What Drives Customer SatisfactionPresentation for Customer Vision Stakeholder Working Group I May 25, 2018

Meet the team

Bobbi Schroeppel

VP-Customer Care, Comm & HR

What do top-performing companies look like?

Source: JD Powers

Our Customer Intent Statement

Our Customer Life Cycle

• Two virtualized Contact Centers (overflow each other)− Butte MT and Huron SD− Staffed 7am – 6pm M-F and 8am – 5pm Saturday− 24/7 Emergency response

• Office Hours 8 am – 5pm M-F• Customer Interactions Channels supported today

− Phone − Email− Web Inquiries and service requests− Walk in interactions

• InService (Outage and Workforce Management system)− Customer Requests are routed electronically to our field

resources− Certain orders auto close when work is completed in the

field− Less resources to process orders− Leveraged non billing meter reads to close service

requests

Current structure

Customer-focused quality

First contact resolution - phone

82.97%

69.32%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

N_W_E 29 Combo Utilities

Source: 2018 JD Power Electric Utility Residential Study through 3rd wave – 29 (combo) electric & gas utilities in the study

• 18 Walk-in Locations• Montana (7)

• Butte• Bozeman• Helena• Missoula• Billings• Great Falls• Kalispell

• South Dakota/Nebraska (11)• Provides additional channel and touch

point for customers• Branded and designed with customer in

mind

Customer service walk-in locations

• Personalized Payment Assistance

• Energy Assistance/Low Income

• Weatherization• Home Energy Audits • Medical Account

Assistance

Customer assistance

Online outage map

• Report Street lights (GPS)• Out of power • Text and email notifications• Planned maintenance• Current weather conditions• One of our TOP web page hits

Website traffic

• 1,375 customer created out of power notifications since January 2018, vs. calling

− Significantly higher adoption rate compared to our IVR and Online Customer Care

• We average between 6-8 street light problems per day since providing this feature on our map using GPS location

• The news media relies on the map to provide outage info• April 2018 stats:

− 13,250 customers visited the outage map (4 min view time)− 147 Street light problems reported through the map− 293 enrollments in outage notifications− 900+ text and email outage communications sent to

customers

Our customers love it!

PQR Index by number of outage information points

NorthWestern Energy1.92 outage information points recalled

Source: 2018 JD Power Electric Utility Residential Study through 3rd wave – all brands

• Unified Communication Project• Expanding Customer Interaction

Channels− Social Media− Chat (future chatbots)− SMS (texting)− Routed emails− IVR with authentication and predictive

analysisFuture− Chatbots with AI− Natural Language Processors

• High availability one contact center• Web co-browsing• Work volume forecasting and

workforce optimization• Foundation for omnichannel• Tentative go live Q4-2018

Future enhancements

• Allows customers to choose what kind of information they want to receive

• Promotions• Special Offers• Outage Notifications• Payment Reminders• Payment Confirmations

• How frequently they want to receive the information• Which communication channel is the best to reach them

• Email• Text• Phone• Chat

• Allows the utility to utilize customer preferences to communicate relevant, personalized marketing campaigns

• Increases customer engagement & customer experience

Customer Preference Center

• Billing− Paper bill− Paperless− Web Access− Budget Billing − Summary bill

• Payment− Mail (42%)− Customer Service Walk-in Locations

(9%)− Western Union/SpeedPay (18%)

− Text Alerts− In-house EFT w/Pick a Due Date (16%)− Internet (14%)− Energy Assistance (1%)

Billing & payment options

Customers’ payment preference

30.1%

18.7% 19.1% 19.4%

2.2%3.1% 4.6%

0.4%2.2%

21.8% 21.3% 21.1% 23.8%

2.7%3.8%

2.6%0.9% 2.0%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

N_W_E All Brands

Source: 2018 JD Power Electric Utility Residential Study through 3rd wave – all brands

JD Power verbatims – convenience fee

• “ACCEPT CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS WITHOUT AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE”• “not charging a fee to pay by credit or debit card”• “I would like to be able to have my bill charged to my credit card. It is the way that I

keep track of my spending.”• “You're charged a fee if you want to pay over the phone or use a debit/credit card.

That means I try to save that money by mailing a check each month. but then I still have to pay postage.”

