Guest Blog: Utility Companies Help Customers to Help Themselves: The Pay-As-You-Go Revolution

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleag ue, Dan Goss, shares an example of what one utility company is doing to change the way customers pay their bills, making it customer friendly and giving control to the customer. This is a very interesting look at a pay-as-you-go model and I look forward to hearing if it is successful. – Shep Hyken

Across the world, a revolution is taking hold of the companies that provide our electricity, our gas, and our water. These utility companies have always worked on the premise of charging customers for energy and services they have already used, meaning that many customers have been confronted with nasty shocks and unfortunate surprise charges when their bills came through – and with the energy already spent, there was nothing those customers could do about it.

This method of billing customers created a few problems from the customer service team’s points of view – first off, as mentioned above, was the fact that the customer had already expended the resource they were being charged for, and could therefore do nothing to alter their bill this time.

Second was the fact that unless customers are skilled at reading their home meters, they are unlikely to even know how much they are spending on electricity and gas throughout the month until the bill comes round, so adjusting their level of usage might be difficult. The result: overcharged, unhappy customers.

These problems are being tackled head on by the utilities industry in a very unusual way – with a complete overhaul of the way utilities billing works. Many companies, such as Utilita or United Utilities in the UK are implementing a pay-as-you-go “smart meter” system that allows customers much more control over their utility expenses and means much more can be done by the company to help customers who are encountering problems.

The systems work exactly the same way as a pay-as-you-go mobile phone tariff, with customers “topping up” their home utilities meter and receiving the amount paid for in usable power and gas. The top-ups can be done via a card at designated stores, online, or over the phone, and with many of the companies the customer’s meter will update automatically as soon as the transaction is complete!

The customer can then use their credit at whatever rate they choose, and since they have paid in advance, they are in control of their spending and can’t be surprised by a bill. The ball is in their court, rather than the company’s, which means a much better relationship between customer and company.

This control over the amount used is a two-edged sword, however. Since these pre-paid tariffs carry a limit on how much can be used, they carry the risk that the customer may not budget their usage well and be left without power or gas at a time when topping up is difficult or impossible. The utility companies are kicking their customer service up a notch here as well, with systems designed to keep the lights on and the customer smiling when they need it most.

For example, the company mentioned earlier, Utilita, has two ways to help the customer avoid running out of credit, even when the stores are closed or the lines are down. The first, “Emergency Credit,” is £10 of credit available any time, to keep the lights on through the night or the gas flowing even in dire circumstances.

The second is “Friendly Credit,” which is available every day between 4pm and 10am, keeping the customer on supply through the night in the event that they have underestimated their usage. Both of these systems are in place to help prevent the customer being caught out, for whatever reason, and help provide an excellent, reliable service at any time. All of it is underscored by the smart meter itself, which provides an easy-to-read screen in the customer’s home, telling them how much credit they have remaining, how much they’re using, and a wealth of other information. Knowledge is power, and this setup is all about power to the customer.

With these changes in place, it’s clear a paradigm shift is occurring in the world of home utilities. The industry is shifting away from leaving customers dreading their next bill, unable to change what has happened, and embracing a future where the customer knows how much they need, how much they’re paying, and how much power they really have.

Dan Goss is the editor, writer and primary researcher at Customer Service Guru. In his spare time he writes, reads, and writes some more. He can be found at your nearest coffee machine or at the customer service desk at your local department store, frowning.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com .

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:

The 10 Best Ways To Hire For Customer Service (And Almost Any Other Job)

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