HOW TO MITIGATE DROP IN COLLECTIONS AFTER CIS GO-LIVE. TECO Energy: An Emera Company

Transcription

1 HOW TO MITIGATE DROP IN COLLECTIONS AFTER CIS GO-LIVE TECO Energy: An Emera Company

2 Introduction Today s speakers Clayton Dean TECO Energy Manager, Call Center, Customer Service Tampa, FL cbdean@tecoenergy.com Durgesh Tiwari Deloitte Consulting LLP Senior Manager, Technology (SAP) Consulting Dallas, TX dutiwari@deloitte.com

3 TECO Energy: An Emera Company An S&P 500 energy-related company, founded in 1899, HQ at TAMPA Tampa Electric Vertically integrated regulated electric utility (Generation, Transmission, Distribution) Supplying the Tampa Bay area with electricity since 1899 Number of customers 725,000 People Gas Largest LDC gas utility in Florida Providing Florida residents and businesses with natural gas products and services since 1895 Number of customers 365,000

4 Learning Objectives Insights and Outcomes Learn about design considerations for CIS implementations to allow for effective collections Understand different activities required for the effective collections through various phases of CIS implementation Understand the strategies that can be deployed to mitigate drop in collections with major CIS go-live

5 Phases and Timeline Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Prep Blueprint (Workshops) Blueprint (Specs) Realization (Build) Realization (Test) Final Preparation Support Emera Acquisition - Announcement Emera Acquisition - Complete Business Readiness Previous

6 Project Scope - Functional Areas Customer Service Device Management Credit & Collections Billing and Rates Multi Channel Foundation Data Conversion

7 Scope of the Collections: Functional Areas Move-In Contact Credit Agency to determine risk class Alert CSR for any existing bad debt Assist CSR s with security deposit amount calculation Provide customers with auto pay option Collections Active Service Synergies for Electric and Gas customers Special handling of accounts such as Bankruptcy, Supply Guarantee, Lights Security deposit requests for under secured accounts Billing and Invoicing Provide customers with budget bill option Late payment charge calculations for overdue customers Offer Pick-a-Due Date option for customers Collections Service Terminated Ability to work with multiple collection agencies Automatic Transfer of overdue balance to other active accounts Ability to receive payments on written off accounts and automate reversal

8 Blueprint Design Build Pre Process Considerations Design collections strategy with inclusion of proactive measures Determine customer risk class by contacting credit rating agency at the time of move-in Payment reminder to E-bill customers before bill is due Attempt contact customer via mail and phone call before rolling out the truck Asses impact of freezing collection activities in hyper-care period Analyze impact of increased bad debt due to collection activity freeze based on historic data Project time to get back to normal after collection activities resume in new system Assess impact on collection agency operations because new accounts will not be submitted Selective data conversion to simplify overall collections process design Convert Credit Score info to allow aggressive collections for high risk customers No dunning history is converted Only 10 year s worth write off history converted based on the fact that recovery after that time is minimum

9 Blueprint Design Build Pre Design Considerations Simple and flexible design with following key features such as: Configurable minimum dunning balance to utilize available field capacity, cost of field operations, and manage call centre volumes IVR capability for self reporting payments using intelligent payment confirmation number, acts as trigger for cancelling open disconnection order when sufficient payment is received Tool for generating PDF copies of dunning correspondence with single click which save significant efforts during validation process Ability to easily stop late payment charges for overdue customers while meter to cash operations are stabilized in new CIS system Use of standard SAP jobs for communicating with agencies, resulting in flexibility to choose new partner as collection agency with minimum config/development efforts

10 6 Months 4 Months 2 Months Activities Pre- Blueprint Design Build Pre Test Collection Processes End-to-end process Converted data Production volumes System performance Reconciliation AR Balance Security deposits Write-off balance Collection agency placement Collections Freeze Disconnects New agency placements Write-off s Plan post golive freeze

11 Go Live Timeline Blueprint Design Build Pre Manual Pilot Mass roll-out Go- Live Collection freeze System stable Customer payments Invoicing issues 1 month 2 months Manual collections Customers who can be engaged to pay with active reminders and communications blast and outbound dialer campaign Pilot Dunning Perform collections for accounts with large overdue balances Select accounts for specific scenarios Mass roll-out

12 Blueprint Design Build Pre Manual Collection Manual Pilot Mass roll-out Plan / Re-Plan campaign Finalize and call language What volumes to call? what days to call? Analyze effectiveness What % paid What % called back Based on numbers reassess call volumes Execute Identify accounts based on specific criteria Same customer is not to be contacted multiple times

13 Objective Prepare Execute Blueprint Design Build Pre- Pilot Collections Manual Pilot Mass roll-out Start automated collection for accounts with large overdue balances Pro-actively identify issues and defects in the collections process Refresher for call center and field 28 different scenarios identified joint bill, final, commercial etc accounts identified in total for all scenarios Business teams available during nightly batch for validation Notices, Outbound calls and disconnect orders activities validated Daily status meetings with business stakeholders on issues identified

14 Blueprint Design Build Pre- Pilot And Manual Collection Results Manual Pilot Mass roll-out Defects Past due customers unable to make payments in customer self-service portal after 6 PM Payment and account balance query issues in work management system Disconnect order failures / issues C&C Outbound campaign Incorrect call flow 38 % paid in first 3 days after contact 33 % Called back Metrics 22 % called back and talked to a Rep. 30 % of customers who received final notice got disconnected

15 All Overdue Final Notices IVR Calls Call Backs Disconn. Blueprint Design Build Pre- Estimated Numbers Pilot Metrics used for estimating mass roll-out numbers Final notice at $50 threshold 92,638 accounts 60 % of final notice customers will get IVR Call 49, % Call back into call center 27, % get disconnected 24,791 on 10 th Day of collection roll-out Volumes too high for both field and call center Need for phased roll-out Manual Pilot Mass roll-out 49,583 24,791 27,270 92,638

16 Mass Roll-Out Blueprint Design Build Pre- Manual Pilot Mass roll-out Check List Field can work estimated number of disconnects Disconnect orders are produced by cycle Call center can handle the estimated call volumes A/R Monitoring A/R and bad debt is within manageable levels All Critical defects are fixed Turn on collections for all cycles with $50 threshold Turn on collections one cycle per day with $ 50 threshold Manual hand holding for one month

17 Lessons Learned Identify critical business requirements for starting mass collections early Develop a flexible solution that allows for quick changes such as changing collection thresholds Engage accounting about A/R impacts of collection business freeze Build reports / tools to support manual collection and evaluate the effectiveness of collections Plan for pro-active customer communication Review campaign language for manual collection campaign before go-live and include spamming considerations Include process to exempt accounts from late payment and mass reversal of late payment fee

18 Questions? 18