The independent study, conducted by E Source, surveyed over 2,700 customers across small, midsize, and large businesses.
BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — E Source, a utilities-focused consulting, research, and data science company, has announced the results of its annual Business Customer Satisfaction Study.
This year’s study surveyed over 2,700 business customers, evaluating nine utility attributes including trust, resources to manage energy costs, communication, rate options, pricing, reliability, ease of doing business, and commitment to renewable energy and sustainability. Businesses also rated their interactions with utility account representatives and contact centers on a range of attributes across trust, issue resolution, communication, and responsiveness.
WEC Energy Group ranked the highest in the large business customer survey, scoring 9.5 out of 10 for overall customer satisfaction and perceived value. WEC Energy Group also earned the highest scores for its account representatives’ ease of reach, understanding of business needs and challenges, and effective communication during emergencies.
In the small and midsize business customer survey, NorthWestern Energy ranked the highest, scoring 7.8 out of 10 for overall customer satisfaction and perceived value, also scoring the highest for ease of doing business. The utility’s business customer representatives received the highest score in the category for their professional and courteous engagement, trustworthiness, proactive energy advice, and understanding of business customer needs and challenges.
Among nine surveyed utility attributes, the small, midsize, and large businesses ranked energy reliability and trustworthiness among the most important attributes. In contrast, small and midsize businesses indicated low energy prices as very important, while large businesses indicated effective emergency communications as important.
Filomena Gogel, President of Research and Advisory, E Source, said, “Our research is designed to help utility clients understand customer expectations through firsthand insight. In addition to the rankings, the survey also offers a clear sense of what matters most to customers, both from utilities and utility representatives, helping our clients develop and implement customer-centric plans and practices for these critical customer groups. That’s where I’m most excited about our value as a utilities-focused solutions provider, combining deep industry insight with a range of tech-enabled services across our data science and consulting practices.”
Commenting on the top scores for both categories, Ms. Gogel added, “I congratulate WEC Energy Group and NorthWestern Energy for their scores. The ranking validates the effectiveness of their customer experience strategy.”
Utilities participating in the survey also receive respondent-level data and their ranking in the study for an in-depth understanding of areas to enhance business customer satisfaction.
Members of E Source’s Account Management Service will have access to the full report, which is set to be published in December of this year. They will also have the option to participate in facilitated information-sharing sessions with industry peers and E Source experts.
To learn more about E Source’s account management service, visit Account Management Service (esource.com).
About E Source
E Source combines industry-leading research, data science, and consulting to help utilities make and implement better data-driven decisions that positively impact their customers, their bottom line, and our planet. Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, E Source has teams across the US and Canada. Learn more at www.esource.com.
Media contact:
Adarsh Nalam, Director, Solutions Marketing and Communications
adarsh_nalam@esource.com
SOURCE E Source Companies LLC
