Effective Safety Communication Strategies Emerge as Critical Area of Focus for Utility Providers
Between cyber ransomware attacks and an uptick in severe weather with catastrophic consequences, executives in the utility industry are reviewing the efficacy of their communications plans and the effect it can have on customer satisfaction.
The challenge is further complicated by an evolution of customer expectations that vary among individual age demographics.
Working across traditional strategies, utility leaders must develop a multi-channel approach to communication initiatives with limited -- and often dwindling -- budgetary resources.
An increase in infrastructure disruptions caused by man-made and natural events has created a demand for utility providers to develop more effective and attainable safety messaging. Between cyber ransomware attacks and an uptick in severe weather with catastrophic consequences, executives in the utilities industry are reviewing the efficacy of their communications plans and the effect it can have on customer satisfaction.
Eric Durdov, J.D. Power
The challenge is further complicated by an evolution of customer expectations that vary among individual age demographics. Working across traditional broadcasting, mail, digital and mobile engagement strategies, utility leaders must develop a multi-channel approach to communication initiatives with limited -- and often dwindling -- budgetary resources.
Consequently, utility providers need field-level data to facilitate a better understanding of their customers, as well as their preferred means of digesting information to ensure the safety of their customers while also minimizing risk to equipment, systems, and investments.
To discuss the future of safety communication and the dynamics between the utility industry and its customers, we caught up with Eric Durdov, Managing Director of Utilities Intelligence for J.D. Power and Jim Croce, Client Relationship Director for J.D. Power.
Here is what they had to say:
Q: After an eventful 2020, how would you characterize present communications surrounding safety and the effect on the customer experience as it evolves?
Jim Croce, J.D. Power
Eric Durdov: The industry has made a long-term commitment to safety. It has been a critical point of focus along with reliability, and affordability. Safety has consistently been a top priority that has never gone out of style.
Residential customers require a basic understanding of what to do when they encounter problems. It is an issue that is gaining more urgency. There has been an uptick in severe weather events countrywide over the past decade. Also, ageing utility infrastructure continues to be a challenge as utilities tackle the backlog of replacement work. These items have increased the chances for the public to find themselves in situations where they are exposed to dangerous and sometimes deadly situations. In short, utilities have been at the forefront of trying to keep their customers -- and workers -- safe.
That said, the channels of communication have evolved tremendously in recent years, along with customer expectations about how and when they want to receive information. It is important for the utilities sector to better understand both customer engagement preferences and the gaps in customer safety knowledge while leveraging these personalized digital channels. From our primary customer research at J.D. Power, we know that safety awareness has a direct impact on customer satisfaction.
Jim Croce: I agree. Beyond the industry’s commitment to protecting infrastructure and customers, safety communication is also an issue that is governed by stringent regulatory compliance requirements. The market, however, is moving and evolving at a much faster rate than the regulatory authorities. That is why it is important for the industry to progress beyond basic compliance levels.
On this front there is plenty of room for improvement. The utility sector has limited understanding of the effectiveness of their safety communications and delivery channels in driving awareness and action. More advancements are necessary for the industry to achieve broad customer-level understanding of evolving safety issues and concerns.
The situation is different for other stakeholders. Utilities regularly focus a lot of communication attention on employees, contractors, and first responders. Far less has been allocated to sending effective safety information to the mass market of small- to medium-sized businesses and residential customers.
This is both a challenge and an opportunity for the sector. J.D. Power satisfaction data indicates a strong correlation between customer recall with utility providers' safety communications and overall customer satisfaction ratings with that utility.
Q: As the frequency and intensity of weather events increase, the importance of safety awareness communication has also grown. Have the priorities of utilities shifted in terms of strategies for customer engagement?
