A customer service expert has warned utilities they cannot get away with blaming poor performance on Covid or Brexit.
Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, pointed to evidence that after an initial wave of high satisfaction during the first few months of the pandemic, consumers were now becoming more demanding and less likely to be pacified when they encounter problems.
Speaking at Utility Week’s Consumer Vulnerability & Debt Conference, Causon cited findings from the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index that 24 per cent of customers felt companies had “used the Covid-19 situation as an excuse for lower levels of service”.
She added: “The latest UKCSI has shown that organisations have got better at dealing with issues but not necessarily at preventing those issues happening in the first place. In many ways customers are less tolerant.
“Now is a really important time, as we’re heading into the autumn period, to take stock and look at the lessons, in order to really focus on what’s going to be a challenging period.”
Responding to Causon’s comments in a panel session later, Pete Holland, director of customer and wholesale services at Anglian Water and Kerry Potter, group social impact and vulnerability manager at SGN, said they had not seen any public backlash.
Holland said: “I don’t think we positioned Covid as the root of all evil, or something that would cause an impact for us as a company. By and large we have mitigated that. We try to mask it from the customers.
“We probably saw our highest satisfaction levels ever at the start of Covid.”
Potter said: “We actually saw people talking about they couldn’t believe we were doing things like helping them access foodbanks or get food parcels when they were stuck. We, and other networks, were going beyond our normal boundaries. We saw it as an opportunity.”
Causon agreed that Covid had contributed to a spike in customer satisfaction, but added: “What is interesting is now we have definitely seen an uptick in people saying that organisations are – not necessarily blaming Covid – but saying, because of Covid it has taken us longer. It’s the blanket response that needs better communication.
“People understand we are not back to normal. But how you deal with that and the phraseology stands you in good stead. It’s how you manage the message, whether its Brexit, Covid or resource shortages.”