ATLANTA, Oct. 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today in Sacramento, Jim Malcom, Apogee Executive Vice President, shared the firm’s new customer engagement solution for low income utility customers at the 8th annual Behavior, Energy & Climate Change Conference. This growing segment is increasingly difficult and costly for utilities to engage and serve. They tend to be expensive to serve due to the number of times they call, the number of truck rolls associated with service interruptions, and their inability to pay their bills. As a result, they also tend to be a drag on the customer service scores.
“These customers are not hard to identify, they are hard to engage and influence using traditional methods,” said Malcom. “Apogee’s service reduces costs and increases customer satisfaction by making these customers aware of how they use energy, how they can control their energy bills, as well as making them aware of the payment options best aligned with how they are paid.”
Apogee’s groundbreaking behavioral solution, EPIC (Engagement Platform for Information and Communication), uses simple, timely, personalized, automated communication methods widely proven effective with the general population and customized to this segment’s special needs.
EPIC is targeted to mobile phone users and employs multiple channels including email, SMS/text, and social media. The program approach is perfectly suited to the low-income trade allies and community agents including churches, non-profits, and community action agencies. This multi-channel strategy extends the reach and fills the gaps of traditional communication approaches.
According to Susan Gilbert, Apogee CEO, “Lower income customers spend a disproportionately large percentage of their paychecks on energy and create most of the billing and payment inquiries. Apogee customized our time-tested tools to proactively engage and assist these customers, demonstrating their energy provider cares while giving customers a sense of choice and control in their lives.”
Customers learn to manage their energy use, improve the comfort of their homes, and lower their bills, while utilities benefit through increased customer satisfaction and reduced costs to serve.
Contact kmorris@apogee.net for complete details of the presentation and how EPIC is enabling utilities to connect with and better serve their low-income customers.
Apogee Interactive, Inc.
Apogee Interactive is one of the nation’s leading providers of customer engagement software services for the energy industry. Partnering with utilities since 1993, Apogee’s digital engagement platform delivers proactive, personalized communication to consumers nationwide. Apogee’s proven SaaS platform enables more meaningful customer engagement, proven sustainable energy results, reduced operating costs and improved program performance for utilities. For more information, please visit www.apogee.net and follow on Linkedin and Twitter at @apoweb.