Durdov: The increase of weather disruptions has placed a heavier burden on utility leaders and frontline workers to maintain a safe system while effectively communicating imperative information to customers before, during, and after events. These events can vary greatly across the U.S. Effects from weather, such as tropical storms along the east coast, to historically cold winters in the midwest and northeast, and wildfires in the west, pose unique challenges to both utilities and their customers. This can put the public at risk by direct contact with failed infrastructure or through lack of heat and power for critical systems.
Safety awareness communication is about continued engagement and reinforcement of the fundamentals of keeping customers safe. This includes the basics of what to do, and not do, when encountering a downed power line, or experiencing a gas leak.
As an example, nearly everyone knows and understands the phrase “stop, drop, and roll” for fire safety. Some gas providers have developed a similar campaign and corresponding graphics with the saying “stop, leave, and call.” It's a very clear message to inform customers on what to do if they encounter a gas leak. There is no such standardized phrase for the utility industry and customers may not recall each utilities’ unique instruction.
We have seen every utility have some form of this safety campaign. However, the attention span of the customer can become overloaded in this digital age as they are continuously bombarded from all sectors on multiple devices. Those utilities that use a multi-channel and personalized approach are the most effective at cutting through the noise. They are able to reach their customers not only for safety messaging, but other products and services.
Croce: Given the reputational and financial risk of safety incidents, the consequences of ineffective communications is rising. This is especially true if incidents harm the public.
There is a growing consensus emerging that the public has a role to play in ensuring their own safety around utility infrastructures that surround their homes and businesses. For the utility provider, it’s a matter of getting the right message out to customers through proper channels, ensuring that safety incidents are kept to an absolute minimum. It is also about making sure that people act appropriately to mitigate the effects of incidents that do take place.
Q: With the presence of an overwhelmingly digital audience, are utilities bringing alternative channels into play when communicating safety information? Have any industry best practices surfaced for effective messaging?
Durdov: Utilities are striving to understand their customers’ preferences better, to deliver a personalized experience. Different age demographics crave and respond to notably different kinds of communication -- such as a text message versus email versus social media -- requiring utility providers to have all channels covered.
Beyond the channels of engagement, utilities must understand context and cadence. It is important to plan and execute the necessary communications before major events occur to prepare customers to take appropriate action. Then there are crisis communications that need to happen during a storm event or catastrophic moment. Finally, utilities should put thought into how they can best discuss lessons learned and outcomes in the wake of major events.
Cadence -- or strategic repetition across appropriate channels -- is critical to ensuring that the community of interest remembers and internalizes what they should do to protect the safety of themselves, their family, their property, and their community.
Any clarity utility organizations can provide on how to handle potentially dangerous situations will ultimately keep customers as safe as possible, while also minimizing the potential aftermath of incidents. It will also promote trust, confidence, and satisfaction with their utility provider.
Croce: J.D. Power has observed a heightened awareness surrounding customer perceptions. That is why the utility industry is hungry for information on their customers that can help them design appropriate programs and communication strategies.
The challenge often presented when researching and developing effective messaging strategies, is the near constant threat of cuts to Utility communication budgets. Beyond regulatory compliance-level spending, communication budgets tend to be rather discretionary. Ultimately, this results in budget reduction during lean times.
The opportunity for improvement lies in a long-term rationalization for communications programs, including a consistent level of spending for these initiatives. Digesting feedback from customers will enable better understanding on what will resonate -- and by which channel -- with customers in order to promote appropriate action during disruptions or when other threats are present.
Exceptional operational information about safety is key for utility organizations when providing customers with time-sensitive directives. Collecting reliable field-level data can provide real-time information to share with customers during critical times.
The utility industry is facing unprecedented times. The opportunity for more frequent outages increases the probability of safety hazards. This issue is not going away and will be more critical as time goes on. J.D. Power is in a position to provide data and insights to assist in grappling with this issue for utility companies, now and in the future.
This data is vital and represents critical areas where all utilities are looking to optimize their safety spend. The relationship between engineering capabilities and collected data enables the development of actionable insights that keep customers safe.