As part of its green mission, Ekwateur, helps its customers reduce their energy impacts not just through providing cleaner energy but also by promoting more efficient consumption. For example, it provides customers with various tools for monitoring and controlling their consumption, such as connected thermostats, smart home hubs, a mobile app, and energy-saving advice and tips. Since its launch, it’s supplied more than 200,000 smart energy meters across France: 58% to consumers and 42% to professionals.
In 2021, seeking to build loyalty and scale up its operations, Ekwateur partnered with Konecta on its customer relations. Initially, a team of around 20 Konecta advisors supported the green energy provider to enhance its B2C and B2B customer service and collections; this has now grown to around 60 team members as Ekwateur successfully builds its customer base.
A key element in elevating Konecta’s customer experience and loyalty has been Konecta’s expertise in employee experience. Konecta’s team of advisors are central to the partnership, together with Ekwateur’s customers, with a strategy built on autonomy and collaboration. In practice, then, what does this involve?
Firstly, it’s about proximity, as Sarah Rayon, Customer Experience Director at Ekwateur, explains: “Our teams regularly visit the Konecta team on-site to present our new products, offers and news, as well as to engage and inform our advisors on the subject of climate change, for example, through the Fresque du Climat [a climate science learning workshop].
“As a result,” she continues, “We are supported by people who are experts in what they do as well as being committed to both their profession and the environment.”
Secondly, and using the insights made possible by proximity, Konecta’s advisors have autonomy to make personalized offers to customers when it seems appropriate – which could involve anything from a wedding or birthday to temporary financial difficulties.
Thirdly, there’s a strong focus on the voice of the team, with advisors encouraged to share their feedback and flag any pain points; these could cover a wide range of issues from billing and payment instalments to the deduction of ‘Cheques énergie’ [government help with energy costs for low-income households in France].
All these elements – and particularly the importance placed on employee feedback – have contributed directly to a process of continuous improvement, helping reduce incoming calls and improve first call resolution.
There are wider benefits too, especially in terms of innovating to improve. Each quarter, for example, Ekwateur's IT teams (product owners, squad leads and developers) consult advisors on what they need in terms of evolving the advisor tools and the digital platforms offered to customers. Changes resulting from this consultation have included the IT at Ekwateur upgrading the functionalities of its mobile app.
Employee voice also contributes to the development of Ekwateur's customer portfolio and Proof Of Concept (POC) projects. In fact, Konecta has been a driving force behind new ideas for offers aimed at building customer loyalty and acquiring new customers, including referral offers, a student moving pack and a family pack.
In pursuit of yet greater proximity and collaboration, Ekwateur and Konecta have unleashed further market disruption, with the launch of ‘collaborative customer service’. The initiative offers customers the opportunity to become advisors themselves by taking charge of customer prospects and contacts via chat and occasionally helping to process e-mails. Each contact is remunerated - another way of helping customers save on energy costs.
