Customer Communications
A complex service, simply communicated
Heat networks are more complicated to manage and provide services for, and often customers have less experience of them than other heating systems. This makes good customer service and communications a vital part of heat network management. Getting it right means better service and fewer complaints. As the heat network market moves towards full regulation, we know that customer service will become ever more central to how networks are operated and a central part of the new statutory obligations.
Issues
Customer communications can bring significant challenges for housing providers and property managers:
- Explaining complex heat networks in a meaningful way for customers
- Fuel price changes impacting multiple customers and tariffs
- Keeping track of the customer journey from when they first find out about the property, through move-in and residency to moving out
- Ensuring customer service and communication remain compliant with regulations and that contractors deliver your customer service standards
Chirpy Heat can help you create customer communications which are timely, clear and compliant which will help to minimise queries and complaints that can become an administrative burden. Chirpy Heat can also undertake a full review of all existing customer communications to ensure they meet best practice industry standards. It ensures they are fully compliant and work in harmony with your organisations existing customer communications.
Chirpy Heat can support you with:
- Heat Agreements, ensuring your heat agreement is clear and compliant, advising on best practice and inclusions
- Tariff communications – drafting literature which explains heat tariffs to customers, including why and how tariffs are set and the impact any changes will have
- FAQ documents explaining what it means to live on a heat network and providing customers with key information and additional support routes
- Literature for changes to tenancy, for example when a heat network property is advertised for sale or rent, and at the start and end of a tenancy, lease or ownership.
Case Study
Chirpy Heat was commissioned by a client to support them in the way they communicate to their customer about heat networks. We started by developing bespoke communication principles for the client to adopt, based on their own internal and external drivers and then reviewed their existing customer communication material to see how it measured up. We also developed a stakeholder map to identify key communications throughout the customer journey. All of this was then brought together in draft communications for the client to use, including:
- ‘What is a heat network’ guide
- Tariff explainer
- FAQ, including what to do when something goes wrong
- Additional content for their external website
- Briefing for internal colleagues
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