• “You cannot pay online without being charged an additional fee. Seems ridiculous in this day and age so we have to mail a check every month.” (relates to credit/debit card fees)

• “Auto-pay to a credit card without additional charges.”

Question: What, if anything, could be improved with the billing and/or payment process?

• Least Cost Resource− Acquire DSM at cost less than

other energy supply alternatives through Rebates and Custom Incentives

− All ratepayers benefit− DSM Program participants get

dual benefito Favorable effect on total

costs and bill reductions from saved energy

− Environmental benefits− Full cost recovery

Energy Efficiency- Demand Side Management (DSM)

• Public Purpose Categories• Local Conservation: Audits & Appraisals• Market Transformation: Training/Publications• Renewable Generation & E+ Green• Research & Development: Safety Training• Low Income

− Bill Discount− Energy Share − Free Weatherization

• Large Customers: Self-direct Funds

Energy Efficiency- Universal Systems Benefits (USB)

Energy Efficiency: electric program reporting

• We currently have three self-service websites: − My Energy Account− Real Estate Corner− Community Action Corner

Online Customer Care

Top “My Energy Account” visits

• Account Dashboard• Pay My Bill• Billing Statement• Billing Information

− Charges/Payments• Contact Information

− Update to mailing address, email and phone number

Recent enhancements…..pay online

What’s coming….ONLINE Landlord Portal

Research before action

20% of our Customers

3% of our Customers

14% of our Customers

20% of our Customers27% of our Customers

16% of our Customers

Our channel funnel

• OBJECTIVE: Increase number of customers on EZ Pay through segmentation

• RESULTS: 5,890 customers signed up for EZ Pay = 4.53% response rate

Example: Paid Campaign

• OBJECTIVE: Increase number of customers on e-billing and EZ Pay prioritizing efficiency

• RESULTS: • 1,881 customers enrolled

in e-billing• 2,148 customers enrolled

in EZ Pay

Example: Owned

Bill insert

EmployeesOffices

Facebook

Website

• OBJECTIVE: Identify unique opportunities to highlight and share our work

Example: Earned

Channel recall

70%Reported to have seen at least some type of advertising from

NorthWestern Energy in the past few months

And finally what impact does it have

Those who recalled seeing some type of ad, had better views of the company:• Overall satisfaction • Willingness to advocate on the company’s behalf• Confidence in the company• Reputation pillars and net reputation• Overall likeability of the brand

• Volunteerism• Economic Development• Charitable Contributions• Local Sponsorships

Supporting our communities

• Individual and Group• Employee Volunteer Appreciation

Grants• Team Participation Grants• Paid Time Off

Volunteerism

A big lift in Corporate Citizenship results when a customer is aware of utility employees volunteering in the community.

2017 JD Power Residential Electric Utility Study results

775

669

640

660

680

700

720

740

760

780

800

Yes No

NWE - Corporate Citizenship - Seen Utility Employees Volunteering

21.5%

78.5%

• $150 grants on behalf of an employee who has donated at least 20 to 31 hours of personal time during a work year to a qualifying non-profit

• $250 grants on behalf of employees who have donated 32 hours or more of personal time during a work year to a qualifying non-profit

• $100 grants for each employee who participates as a team member at a company-sponsored event such as a music festival or a fundraising relay

• We pay individual employee grants annually and team grants quarterly

Employee volunteer appreciation grants

• Company Endorsed Volunteer Activity

• Activity that is formally endorsed by local Charitable Contribution Committees or Executive Management

• Paid as a company-endorsed volunteer activity

• 8 paid hours per employee per year

• ½ PTO + ½ CEVA after first 8 hours

Community service policy

• Community leadership− Boards− Committees− Financial Support

• Infrastructure support− Upgrade of aging facilities− Brownfield re-development− Matching new business with existing

infrastructure• Business retention, expansion & attraction• Leverage Key Account activities• Funded through shareholder dollars

Economic Development – our role?

Corporate citizenship and community involvement matter to our customers

• Associations & Dues - $188k• Scholarships - $75k• Charitable Contributions - $456k• Sponsorships - $485k• United Way - $186k

Corporate giving

• Brand Ambassadors• Workforce Development• Expanded Internships• Economic Impact Grants• Site Certification Assistance• Expanded Volunteerism

Offerings

On the horizon