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Utilities - Effectively Benchmarking Customer Care
E SOURCE, Oct 2003, Pages: 22
'Benchmarking' has become an intellectually fashionable business concept, but its really just a new-fangled word for what, in essence, is an old-fashioned practice: comparison. Utilities can use the strategy to dramatically improve the quality of their customer care, but a working knowledge of benchmarking basics is essential if managers want to avoid wasted effort and maximize performance gains. Careful conceptualization is key: Successful initiatives begin with the end in mind and make prudent use of a variety of benchmarking options, including internal performance tracking and participation in regional and national cooperatives in which other utilities share dozens (sometimes hundreds) of performance metrics.
But effective benchmarking is not just about data—or other utilities. Increasingly, progressive utilities are looking outside the energy industry—often to retail and service companies—for best practices in customer care. Successful benchmarking ultimately depends on the utilitys knowledge and flexibility to go wherever these practices are found; often, an approach where the utility looks at both its own practices and those of other companies yields the most valuable information. Implementation is the final step; without a commitment to applying the insights revealed by benchmarking, the most well-conceived initiative is little more than an intellectual exercise.
This report, which includes a number of case studies, looks at the benefits of benchmarking customer care services, at utility benchmarking practices, and at ways to successfully benchmark your companys performance against that of others.
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