Brief
As part of SSE's inaugural in-house design team established in 2023, we aim to significantly reduce reliance on non-digital services by 80% and enhance self-service options for our customers. Our analysis of SSE's service channels has revealed that Change of Tenancy (COT) requests are among the top interactions, frequently initiated via emails and phone calls. Additionally, "moving premises" ranks among the top search terms on the SSE website.
Outcome
During the research, we have uncovered:
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4 problem areas with solid user data evidence
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10 recommendations with measurable values
The opportunities have covered:
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7 digital and non-digital channels
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8 cross-functional teams
Quantitive Data
COT requests are among the top interactions
Among all the interactions with our customers, COT remain one of the most common requests especially in our email and frontline area. Additionally, "moving premises" ranks among the top search terms on the SSE website based on our GA data.
However...
COT Request Monthly Tracker
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Majority of customers are using phone calls (10%) and email (73%) to notify SSE of business property move.
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Over 80% of the COT cases rely on manual process manually.
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Among all the COT requests via email and telephony, more than 60% of the cases are providing moving premises information which can be easily self serve
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The absence of standardised procedures resulting in delays of up to two months beyond the Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Categories of COT cases via non-digital channels
Service delay & Process confusion are where the issues from
Our voice of customers (VOC) data highlighted that customers are being left in the black hole without transparent and proactive communication. In addition, with a very limited self served option leads to the traffic on email and frontline.
AS IS Journey Mapping Workshop
I lead a kickoff workshop with key stakeholders, product owners, and designers in the project, Our aim is to:
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Comprehend the Current COT Process: Gain a clear understanding of the existing procedures.
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Collaboratively Develop an 'As-Is' Customer Journey Map: Analyse customer experiences to identify benefits and pain points.
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Identify and Prioritise Common Issues: Collect and rank the most prevalent challenges encountered during the journey.
Step1 _ Introduce customer journey map & persona
Using quantitative data, we created draft journey maps and personas, using this opportunity to introduce end-to-end journey mapping and demonstrate its business impact at the start of the session.
The Simplification Seeker
Energy is only part of my job, I need help to manage the energy for this complex business effectively
Profile
I am a managing agent or manager working in/with a SME/large business with complex needs
I prefer to pay via direct debit to save my time going through regular payment process
As I have a limited time but the business is moderately financially stable. I will be able to cope with shocks, but will struggle to change
We are starting to look at energy efficiencies but lack the time to implement them
I am open to self serve if systems are straight forward to use and service is streamlined
Needs
Support to consolidate my supply into one simple account
Efficient account management, where I can easily complete tasks for multiple meters
To understand where all my meters are located
Help to understand what efficiencies I could be making and how to implement them
To be able to report on supply decisions made
Step2 _ Playback current data and cluster the painpoints
With our VOC data we clustered the insights and demonstrate the customer sentiment path matches with each behaviours. The aim is to show our stakeholders the current as is journey which part has created the most frustration to our customers.
Step3 _ Role play: A day as an advisor in SSE
To gain firsthand insight into the process, we spent the rest of the workshop with our advisors, observing the daily operations of the COT customer service team. This experience allowed us to understand the challenges they face, the complexities and technologies involved in managing COT requests.
Brainstorming
During a recent Program Increment (PI) planning session, we presented the findings from our COT discovery and brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to collaboratively explore insights and opportunities. Participants co-created innovative solutions and built on each other’s ideas throughout the session.
Customer is annoyed by our poor self serve option
#CustomerSentiment
They need to spend a long time fill in all the details
#PainPoint
How can we provide a more secure and efficient self serve option for COT?
#Opportunities
Detect the typo automatically
#Service
Link API so all customers details can be pre - populated
#Evolve
Create a self serve journey in customer portal
#Digital
Only asking necessary information
#Service
Manage expectation at the very front of the service
#Service
Shorten the current self serve journey
#Digital
We clustered and synthesised stakeholder ideas from the session, organising solutions and suggestions into distinct move-out and move-in journeys.
Playback & Prioritisation
To date, we have completed two end to end journey maps for both move in and move out experiences, covering:
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Frontline interactions: Customer touchpoint with advisors, including step by step sentiment changes.
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Backstage support: Back office activities, technologies, and systems involved.
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Strategic layer: Key insights, opportunities, and potential solutions to guide next steps toward a more customer centre digital service.
We facilitated a playback session with digital product, operations, and IT stakeholders to prioritise research driven recommendations and begin aligning them with measurable business impact.
Next Step
The next step, I reached to the wider collaboration team to start implementing the solutions
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Clean out the contents in the website
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Create entry point for digital channel
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Streamline the submission journey
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Start making active and transparent conversation in between customers interaction