The electricity industry is changing rapidly. The first years of liberalisation mainly brought competition between utilities. The separation of supply (retail) from distribution, however, and the introduction ofcompetition for residential customers has taken the electric utilities out of their familiar territory into the stroppy waters of fighting for the consumer. Quite a change of paradigm! UNIPEDE, one of the two founding organisations of what has now become The Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC, has decided to analyse in detail the challenges created by this paradigm shift and the starting position of its members in comparison with existing consumer. | 111 UNION OF THE ELECTRfCiïY TNDUSïï èurelectric SPARKING Best Retail Marketing Foreword The electricity industry is changing rapidly. The first years of liberalisation mainly brought competition between utilities. The separation of supply retail from distribution however and the introduction ofcompetition for residential customers has taken the electric utilities out of their familiar territory into the stroppy waters of fighting for the consumer. Quite a change of paradigm UNIPEDE one of the two founding organisations of what has now become The Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC has decided to analyse in detail the challenges created by this paradigm shift and the starting position of its members in comparison with existing consumer retail champions. On behalf of UNIPEDE The Boston Consulting Group conducted a best practice study of customer relationships and retail marketing of UNIPEDE members and their performance compared with world class practice insectors such as telecommunication and electronic commerce. In order to get a comprehensive picture the study investigated ten important retail quality drivers call-centres customer communications staff development complaint management product ser-vice development branding sales channels advanced customer understanding customer loyalty and e-retailing. The results are based on customer focus groups utility interviews and extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of best practice performers in other business sectors. More than sixty members of The Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC have actively participated in what has become the first comprehensive analysis of electricity retailing in Europe. The study has been designed to help utilities in identifying the areas for action and the instruments to use. This brochure provides an overview of the main results. The detailed report on Customer relationships and retail marketing is available for survey participants and EUR-ELECTRIC members.
