Southern Utility Company Case Study
Today’s competitive environment requires utilities to become as efficient as possible. Call centers represent a significant cost opportunity.
The Challenge
A Southern Utility Company realized that its call center costs could be significantly improved. All calls were being serviced from their generalized internal call centers, at high unit cost. The utility company recognized three problems with their approach: High absolute unit costs; Limited flexibility in the event of a natural disaster or other unexpected event; Inability to focus internal skills on “premium” call types deserving a higher per call investment.
TSI Approach
Within 30 days of contract signing, TSI had 50 agents dedicated to the utility company’s calls. After six months, based on performance, the utility company moved the call volume from three more operating companies to TSI, while simultaneously making a system conversion. TSI absorbed the extra volume in less than 45 days.
TSI maintains more than 150 dedicated agents in a facility devoted to the utility company’s first party utility outsource programs. Since our agents are focused on specific call types, they are more efficient than universal agents juggling many call types. By strict adherence to client policy and procedure, we prevent consumers from “shopping” calls to many agents in the hope of obtaining a better deal.
TSI has worked with the utility company to reduce unit cost and volume:
- A TSI -recommended change in the management of telco costs resulted in substantial savings.
- TSI implemented procedures to reduce repeat callers.
- TSI implemented customer care programs including surveys, energy efficiency, etc.
- TSI expanded the program with 24×7 coverage for outage/emergency calls.
The Results
Significant Cost Benefit TSI now handles more than 50% of the utility company’s call volume—more than 200,000 calls per month. Since the program began, their cost to handle those calls has fallen by 50% per call.
Above Average Consumer Satisfaction
The utility company has also benefited from higher consumer satisfaction. On their customer surveys, TSI gets better marks than five of their six call centers.
Improved Flexibility
The TSI relationship has given the utility company the additional strategic flexibility it was seeking. Call volume can be moved to or from TSI in a matter of hours.
As a result, they can try new programs, respond to emergencies, and benchmark best practices easier and quicker.
Disaster Relief
The TSI staff proved to be invaluable after the Katrina disaster, assisting with outage calls and keeping the utility customers informed. Meanwhile, the TSI technology team was able to improvise a VPN solution that kept communications up and running throughout the crisis.
50%
Cost Reduction
200K+
Monthly Calls Placed
90%
Better Customer Experience
Customer Lifecycle Interactions
Customer Experience / Care Management
Inbound & Outbound Voice CX & Care Programs Back-Office Functions Performance Analytics Flexible Global Staffing
Business Process Outstanding
Data Input Document Processing Verification & Validation Exception Processing
QA Monitoring & Reporting Business Analytics & Modeling
First Party ARM
1st Party Collections Pre-Charge Off Program Support Inbound & Outbound
Early Stage / Care Based Brand Protection
IT Adaptability / Flexibility
Third-Party Debt Collection
Post Charge-Off
Primary & Secondary Late-Stage Recovery Innovative Technology & Approach Propensity to Pay Analytics
