It’s not enough for an
energy company to supply a smart meter, for example – if the technology is not supported by help and advice to interpret what it measures, it is unlikely to help a business better manage its
energy consumption.
For many of the new entrants to the energy supply market, better
customer service is key to improving their foothold on the market.
Stuart Brennan, spokesperson for Ecotricity, says customer service is "intrinsic" to his company’s ethos. "Business customers have risen by 32 per cent to 4,947 between September 2010 and 2011, but despite this surge in customer numbers, complaints (as defined by Ofgem) have fallen by 17 per cent to just 0.54 per 1,000 customers, down from 0.65 per 1,000 customers last year.
"Business customers appreciate the fact that when they call into the business number, they speak to a real member of the team (not an automated voice service), who will endeavour to resolve their issue within that call."
Good Energy’s ceo, Juliet Davenport, also emphasises the importance of customer service: "We pride ourselves on offering a personalised customer service, and were voted best electricity supplier in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by
Which? last year," she says.
Impact on 'Big Six’Research by Datamonitor from January 2011, suggested the emergence of new providers is already having a positive impact on the behaviour of the 'Big Six’ in relation to their business customers. The UK Major Energy User Buyer Research, based on interviews with 2,000 businesses spending over £50,000 per year on either gas or power, found that "UK businesses are reaping the rewards of an extremely competitive energy market, as new market entrants and specialist small providers drive up standards and lower costs."
For example, Datamonitor reported that it was the small suppliers Smartestenergy and Haven Power that achieved first and second place respectively for highest customer satisfaction in 2010.
However, as David Mayne, energy market analyst at Datamonitor said at the time: "This has had a knock-on effect, with larger more established players adamant that they are not going to be left behind, and striving to improve their performance. SSE and EDF Energy, in third and fourth place in the rankings table, have shown that this is possible. This is only good news for the end user."
Small suppliers do best
A more recent report by Which?, however, suggests the Big Six still have some way to go in terms of customer satisfaction. Admittedly the article, Energy Complaints, which appears in the February 2012 issue of Which?, focuses on the domestic market, but it found that highest customer satisfaction scores went to smaller suppliers.
Good Energy topped the table with the highest customer score (84 per cent) based on a combination of overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. It was followed by Utility Warehouse (78 per cent) and Ecotricity (77 per cent). The Big Six took six out of the seven bottom slots in the table – SSE doing best, with a customer score of 51 per cent, and npower coming last with only 41 per cent. First Utility also notched up a fairly unimpressive 46 per cent.
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