CRM Systems Play a Key Role in the System Landscape of Energy Suppliers
How to create the basis for customer experiences
"Only those who know their customers best will survive in the market."
What sounds like a truism from a beginner's business studies course in the early 2000s could actually be the motto that has brought movement to the departments of energy suppliers in recent years. It can be observed that modern working methods are finding their way into the specialist departments and are valued for their findings when it comes to placing their own business activities in electricity or grid sales on a solid (data) foundation: Design thinking approaches, persona analyses or prototype development support energy supply companies (EVU) in all market roles to identify the right offers for their target groups.
It can be deduced from this development that end customers and their needs and wishes are becoming much more of a focus for energy suppliers than was the case just a few years ago. A necessary step! Both regulatory developments on the one hand and changes in customer behavior on the other call for a change in perspective. On the one hand, electricity products, e.g. with dynamic tariffs which entail a considerably higher number of interaction points between the supply company and the end customer, while on the other hand, customer-initiated registrations of EEG systems are reaching new record levels.
What Are the Reasons for a CRM Platform for All Market Roles in the Energy Industry?
Many energy suppliers are in a similar situation: to meet this increased volume of customer inquiries, the existing system landscape often still lacks the right software. One of the first choices is structured customer relationship management (CRM). But what does CRM software need to be able to do in order to meet the requirements of new and flexible customer interaction? The beneficial effect of platforms seems to have been promised too often. So why rely on a platform here in particular?
The aim of an integrated customer platform should be to provide as holistic a view of the individual customer as possible, often referred to as a 360-degree view of the end customer. This brings several advantages for the energy and supply company:
- Cross-departmental data distribution
The more the developments described above progress, the more specialist departments are interested in different customer data. Teams in traditional sales processes in the electricity, renewable energy or district heating sectors are interested in similar data to dispatchers in the metering point changeover teams or employees in the customer service offices on site. Achieving the common goal of convincing customers of the products and services of their own brand requires an orchestrating entity in the background, despite all the unbundling. This also increases cross-selling potential for companies.
- Improved possibility of standardization, also through AI
Only standardized processes enable scaling. However, the specialist departments of energy suppliers often have partially individualized process steps that lead to delays. As a result, more and more CIOs are taking the path of forcing their departments to subordinate their own processes to those of the available systems and to forego a large part of the individualization. What initially sounds like a not insignificant change process in workflows can be simplified through the targeted use of AI-supported assistance tools for your own employees. This significantly shortens the processing time for customer concerns.
- Avoidance of system breaks and jumps
An obvious, if invaluable, benefit for utility back office staff is that consolidating all relevant customer data and processes on one platform can prevent jumping between different systems. By connecting the relevant peripheral systems via standard interfaces, a central customer platform aims to map the respective processes end-to-end. For example, the relevant customer data can be automatically aggregated via an upstream portal integrated into the website and processed completely on the platform up to the relevant output, e.g. a quotation - including calculation, approvals, template creation, etc. This increases the productivity of those working on the project and leads to an improved customer experience.
- Create opportunities for your own optimization
Finally, the correct collection and processing of customer data forms the basis for the creation of relevant reports and analyses in order to put your own service provision to the customer to the test. As the quality of the customer experience is becoming a decisive differentiator, it is essential that your own customer processes are iteratively scrutinized and improved. Only a comparison of the relevant data on customer and employee behavior according to KPIs such as speed, solution success or conversion rate forms the starting point for further improvements. The right customer platform in the background ensures that the right data is provided and improves the depth of knowledge of your own actions.
What Does a CRM Solution Need to Achieve These Goals?
At this point, we come to the crucial point: to realize all the benefits of a central customer platform about the new requirements of the energy market, it is not enough to simply select one of the many CRM solutions available on the market. These are usually far too generic and map customer processes in a way that has little to do with the working reality in energy supply companies.
Instead, it is advisable to rely on already preconfigured solutions and, if possible, modular energy-specific processes that can generate business benefits much more quickly and efficiently. Energy and utility companies can achieve this by introducing the right data model in the background, which then provides the appropriate entities, tables, form,s and fields as well as the relevant process steps and makes them available across departments. The better the energy industry data model speaks and maps the language of the energy industry, the more fruitful the introduction of such a CRM will be.
CRM Customer Platforms for Energy Suppliers in Practice: What to Look Out For?
As soon as the step towards such a system architecture with a customer platform in a central location has been taken, the first added value will soon be realized. Some customers have already taken this path with the AEP.EnergySuite. Based on the energy industry data model at the heart of the suite, which has been developed by Arvato Systems experts in cooperation with municipal utilities and is constantly growing, they can add further specialist processes in a modular and flexible way and make them usable for their specialist departments.
The AEP.EnergySuite is based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform from Microsoft and, therefore, brings the full innovative power of the Microsoft tech stack with it. This includes, for example, the use of the Microsoft Copilot or the connection to other Microsoft software such as Outlook, Teams, or Sharepoint. Additional services from partners can also be connected via interfaces, such as the option of master data refinement and mail return reduction by Deutsche Post Adress.
What Are the Benefits of a CRM Industry Template?
It has never been easier for energy customers to switch electricity tariffs and thus optimize their energy costs. Energy suppliers must expand their portfolio if they want to retain or even increase their market share. New service and product ideas are a first step, but they only work with conscious and efficient customer management that knows how to map the special features of energy industry processes in the background. Our mix of in-depth specialist and excellent technological expertise flows into an industry solution that accompanies energy supply companies in various market roles on this path. The right tools are therefore available. Municipal utilities should have the courage to deal proactively with the changing market conditions and take a step towards professional handling of customer data and processes - centrally orchestrated and prepared by a platform that lays the foundation for convincing customer experiences, a holistic focus on sustainable customer relationships, and maximum customer loyalty.
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