Managing Customer Alerts and

Preferences for Success

Diane Simpson
Strategic Account Manager
iFactor

About iFactor
Focused exclusively on communications
and mobile solutions for utility companies

Top developer of mapping technology,

customer communication interfaces and
mobile apps in the utility industry
Started by utility veterans and invested
in client success since 2004
Headquartered in Tempe, AZ

Proprietary and Confidential 3

iFactor by the Numbers

iFactor delivers
information
to

150 million people

served by more than

45 utility clients
in

39 states and provinces,

including

5 of the 10 largest utilities

in North America
Proprietary and Confidential 4

iFactor 2014 Year in Review

58.8 Million
Total
Customer
Touch Points!

Proprietary and Confidential 5

Multi-Channel Access is Imperative

90%

64%

73%

of American adults
now have a
mobile phone

of American adults
own a smartphone

of smartphone
owners also
own a tablet

(up from 35% in 2011)

9 out of 10 consumers say that accessing content

in the way they want is somewhat or very important
* Pew Research 2014, SalesForce 2014 Mobile Behavior Report
Proprietary and Confidential 6

Proactive Alerts Drive Satisfaction

J.D. Power customer satisfaction
scores are much higher among
customers who indicate their utility has
a proactive communications program
Utilities with successful programs
aggressively advertise those initiatives
A best practice is to use customer
service reps to promote the programs
when customers call for other matters

* J.D. Power Customer Impact Report: Proactive Customer Communications and Alerts
Proprietary and Confidential 7

Preference Management is Essential

77%
of consumers
agree that they should
have the power to decide
how they are contacted
by companies

Overall satisfaction increases from

642 to 701
when utilities proactively
communicate outage information
regularly and clearly via
the channels customers prefer.

* Forrester and J.D. Power 2014 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study
Proprietary and Confidential 8

Billing and Outage Alerts Top Most Used

* J.D. Power 2014 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study

Proprietary and Confidential 9

Channel Usage for Utility Customers

* J.D. Power 2014 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study

Proprietary and Confidential 10

Email is Still the #1 Preferred Channel

Although text messaging gets a lot attention,
email is still the leader among customers.
64% of consumers reported that they were
subscribed to brand email notifications.
95% who subscribe rate them somewhat
or very useful.
54% of consumers have opted in to receive
text messages from a brand, text messaging
is seen as somewhat or very useful by
91% of users who actually subscribe
to a brands texts.
* SalesForce 2014 Mobile Behavior Report

Proprietary and Confidential 11

But Text Messaging is Growing Fast

81% of mobile phone owners use their phones
for text messaging
Outside of customer service interactions, an
increasing number of people prefer texts to calls
and emails
Text messaging is one of the highest satisfactiongenerating communications for utilities
Utilities exchanged more than 21 million
messages with customers through the Notifi
system in 2014, up from 11 million in 2013
* Pew Research, J.D. Power and Associates 2013 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study, iFactor

Proprietary and Confidential 12

Meet your customers in the

environment of their choice, not
where its convenient for you.
- Cyndie Shaffstall, Spider Trainers

Customer Communication Preferences

ALERTS

May 27, 2015

Ameren Missouri

Ameren Illinois

1.2 million electric

127 thousand gas

1.2 million electric

806 thousand gas

Jeronica Jenkins
Customer Experience Advisor,
Continuous Improvement

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Tina Allen
General Supervisor,
Digital Customer Care

Customer Communication Preferences Why?

Increased customer satisfaction

Increased operating efficiency

Proactive communication
Reduced inbound call volume
Promote self-service

Increased revenue

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Ameren Business Needs

Different considerations and unique requirements for Ameren Illinois and Ameren
Missouri (logos, contact information, etc.)

Preload Subscriptions transition of previous eBill customers

eBill

Bill Due Reminder

Bounce Reports for Contacts

System to communicate to Ameren when last contact for eBill removed to switch
customers back to paper bills

Training for Call Center personnel

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SMS and Email Alerts

18

Ways to Subscribe
Online via eCustomer

Two-Way SMS

Customer Service Rep

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Alert Types
Email and text alerts include:

Outage

eBill

Bill reminders

Payment notices

Budget Bill adjustments

Credit issues

Energy assistance pledges

Weekly cost summary

Cost/usage thresholds

1st Implementation phase included alerts that

represented the highest call drivers.

