100 likes | 258 Views
Kentucky Utilities. The Customer Perspective. Customer Service Cartoon…. Would you like to wait? . ‘ “Customers first. Energy that lasts .” . Kentucky Utilities (KU) History. KU is a wholly-owned subsidiary of E.ON U.S (a diversified energy services company)
E N D
Kentucky Utilities The Customer Perspective
Customer Service Cartoon… Would you like to wait?
‘“Customers first. Energy that lasts.” Kentucky Utilities (KU) History KU is a wholly-owned subsidiary of E.ON U.S (a diversified energy services company) E.ON US Vision: to become the Midwest's leading power and gas company. Principal part of their US mission is customer satisfaction. • An electric utility company in Lexington, Kentucky, serving customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia (under the name Old Dominion Power - ODP). • KU serves over 485,00 electric customers in Kentucky
My Recent Experience with KU • Communication Medium: work phone, 1800 number • After several automated messages, I select the business service option in order to get in touch with a customer service representative. • “all customer service representatives are busy helping other customers…” • I hold for 25 minutes listening to broken jazz music • A resident walks through the clubhouse and I have to go assist him. The encounter lasts only 2 minutes • I missed the customer service representative. The CSR answered the phone 2 minutes out 30 I was away from my desk. • I redial. Process repeats itself. Finally, I get in touch with someone. • I request an electricity transfer for a specific apartment. Representative can’t locate the apartment—attempts to convince me that it doesn’t exist. • Finally, she completes the request. I ask for a confirmation through fax. • I receive the confirmation the next day, but it has a wrong transfer date.
KU’s Core Values and strategy Key Strategy Components: • Maintain excellent customer satisfaction • Develop and transfer best practices throughout the company Core Values: • Social Responsibility • Customer Orientation • Drive for Excellent Performance • Teamwork
What does KU’s Web site say? • SERVICE AREAS IN KENTUCKY • According to the Web site, they’ve built their “reputation on providing safe, reliable energy with award-winning customer service.” • And through employees' unwavering commitment to the concept of "Customers first. Energy that lasts.“
KU’s Weaknesses from my Perspective • KU failed to fit the role of their marketing structure and their slogan: a)how are customers first, when it is impossible to get to a live person in a timely manner? • KU did not demonstrate teamwork from my perspective. a)Teamwork is defined as “Cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal.” As a customer, I didn’t get a sense that teamwork is a core value to this company since work efficacy seemed poor and service slow. • KU failed to demonstrate the drive for excellent performance: a)difficulty locating the apartment in the system b)scheduling the transfer on the wrong date. • KU did not meet my customer satisfaction as defined by their core values: a)I was on hold for 30 minutes each time. b)I had to call a total of three times to successfully complete the transfer (one time I didn’t get through, second time the transfer date was wrong, and third time, I finally accomplished the transfer.
Suggestions for Improvement • Hire and train employees to exceed customer expectations in order to get aligned with the corporate mission, e.g. through customer engagement sessions that mimic real life CSR scenarios. • Regularly review the speed of customer service as well as quality of service, e.g., through a secret shopper program that rates CSRs on clear objectives. • Design a feedback site where customers can go and rate their service and discuss their experience with KU—utilize the feedback site as a primary platform for customer service tracking and improvements. Have a tracking system for the reviews that links the review with the CSR—base raises and company reviews on customer reviews. • Carefully monitor the CSR to call volume ratio to ensure coverage especially during peak times, i.e., when bills are due. • Increase consumer education about KU’s online service in order to decrease call volume. Make the Web site more user friendly and offer a variety of online services for both business and home consumers.
The End Questions? Comments?