By Myrna M. Velasco
Published: July 9, 2013
SPEARHEADING THE MONTHLY MERALCO ADVISORY PROJECT – In photo are: Meralco Senior Vice President and Head of Customer Retail Services and Corporate Communications Al S. Panlilio; VP and Head of Marketing, Customer Solutions and Innovations Antonio Valdez and External Communications Manager Joe Zaldarriaga.
Electricity – at a time when it is still perceived to have a high price tag– is extremely difficult to package as a ‘sexy commodity’.
Even the promise of probable rate reduction upon kick off of the much-awaited full throttle competition in the industry via open access has been failing to soften tension between servicing power utilities and their customers.
With multiplicity of electricity suppliers, it was argued that market competition will reign and such can exert pressure for power prices to go down. What are the odds? It could be from infinitesimal to high probabilities – depending also on external factors that could affect industry fundamentals, i.e. increasing fuel prices.
From that context and compounded by technology inroads such as the social media, mobile apps and cloud applications as well as the well-anticipated full ‘smart grid’ invasion, what then will be the power utilities’ trump card when it comes to dealing with customers?
Power utility giant Manila Electric Company (Meralco) reckons the need to step up and retool its customer service approach – that is, to redefine “customer care” in such a way that the consumers will understand the message being communicated by its servicing utility – whether an explanation on rate adjustments, the innovative options available for them to cut down on their electric bills or even public service messages such as brownouts or network repairs.
Re-defining customer care
It has always been a love-hate relationship between the DU and the consumer, with the “hate factor” becoming visible when our high electric bills arrive. Apparently though, electricity even if it is expensive, is the necessary evil we can’t live without – because it is the basic commodity that gets us through our daily grind – at home, in the office or in our businesses.
That makes “customer care” then to be a hard sell; but power utilities are finding ways to put that relationship into a more balanced precept – or at least tilted into the more positive side – with the consumers viewing them as the partner that cares rather than just the corporate giant always hankering for their wallets or paychecks.
“We want our customers to know that Meralco cares for them … that we extend services and we help our customers find ways to save on their consumption,” Jose Antonio T. Valdez, Meralco vice president and head of marketing, customer solutions and innovation has enthused.
That “care element,” he explained, can be qualified and quantified by the steps taken by Meralco in providing solutions that can help their customers manage their usage so they can get the real value of what they pay for.
“We, in Meralco, have now made it our mission to empower customers on the smart use of electricity. Saving on electricity benefits the entire country as our supply is tight, and so what we have available can be for the mission-critical industries,” Mr. Valdez stressed.
Another manifestation of the utility firm’s concern for its customers, according to Meralco external communications manager Joe Zaldarriaga, had been the latest round of cheaper power supply agreements (PSAs) they cornered from private power generators – the likes of Sem-Calaca Power Corporation of the Consunji group; South Premiere Power Corporation and San Miguel Energy Corporation; Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. of AES Corporation; and Therma Luzon Inc. of the Aboitiz group.
At initial salvo in the electric bills early this year, these PSAs lowered Meralco’s procurement costs by P1.10 per kilowatt hour (kWh) compared to the rate under its lapsed transition supply contract (TSC) with state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (the transferee-company of its original counterparty National Power Corporation).
Communicating ‘bright ideas’
Last June when power rates were on uptrend, Meralco also fielded television “infomercials’ to inform their customers on the cost components driving up their electric bills.
It was a concept designed by the customer retail services group of Meralco led by its senior vice president Alfredo S. Panlilio; with support from Mr. Valdez’s group and the company’s external communications unit.
Mr. Valdez acknowledged that whatever “communication barriers” still towering between them and their customers” have to be broken down. The company’s view is that, even with the advent of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and even their own corporate website, there is a need to expand the “communication line” even through the traditional tri-media to reach out to wider base of constituencies.
From rate explanations, that messaging approach will soon evolve into customer service-related advisories, especially during emergency situations like in their “Typhoon Watch.” According to Meralco, it will also tackle energy saving tips under the company’s self-designed ‘Bright Ideas’.
“We have 24 messages already being lined up,” Mr. Valdez bared, stressing that “alongside a forthright monthly advisory on movements on rates, we give them tips on how to manage consumption.”
He further intimated that “our first episode featured the mobile app Meralco Virtual Engine or MOVE that helps customers understand their consumption per appliance.”
The ‘Bright Ideas’ communication track, he shared, has so far been gathering pace with many customers shifting to their recommended use of “induction heat cooker” instead of the “often safety-challenged” liquefied petroleum gas. And the same has been observed with their proffered air-conditioning installations at homes.
“We have been communicating ‘Bright Ideas’; our efficiency tips like using an induction heat cooker which is cheaper and safer than LPG,” Mr. Valdez said.
Cost benefit analysis
These communication strategies, the Meralco executive added, will not only aid their customers as to which gadgets or appliances must be in their “basket of choices.”
In the end, it will similarly help them do “cost benefit analysis” as to which ones befit their monthly budgets – an ironic twist of sort because this is one power utility actually telling its customer to save on its usage of electricity.
That could result in lower sales for Meralco, thus, lower profits? It could be! But Mr. Valdez said they want that engendered with “customer loyalty” – with them making their presence at a time when their customers need them for support beyond just reading their electric meters.
Onward, Meralco is also innovating on its service offers – such as prepaid electricity and even a possible diversification into the transport sector via deployment of support technologies for electric vehicles (e-vehicles) to be made possible with its planned multi-year P40 billion smart grid investments.
Meralco emphasized that it opts to see advantages past its product offers, it considers the bigger world which is being threatened with “climate change and warming risks” – if utilities like them will not properly acquaint their customers on smart and efficient use of electricity. source
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