Half of
utilities
customers
want more
frequent
communication

Half of utilities customers want more frequent communication.

Our new report discovers that 48% of consumers – and 63% of under 25s – complain that their utilities provider doesn’t communicate with them enough.

New research in our report The Digital Customer: How utilities brands can power up the customer experience reveals that utilities customers want more contact with their providers. In a survey of 1000 gas and electricity customers from across the UK, it was revealed that:

• Almost half of the fuel customers surveyed (48%) are eager to receive information from companies more frequently.
• Digital customer experience is in demand, but many consumers still value traditional service and communication – more than one in four (26%) want providers to take a ‘hybrid’ digital and postal approach to comms.
• Across demographics, consumers are keen for more personalised, relevant marketing communication from utilities brands, with 50% overall feeling what they receive currently is too impersonal.
• There are key differences in attitudes and behaviours between different groups – for instance, 63% of under-25s complain companies don’t communicate with them enough, compared to 48% of over-55s who say this.

Whilst it wasn’t the main focus of the research, the survey also uncovered that a huge 93% of customers are anticipating some difficulty in paying their gas and electric bills due to price rises. With this in mind, fostering a good relationship with their customers should be front of mind for utilities providers to ease the burden where possible.

Ben Young, our Development Director for Transactional and Regulatory Communications, said:

“It’s really interesting to discover that utilities customers would like more communication from their providers. It affirms the work we do at Go Inspire – customers are happy to be communicated to frequently, as long as the information is targeted and relevant.

“Particularly against the current backdrop of ever-increasing energy prices and the resulting uncertainty for customers, transparency is absolutely key in this sector. We would encourage providers to place focus on their data quality to fine-tune their personalisation efforts.”

You can download the full report here: http://goinspire.co.uk/white-papers/the-digital-customer