EDF Luminus

Making a complex process customer-oriented

Moving impacted customer churn. Clients seized the occasion to examine their relationship with Luminus.

From the perspective of the energy provider moving a client is a very complicated process, whereby the organisation is highly dependent not only on the distribution system operator but also on the accuracy of the information provided by the client.

And what did this mean for the client? A seemingly endless series of phone calls to the customer service. It was actually easier to just end the agreement with the existing energy supplier and sign on with an entirely different one after moving.

The moving process had already undergone a series of revisions. Which systematically resulted in an improvement. But this time Luminus wanted something more radical: to completely rethink and develop the way of working from the perspective of the client and his needs.

A small scope with big impact

We brought together the managers who directly or indirectly impacted the moving process in a Moves task force. We then secluded ourselves during an entire working week to really examine what the energy sector generally perceives as self-evident.

We started from the viewpoint of the customer and defined the ideal customer experience from that perspective. We made sure we all shared the same crystal clear vision from the get-go. Or as Núria Van den Wyngaert (Marketing Manager SME and project front-runner) puts it: “This isn’t going to be ten percent better, but ten times better.”

Only then did we get started with the processes. There were quite a few obstacles and practical objections. And we overcame each and every one of them. Not by straying from our vision because of system limitations, but by systematically looking for solutions that are completely in line with our vision.

We tested the new approach to moving on a smaller level first. With four engaged collaborators and 300 customers. The goal? Making exceptionally satisfied clients.

The positive feedback from clients provided the drive that we needed to make the entire team enthusiastic, and then implement the new way of working in the organisation.

Spectacularly high customer satisfaction

Of the 300 clients in our test phase, 98% was more satisfied with Luminus after the move than before. In the old process this was 0%, which we knew from earlier surveys.

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) went from -42 to +45: an increase of 87 points.

More sales

The new process also had an effect on sales: because we had satisfied customers on the phone, it turned out to be a lot easier to recommend other products and services to them. The result? A total sales increase of 30%.

Fewer costs

The pile of paper that Luminus used to send out in the old system was three times as high as the Eiffel tower. Yes: the one in Paris. Right now the pile measures seventeen meters, and it decreases every month. The total project resulted in a 28% cut in costs.

Efficient process

For the client the moving process ends with the final bill of the previous address. In the old process this took eight to ten weeks. In the new process: two weeks.

The Contact Centre Award for Customer Experience

Luminus also received acclaim for its new approach. Articles were published in the magazine of Vlerick Business School and the case served as an example in a Forrester paper. But the true icing on the cake was when Luminus won both the Belgian Contact Centre Award for Customer Experience and the public award.