CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cogent™ Reports, a division of Market Strategies International, released a list of the 48 utilities it has named as 2014 Utility Customer Champions. Designees were determined based on in-depth responses from 40,000 residential customers of the 127 leading US electric and natural gas utility companies. These results, along with an in-depth analysis of all utilities covered in the study are in included in Cogent Reports’ Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™ report that will be published next week. A preview of the report was delivered on Wednesday via webcast to a national audience of over 100 utility executives by Market Strategies Senior Vice President Chris Oberle.
All 48 utilities named Customer Champions – 19 electric utilities, 19 gas utilities, and 10 combination utility providers – received Engaged Customer Relationship (ECR™) index scores of at least 710 (out of a possible 1,000 points). ECR is a composite score that takes into account separate measures for Operational Satisfaction, Product Experience, and Brand Trust. When introducing the new metric earlier this year, Cogent Energy Reports published research proving the impact of its 360-degree customer relationship metric on utility franchise value.
In achieving their status as Utility Customer Champions, utilities had to be among the industry leaders on ECR on building customer trust, achieving operational excellence and offering value-added products and services. The findings showed that customers who trust their utility tend to engage with them more proactively and provide higher ratings in all other areas including when commenting on social media.
“While customers certainly appreciate utilities keeping service flowing and being available when issues arise, meeting these expectations are considered table stakes, or just part of what they pay for,” said Chris Oberle, author of the report. “So, comparing providers on operational excellence alone does not meaningfully separate one utility from another.”
Noting that one hallmark of a Utility Customer Champion is a customer base that is more proactive about adopting service programs and supporting management initiatives, Oberle points out that “Consumers like to deal with brands they can trust and perceive as listening and contributing meaningfully to the relationship. Otherwise, they become skeptical of the motives and reasons behind every utility action and they pull back.”
About the Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™ Studies
Cogent Energy Reports conducted surveys among 40,000 residential electric and natural gas utility customers of the 127 largest US utility companies (based on residential customer counts) across 2 waves during 2014 (April/May and September/October). Two reports were published in 2014, one in early June which reports on the April/May data, and one in late November which reports on all data collected in 2014. The sample design uses US Census data and strict quotas to ensure a demographically balanced sample of each evaluated utility’s customers based on age, gender, income, race and ethnicity. Utilities within the same region and of the same type (e.g., electric-only providers) are given equal weight in order to balance the influence of each utility’s customers on survey results. Market Strategies will supply the exact wording of any survey questions upon request.
Cogent Reports’ ECR™ Index scores are comprised of 3 component scores for operational satisfaction, product experience, and brand trust, based on 12 underlying strategic factors and 55 unique attributes. Annual rankings are determined by a blend of 2 seasonally adjusted factor weighting models.
About Market Strategies International
Market Strategies International is a market research consultancy with deep expertise in consumer/retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, technology and telecommunications. The firm is ISO 20252 certified, reflecting its commitment to providing intelligent research, designed to the highest levels of accuracy, with meaningful results that help companies make confident business decisions.
Market Strategies conducts qualitative and quantitative research in 75 countries, and its specialties include brand, communications, CX, product development, segmentation and syndicated. Its syndicated products, known as Cogent Reports, help clients understand the market environment, explore industry trends and monitor their brand and products within the competitive landscape. Founded in 1989, Market Strategies is one of the largest market research firms in the world, with offices in the US, Canada and China. Read Market Strategies’ blog at FreshMR, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.