CUSTOMER CARE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Transcription

1 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of CUSTOMER CARE CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION Customer Relationship Management provides services to approximately 00,000 customers. Its activities are supported by THESL s Call Center, Escalations Group, Key Accounts Team and Customer Experience, Marketing & Communications team. The Call Centre handles approximately,000 written requests, including s and online move requests, along with,000 customer telephone inquiries per year. The Call Centre also receives approximately,000 calls annually from customers reporting a power outage or wires down. Call Centre operational processes are well defined and closely followed to ensure customer inquiries are handled efficiently and effectively. 0 A Dispute Resolution process is also in place to manage customer escalation requests. The Escalation Group manages these concerns through established processes and guidelines and collaborates with senior executives, city councilors and the OEB to ensure resolution is provided in a timely manner. The Key Accounts team ensures THESL s large volume customers are provided value added services tailored to their business and/or operation and their concerns are given timely attention. The Customer Experience, Marketing and Communications team is responsible for marketing activities, managing external customer communications and supporting research.

2 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of 0 ACTIVITIES Customer inquiries to the Call Center cover a broad spectrum and involve most aspects of THESL s business including: ensuring customer records are updated as required to track customer moves and other changes in customer information; verifying information and providing explanations relating to account management, billing, consumption, and collections; responding to inquiries regarding Time-of-Use ( TOU ) billing and assisting customers with the TOU web tool, providing load profile information and energy management advice; responding to inquiries relating to Conservation and Demand Management ( CDM ) Programs including the Province-wide programs offered by the Ontario Power Authority; providing first contact for power outage and emergency wire down calls; and accurately directing customer calls to the appropriate department or employee through THESL s main switchboard. The Escalations team resolves customer concerns covering all areas of THESL. The concerns raised most frequently relate to power outages and high energy consumption. These customer concerns are received through the following channels: approximately 0 customer issues annually are escalated through the Call Centre during daily operations; another are received though THESL s Senior Executives and City Councilors; and approximately 0 are received directly from the OEB. The team utilizes trained staff to manage call volumes, including the utilization of field resources to investigate power quality and billing issues that may require a site visit.

3 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of The team also actively investigates potential losses from power theft or diversions and other situations that impact THESL's ability to invoice and collect from the customer. By doing so, THESL is able to minimize and control potential losses. As an example from 00 to 0, power diversions were uncovered, including marijuana grow house operations, theft of power halted and steps taken to collect the lost revenue, where possible. The Key Accounts Team provides a proactive service for large Commercial and Industrial ( C&I ) customers, including matters such as planned outage notification and coordination, Global Adjustment settlement, load profile and rates analysis, as well as power quality and energy management advice. In addition, the team responds to issues raised by C&I customers in a timely manner and often acts as a liaison to move customer issues forward with other departments within THESL. The team s role is to: meet with customers as required to resolve billing issues, coordinate planned outages and explore possible CDM projects; act as a single point of contact and liaise with internal departments to better meet the needs of this customer group; and build and maintain positive relationships with the business community. 0 The Customer Experience, Marketing & Communications team is responsible for managing external communications activities including: customer relations; digital communications (corporate website, social media, mobile and marketing); direct to customer communications; and managing market research and communications as they relate to industry indices, including THESL s customer satisfaction and experience initiatives.

4 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of Proactive communications help build customer satisfaction and avoid incoming calls to the call centre, thereby helping to mitigate call centre cost increases. Due to the complexity of TOU rates, rising energy costs and a focus on pro-active conservation and demand management, THESL s interaction with customers is increasing. The Customer Experience, Marketing and Communications team informs customers of changes in electricity rates, impacts of TOU rates, creates awareness and encourages enrollment in other cost effective channels or service features such as self service, e-bills and the TOU portal. Research assesses how well Toronto Hydro s current service structure, processes and communications align with customers views and experiences, and identifies opportunities to streamline and/or improve the customer experience. The intent is to improve efficiency and the effective handling of customer interactions to enhance our relationship with our customers. Dedicated, knowledgeable staff, process improvements, and the use of technology have allowed THESL to consistently meet or exceed OEB performance level targets in the areas of telephone and written response. The Call Centre answered, on average, 0 percent of calls within 0 seconds from 00 to 0. On average, written inquiries were responded to within ten days, percent of the time during that same period. 0 Along with process improvements and the adoption of technology, cost escalation has been mitigated by utilizing an outsource Call Centre to assist in the handling of the daily call volumes. This enables THESL to maintain the required staffing levels to ensure service targets are achieved. The Call Centre is able to react to forecast demands of higher or lower call volumes within a shorter time frame. It is efficient and cost effective to add or reduce staff at the outsource call centre as call volumes and other work requirements dictate. Internal resources can then be utilized for tasks of a complex nature or that require in-depth industry knowledge.

