Case Study: Utilities
When customer ratings take a nosedive, there’s a reason for it.
the problem
One of the nation’s largest energy companies conducts ongoing NPS tracking, measuring customers’ likelihood to recommend the utility. They weren’t seeing many significant changes in the numbers—and then the score dropped nearly 10 points in a month. Then, the score dropped ANOTHER 10 points the following month. The scores didn’t recover in the months after the decline, which meant the problem was still lurking in the shadows. The company needed to identify the issue—fast—so that they could start fixing it.
The Solution
They used Bellomy Text Analytics to pinpoint why NPS scores dropped so drastically during those two months.
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They leveraged Bellomy’s utility-specific AI topic model, which has been manually trained to deliver the most relevant and accurate insights for the Utility industry.
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They used Bellomy’s trending tool feature to look at month-over-month changes, focusing on topics that provoked increasingly negative sentiment.
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They looked at the impact of each topic to see which ones were causing the most damage.
The Results
Bellomy Text Analytics immediately revealed the problem: customers were angry about smart meters.
The utility ramped up smart meter installation around the same time that the NPS scores dropped, and many customers believed (incorrectly) that their new meter triggered a bill increase.
We used Bellomy’s tool to see which topics had the most negative impact on NPS scores during the months in question. “Meter” and “smart meter” were the most negative terms (with nearly 90% negative mentions) during those months. These terms previously didn’t even crack the top 10 topics in customer feedback in the year prior, so this was a clear indicator that the steep decline was due to customer confusion over smart meter installation.
Identifying the problem was the first step. Once the utility figured out why customers were upset, they were able to create a strategic messaging and communications plan with education on smart meters—emphasizing that they don’t have any effect on bills.
Bellomy’s case management feature was also an effective way to close the loop with customers who had concerns about their smart meters. The utility team used the tool to target negative comments about smart meters, then assigned each case to a customer service agent to clear up misunderstandings.
Trying to understand dips in your customer ratings?
Bellomy Text Analytics removes the guesswork, helping you diagnose changes in tracking studies so that you can proceed confidently to the next steps.