Why are we talking to our customers?
Our strategies and plans
Finding out how we can best serve our customers
It’s important for us to understand how we can offer each household customer a better service every time they interact with us. We also want to know when and how they want to communicate with us when they need to do so, whether it’s when they are moving home or experiencing an issue with their water supply. By understanding our customers’ expectations and needs, we are able to offer a range of services that can help make their lives easier.
What customers told us
Customers are clear that we need to further improve their experience when they contact us and when we need to get in touch. In particular, they highlighted the following areas that we must take into account when putting together our plans for 2020 – 2025:
- They have never been so busy juggling all their commitments and wanted us to make their lives easier and simpler
- To make sure that we use technology to help improve the service we offer but to give them the control of how and when they want to use it
- To better understand their needs and offer services that are more personalised and relevant to them
- To be more visible in the local community and build a relationship with them that they want from their water company
Customers have also told us what the basics of a great and not so great customer experience looks like, which our teams are now using to shape future service improvements.
Find out what our customers told us about each of these areas:
Who carried out this study?
We have worked with a number of carefully-selected, independent research agencies to undertake the research that will help us improve the customer experience. This means that the feedback we receive is totally independent and unbiased.
- Accent Research helped us to understand what services we should offer customers in the future
- DJS Research helped us to understand how we can better meet the needs of customers, who need extra support
- QA Research helped us to understand how we can make our bills more customer friendly
- Explain Research helped us to understand how we can improve the experience whenever a customer contacts us
The Independent Customer Panel also reviewed and challenged how we approached all this work. This was so we could be sure we asked customers the right questions and that we correctly interpreted what they said.