Boosting customer program adoption rates with market research and data science

Key takeaways

A municipally owned power and water utility saw room for improvement in the adoption rates and success of its customer programs.
The utility partnered with E Source on a current-state assessment, data science workshop, and custom market research survey to better understand customers’ perceptions and needs.
Moving forward, the utility can reach its customers more effectively by delivering the right programs and messaging to the right customers at the right time, improving adoption rates and the overall customer experience.

The challenge

A municipally owned power and water utility needed to improve program adoption rates among customers, boost customer satisfaction, and improve overall program success. The utility hadn’t asked customers for feedback in several years and didn’t understand its customers’ motivations, barriers, needs, or perceptions. With a challenge this large and important, the utility knew it needed help from the experts.

The solution

The utility partnered with E Source to design a process for better understanding and addressing its customers’ needs through market research and data science. After completing a thorough current-state assessment with utility leaders and focus groups and analyzing the results, E Source developed and facilitated two activities:

A territory-wide survey to examine customers’ perceptions of the utility, their expectations for current offerings, and their interest in future products and services
A data science workshop to show the utility how to make data-driven decisions around best directing resources and which target customer groups are most able to help the utility meet its goals

Then E Source provided iterative market research and advisory support as the utility worked through insights from the survey and their implications for program adoption.

The results

With new skills in data-driven decision-making, the utility will be able to reach and serve its customers more effectively. The utility now has the tools to deliver the right programs and messaging to the right customers at the right time, improving program adoption rates and the overall customer experience.