Outfox CEO: Customer ban allowed us to improve services

Outfox the Market’s ban on acquiring new customers allowed it to hone its customer service skills for its existing base, the company’s chief executive has told Utility Week.

Simon Dowse was speaking after his supplier topped the latest Citizens Advice star ratings table for customer service in Q2 2023.

Outfox has consistently ranked within the top five suppliers since Q3 2022, despite being prohibited from acquiring new customers from July 2022 until June this year.

The firm was prohibited from taking on new customers after Ofgem ruled that it lacked sufficient cash to cover its Renewables Obligation and sufficient hedging to limit its exposure to volatile wholesale energy prices.

The order also barred the company from making any payments, providing any loans or conducting any asset transfers unless they were essential to its operation as an energy retailer.

Ofgem has since lifted the provisional order.

Furthermore, recent regulatory failings saw Outfox pay out £1.8 million after repeatedly failing to provide Ofgem with appropriate information when required.

Asked about the impact of the customer ban, Dowse told Utility Week: “By having the decision on your recruitment strategy taken out of your hands […] it just gives you that opportunity to hone your customer service processes, the training of your staff, upskilling them, bringing on new people and focusing on the ones that you have got.”

He further explained: “In a sense the market was quite stagnant through that time anyway, it gave us an opportunity to focus on the customers that we had on supply. Really, they are the most important people […] so it allowed us to consolidate and focus on those customers and all through these engagements with Ofgem we have explained and highlighted to them that that is a priority for us.

“Whilst we had the issues with the final order and the fine and the provisional order, that was for lack of engagement with the regulator, one of the reasons was because we had to focus on the customers, we had to focus on the hedging and the trading and making sure that we continued as a viable supplier and making sure that we supported the customers that we had on supply through a very difficult time.”

According to Citizens Advice, Outfox received just 21.8 complaints per 10,000 customers – the lowest of any supplier ranked. It was also one of only two suppliers, the other being E (Gas and Electricity), to achieve 100% of emails responded to within two days.

SSE meanwhile, which transferred its domestic arm to Ovo, was the lowest ranked supplier with an overall score of 1.83. Utilita was the worst for complaints per 10,000 customers at more than 170, while Affect Energy had the worst call waiting time at more than seven minutes.

Commenting on the results Jo Causon, chief executive at the Institute of Customer Service, suggested that those suppliers who successfully balance the use of technology with human empathy and emotional intelligence will provide better customer service overall.

She told Utility Week that “there’s no reason not to use technology” for simple queries such as submitting a meter reading.

However, she added: “But if it is more complex, those organisations that have brilliant people skills, who are able to really dial up emotional intelligence, empathy, connection – those are really important skills at a time when consumers are under greater pressure […] they are much more concerned about things.

“So those organisations that outreach, do combine human and tech in an effective way, I believe will be the ones that will perform better and pull away from the pack because I think you do need to have both of those things in order to be able to deliver to a much more complex landscape. As consumers, we are much more concerned about things than we would have been probably post covid and some of the issues and challenges that we are now facing because of the cost of living.”

Citizens Advice’s full energy supplier ratings for Q2 2023