Utility & Energy Industry Customer Service –  Best Practices

“An Overview of Contact Center Agent Performance Best Practices in the Utility Industry”

By: Craig Antonucci, CCO & Fei Zhan, Psychometrician at BPA Quality

In the past decade, customer service in the Utility Industry has undergone a significant transition. The industry has faced regulatory challenges, competitive factors, and increased pressure from the general public to provide improved service. What was once a monopolistic transaction-oriented experience is now one that is centered on the overall customer experience.

Whilst most Utility Organizations are cognizant of the need for this transition, some are significantly ahead of the industry. Others have found it harder to meet this need. The industry itself is a well-networked group of professionals, therefore information and best practice sharing are commonplace. However, there is still a difference between the best and the rest.

At BPA Quality, we provide Contact Center Monitoring and Quality services to several Utility companies nationwide. In addition to that, over the last few years, we have conducted several iterations of independent research to identify the best performing Utility Companies and the drivers for their performance. In the end, we have consolidated this research in an effort to identify the Contact Center Agent Performance Best Practices in the Utility Industry.

The Evaluation – Utility Performance Variable

We began this study by evaluating calls across multiple Utility Companies and measuring them against over 140 different performance variables. Once we collected all the data, we processed the results and segregated the performance of the agents into three groups: high, medium, and low performing agents. High performers were defined as those who consistently scored in the top 25% of all agents; Low scoring agents were the bottom 50% and medium were the agents who filled that gap.

We defined any standard that was measured where the high performing group scored 50% percentage points or greater than the bottom group, and/or 25% greater than the middle group as significant. Any standard that did both was viewed as a very significant difference between the best and the rest. The result of the study identified 5 key areas that the best-performing agents significantly excelled at when compared to those who did not.

Get a breakdown of these areas and the details surrounding the drivers by downloading the free white paper on best practices in the utility & energy industry.

Check out our other white papers on the utility industry customer service best practices.