Yet the measure has its limitations and its faults – as will any measure of customer service that is based on a small and random sample of individuals who by definition have had a negative customer experience. The case studies we explored as part of this report demonstrate how ticking the boxes of the SIM is just one aspect of customer service. Wessex Water, the poster boy of the league table, has focused on customer service since well before the introduction of the SIM, and it is the breadth and depth of its customer-centric culture that keeps the company at the top of the table. A regulator can’t make a team of engineers on a site visit stop to buy a birthday card when they realise it’s the customer’s birthday – just one of the examples Wessex gave us of their Go the Extra Mile programme. That has to come from within the company, direct from the top.
Other companies, motivated by the stick and carrot of the SIM and the wider legitimacy agenda, are following Wessex’s example – many with notable success. This combination of the regulatory push and the collective will of the company is powerful; the conversation in water has changed from whether and how companies should focus on customers, to what more they can do.
• As the Go the Extra Mile example shows, frontline customer service is all about having the right people on the ground. Our Stars Awards scheme, now in its second year, celebrates some of these unsung heroes of utilities. The stories behind this year’s shortlist are nothing short of incredible – see p28.
• Utility Week magazine will be taking its annual spring break next week, with no print issue on 29 May. Catch up with all the latest news and analysis at utilityweek.co.uk and we’ll be back in print on 5 June.