of service.
Aligning all DSOs through a step-by-step approach
Ciratum was asked to set up a unified and customer-centric process across all 7 DSOs and several large energy suppliers. Our process and service innovation experts followed a 4-step approach:
- Orientation phase: Our experts conducted extensive interviews with the DSOs’ internal process experts, consultants, managers, and service staff to gather insights into the processes. The roles of the different Energy suppliers was also mapped.
- Customer journey mapping: Identified bottlenecks in handling smart meter malfunctions through an end-to-end customer service process flow analysis. Customer requests coming in through the central portal weren’t always handled the same way, leading to customer dissatisfaction.
- Improvement actions: Recommended internal process changes for all DSOs to improve visibility and accessibility of status information.
- Implementation phase: Integration of outage information into the central platform reduced the need for additional inquiries.
A process running smoothly without unnecessary interventions
The project led to improved internal communication and visibility of service status information. It streamlined processes, reducing unnecessary inquiries and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Direct access to outage information for energy suppliers, has reduced the need for manual interventions, which enhanced efficiency in handling service requests across all DSOs.
Furthermore, ongoing IT-system integrations are being developed to improve data visibility. Service request handling times are expected to continue to decrease significantly upon full implementation.
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