5 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of THESL s new Customer Information System ( CIS ) will help modernize the transactional and service relationship with customers. It will also enable other strategic initiatives to improve operational efficiency, productivity and ultimately, the customer experience. As with all new systems of this magnitude, there is a post implementation commissioning period, including the modification of operational processes and procedures, staff training and the phase-in of additional system features once the new CIS has stabilized. During the commissioning period, manual processes will be required until such time as the new automated features can be enabled. This will impact overall performance, budget requirements, call centre service levels, and staffing for several months. Some manual processes are expected to continue into 0, until fully automated solutions can be implemented. 0 Customer Service Code Amendments The customer service code amendments under EB-00-0 have required process changes, additional resources and training, and significant programming changes to the CIS, which are expected to be implemented by the end of 0. With the evolution in technology and customer service, customers now expect and demand more on-line self service features and tools to proactively manage their accounts, source information and take advantage of opportunities to lower their energy costs. The Customer Relationship Management team focuses on customer service improvements through a variety of technology and communication methodologies as detailed in Exhibit D, Tab, Schedule -. These improvements will decrease routine customer inquiries and also allow THESL to redirect resources to more complex work. They will also provide customers with the convenience of / on-line access to account information, and the means to proactively manage their electricity cost and usage.

6 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of THESL will be expanding the information and self-service options available on its web site; redesigning its Interactive Voice Response ( IVR ) to provide better access to information and call centre services; and utilizing new technology to ensure customer inquiries are resolved during the first call. Technology will also help to more effectively align call centre resources with customers needs by facilitating the use of the external call centre provider for routine call centre transactions and highly knowledgeable and experienced internal resources for more complicated customer concerns and queries. IVR enhancements will enable specialized queues that will ensure consistency of information, provide a single point of contact and improve first call resolution. In 0, THESL enhanced the TOU website by adding predict my bill and proactive usage alerts allowing customers to set thresholds for consumption or costs that help manage their bills. An on-line energy calculator was also added which provides customers visibility on the impact of load shifting to lower price periods. Further enhancements to the calculator later in 0 will include: household energy end-use profiles, energy analysis tools and customized energy conservation recommendations. 0 In 0, THESL piloted a mobile application named PowerLens which provided TOU data and pre-bill consumption alerts as well as the ability to electronically report power outages. Based on the information from this pilot, THESL developed a 0-0 strategy for mobile applications on smart phones, which will include the ability for customers to view energy consumption and bills as well as report outages via mobile devices. With the launch of the new customer information system in 0, THESL is now focusing on integrating self-service options with the new CIS behind a log-in to create customized options for customers. Additional improvements to the IVR are also planned, from both navigation and self-service perspectives.

7 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of COSTS Table : Customer Relationship Management Operating Costs ($ millions) Actual Actual Actual Bridge Test Test Test Customer Relationship Management The increase in operating costs from 0 to 0 is $0. million and is predominately due to: $0. million increase for contracted labour costs in 0; $0. million increase to support customer service and technology improvements including self-service options and pro-active energy management solutions; and $0. million increase for staff who s time was previously capitalized while working on the Smart Meter and CIS capital projects 0 The increase in operating costs from 0 to 0 is $. million, predominately due to: $0. million increase for contracted labour costs, and to fill 0 vacancies; $0. million increase due to a return of labour previous charged to the Flat Rate Exit Plan project; $0. million increase to support additional resources, multi-channel customer communications, research and pro-active communications for self-service and account management; and $0. million increase in the outsource Call Centre budget to support customer service code amendments, and an expected unit cost increase in outsource call centre contract costs.

8 EB-0-0 Tab Schedule Page of The projected increase in operating costs from 0 to 0 is $. million, predominately due to: $0. million increase for contracted labour cost increases; and $0. million increase to support of strategic initiative designed to efficiently meet the costs of growing customer demands and expectations, including pro-active customer communications, the promotion of lower cost communication channels, and increased self-service options. The projected increase in operating costs from 0 to 0 is $0. million, which is predominately due to a $0. million increase for contracted labour cost.