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Ameren Alerts
Alert Type

Rollout Dates

Default Subscriptions

Trigger Event

Block Window

Pledge Posted

Jun-13

Yes

Batch Run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Disconnect Notice

Jun-13

Yes

Batch Run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Payment Sufficient

Jun-13

Yes

Real Time

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Payment Insufficient

Jun-13

Yes

Real Time

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Cut Non Pay Complete

Jun-13

Yes

Real Time

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Reconnect Complete

Jun-13

Yes

Real Time

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Payment Notice

Payment Received

Jun-13

No

Real Time

None

eBill

eBill Notification

Jun-13

No

Batch Run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Energy Assistance

Credit Issues

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Alert

Ameren Alerts
Alert Type

Budget Billing

Alert

Rollout Dates Default Subscriptions Trigger Event

Block Window

Adjustment

Jun-13

No

Batch run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Bill Reminder

Jun-13

Yes

Batch run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Bill Past Due

Jun-13

Yes

Batch run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

ESRT Update

Oct-13

No

Real Time

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Power Restored

Oct-13

No

Real Time

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Weekly Cost Summary

Oct-13

No

Batch run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Cost Threshold

Jan-15

No

Batch run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Usage Threshold

Jan-15

No

Batch run

10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Bill Reminders

Reported Outage Updates

Cost Summary

Threshold

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Coming in 2015
Temperature Alerts

Illinois customers will receive a temperature

alert for a summer electric rate change or a
winter alert for gas rate change.

These rates are approved by the Illinois

regulatory commission and the alert
communication to the impacted customers is
included in the rate design with the new
summer rate change temperatures.

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Coming in 2015
Service Connect & Disconnect Requests

Customers will receive a confirmation

when their connect and/or disconnect
request has been completed.

Residential, Commercial, and

Industrial customers are eligible to
receive this alert.

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Proposed Alerts 2016

Power out notification (not just those who called in outage)

Outage reporting through 2-way SMS (texting OUT)

Paying through 2-way SMS (texting PAY)

Planned outage notification and updates

Payment arrangement summary/confirmation

Returned check notification

Service request or appointment scheduled/changed/completed

Service appointment reminder

Enhance Promotional Communications

Rate Relief Programs
Energy Efficiency

Safety Messages

Smart Technology/Usage
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Managing Alerts

Call Center Offer email/text alerts to customers and assist with registration

Specialized web teams eCSRs manage customer inquiries and issues

Field Support ensure accurate data entered in outage management tool

outage cause codes and estimated restoration times

Corporate Communications promote alerts with campaigns using a variety of

channels social media, TV ads, email blasts, etc.

Online Support Frequently Asked Questions, How-To Documents, How-To

Videos

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Keeping Customers Informed

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Campaign & Promotional Strategies

Objectives

Generate awareness of the many convenient billing/payment alerts and outage update
options available to Amerens residential customers

Drive customers to enroll in the Ameren Alerts programs

Rationale

J.D. Power and other research indicate that customers who are aware and participate in
these programs are more satisfied than customers who do not

Reducing volume to customer contact center can lead to significant cost savings

Target Audience

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Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois electric and natural gas customers

Campaign & Promotional Strategies

TV Commercials
Social Media
Learn about our NEW text alerts in this quick video:
https://youtu.be/tPoHHO27UwQ. Text REG to 40401 to
sign up. (Msg & data rates may apply.)
Going paperless? Sign up to receive eBill and
other payment alerts via text. Text REG to
40401, then text SUB. (Msg & data rates may
apply.)
Sign up for outage alerts & well text you
updates after you report an outage. Text REG to
40401, then text SUB. Msg & data rates may apply.

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Campaign & Promotional Strategies

Customer Correspondence
Email Blasts
Pamphlets

Brochures

Mobile demonstrations with Ameren field

personnel to educate and encourage
importance of timely and accurate ERTs
and Cause Codes for Outage Alerts

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Campaign & Promotional Strategies

Bill and Envelope Marketing
Outreach Efforts
College Students
Energy Assistance Agencies

Internal Contests to promote

eBill

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Post Rollout Adoption

Current enrollment:

250000

568,434 contacts

200000

17.1 % of customers

150000

Pre-enrolled 170,000 (email alerts for eBill

only at implementation)

Anticipated 3 million alerts annually

~8 million alerts sent in 2014

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100000
50000
0

Illinois
Missouri

eBill Savings

eBill enrollment has almost doubled accounting for approximately $1 million

annual savings
June 2013 170,000 accounts
February 2015 - 327,256 accounts
Additional annual savings = $1 Million

Postage cost to mail bill ~ 49 cents

June 2013 170,000 accounts x .49 = $83,300
February 2015 - 327,256 accounts x .49 = $160,355.44

Annual savings $160,355.44 x 12 months = $1,924,265.28

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2015-03

2015-02

2015-01

2014-12

2014-11

2014-10

2014-09

2014-08

2014-07

2014-06

2014-05

2014-04

2014-03

2014-02

2014-01

2013-12

2013-11

2013-10

2013-09

2013-08

2013-07

2013-06

Enrollments

Enrollment in Alerts Continues to Trend Upwards

Text and Email Alert Enrollment

350000

300000

250000

200000

150000

100000

Illinois
Missouri

50000

Questions?

Diane Simpson
Strategic Account
Manager, iFactor
diane.simpson@ifactorconsulting.com
704-582-2298

Jeronica Jenkins

Tina Allen

Customer Experience Advisor,

Continuous Improvement,
Ameren Missouri
jjenkins2@ameren.com
314-554-3726

General Supervisor,
Digital Customer Care,
Ameren Illinois
tallen4@ameren.com
309-677-7980

Download the Ameren Case Study

www.ifactorinc.com/resources/ameren-case-study/

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