How do I make switching simple and accelerate first-time switch success rates?

With the end of Energy Price Guarantee in March 2024, switching levels are predicted to rise in the coming months as consumers seek to reduce their energy bills amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Against this backdrop, utility providers are under pressure to navigate the complexities of regulatory compliance and deliver a rapid switching service in a matter of days while providing a seamless customer experience. However, the inherent challenges in meter data and maintenance make it a demanding task.

Now more than ever, with the pressure of switching ramping up, utility companies need to invest in making switching simple. Here’s how:

Use address capture to improve the customer experience and reduce drop out: When shopping for a new energy supplier, price is often key but there’s another vital component: customer satisfaction. Therefore, it’s critical to always maintain the journey flow and deliver a frictionless customer experience.

Using address capture  at the point of onboarding to standardise a customer’s address and validate phone and email addresses will ensure clean and accurate data is captured from the start, save you and your customers valuable time, and reduce abandonment.

Use verified data to improve first-time switch success rates: Two challenges still faced by utility suppliers are erroneous and failed switches, caused by inaccurate data. The resulting delays cause frustration for customers, who expect a swift transition to their new energy supplier. However, leveraging verified data provides a simple solution to these complex issues.

Our industry leading dual-fuel Utilities Register rapidly sources supply point details for accurate tariff estimations and accelerates the switching process through a seamless API. The service can also verify manually entered and unstructured addresses in real time, ensuring accurate meter location data that meets compliance requirements for every consumer.

Automate your data maintenance: Data quality and accuracy are key to smooth and successful switching experiences, but keeping this data up to date can be a full-time job. By automating this step, you not only ensure speedy switching with accurate data but also eliminate unnecessary data entry for customers and enable more accurate and cost-effective marketing, while also reducing the need for costly and time-consuming manual intervention.

Ensure compliance: With the introduction of the UK Government’s Faster Switching Programme in 2022, energy suppliers must now deliver a reliable switching service within days to remain compliant. To meet this, it’s critical to invest in quality meter location data and location intelligence to reduce erroneous and failed switches.

For example, Loqate GB’s Utilities Register service is aligned with the Government’s Faster Switching Programme and the new regulated industry Retail Energy Code (RECCO) and Central Switching Service, with a direct feed into RECCO’s gas and electricity enquiry services to ensure a hassle-free and accurate switch.

Consumers are certainly ready to switch, but the key question is: are you?

Make switching simple with our Utilities Register now.