Competitor Tracking, Customer Service in German Major Energy Users Supply, Issue 1

SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

Based on over 400 interviews with energy buyers, this report focuses on customer service in the German major energy user market. It assesses whatcustomer service elements are most important to different market segments and highlights the strengths and weaknesses of suppliers in the customerservice arena. Recommendations on how customer service resources should be re-allocated follow.

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

• Summary of major energy user switching to date and the non-price motivations for switching
• In-depth data and analysis of the customer service priorities of over 400 major energy buyers and segmentation according to their requirements
• Comparison of leading suppliers' customer service performance, including RWE, E.ON and Ruhrgas, and reasons for their success
• Action points Four key strategies for successful resource allocation in the customer service arena

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

High-risk customers, who are likely to change their supplier are, on average, 9% less satisfied with customer service than those who intend to staywith their supplier.

Bill accuracy and contract negotiations are the the most important customer service elements to all customers, whilst the emphasis electricitycustomers place on customized contracts and bill flexibility, is the greater the larger their annual consumption.

At 97% customer satisfaction, RWE has the best account management, whilst EnBW is the top-performer in billing. Overall, German energy suppliersare furthest from matching customer requirements in those areas of customer service which are most important to their clients.

KEY REASONS TO BUY THIS REPORT

• Justify investment in customer service to senior management
• Optimize customer communication and formulate marketing strategies which correspond to customers' core requirements
• Allocate resources to the genuinely important aspects of customer service and exploit the customer service weaknesses of competitors

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview

Introduction

Scope

Report Highlights

Reasons to Purchase

DRIVERS AND TRENDS

Poor customer service is making customers more proactive in seeking an alternative supplier. Accordingly, this discusses theincreased prominence of customer service in the developing industrial and commercial supply market in Germany. German switching activity 2002-2003

• Suppliers at risk from future switching intentions
• Switching – wholly price driven?
• Opportunities for enhancing retention

CUSTOMER FOCUS

Based on over 400 in-depth interviews with German energy buyers, this details their customer service priorities. Ranging fromaccount management reliability to technical support, it assesses what elements of customer service are crucial to industrial clients and examines thevariations across different market segments.

• Details the core customer service requirements of 400 German electricity and gas customers enabling suppliers to allocate resources towards thegenuinely important aspects of customer service
• Customer requirements depending on total annual energy consumption
• How the nature of the buying point affects customer service priorities

COMPETITIVE FOCUS

The customer service performance of Germany' s leading power and gas suppliers, including RWE, E.ON, EnBW and Ruhrgas. It examinessatisfaction ratings as decided by survey respondents across 18 customer service areas and advises suppliers on how customer service resources shouldbe reallocated.

• The current performance of German suppliers in meeting customer requirements
• The performance of E.ON, RWE, Vattenfall Europe and other key suppliers in pre-sales service, billing, account management and on-going support
• Examples of how different suppliers should increase efficiency by re-allocating resources between the 18 areas of customer service outlined

ACTION POINTS

Four key recommendations for success in the customer service arena and enhanced retention

Action Point 1 - Increase the focus on pre-sales service

Action Point 2 - Reallocate billing resources

Action Point 3 - Don' t call customers, they' ll call you

Action Point 4 - Limit the level of customization offered to smaller clients

APPENDIX

• Supplementary data including standard deviation of customer service priorities
• Details of research methodology and survey coverage

DATASETS

Table 1: The correlation between quality of service and expected customer retention

Table 2: Components of aggregated service criteria

Table 3: Electricity users'  customer service priorities

Table 4: Gas users'  customer service priorities

Table 5: Datamonitor' s customer segmentation by consumption

Table 6: Number of respondents by supplier

Table 7: Customer satisfaction among electricity users

Table 8: Customer service and satisfaction among gas users

Table 9: Customer satisfaction scores of electricity suppliers by broad service category

Table 10:Customer satisfaction scores of gas suppliers by broad category of service

Table 11:Selected customer satisfaction scores for electricity suppliers

Table 12:Selected customer satisfaction scores for gas customers

Table 13:Standard deviation of responses regarding the service priorities of electricity customers

Table 14:Standard deviation of responses regarding the service priorities of gas customers