One of the things that caught my eye in the Institute of Customer Services UK’s (UKSCI) most recent report on customer satisfaction was the suggestion that a growing number of customers are prepared to pay more for improved service.

As we’ve seen, next-gen customers are increasingly expecting more from their energy suppliers. They want their providers to adopt lower carbon technology, use smart meter data to improve billing visibility, simplify microgeneration and integrate with other sectors, such as insurance.

Capita’s white paper explores how focusing on empathy, kindness and sincerity will equip organisations to help their most vulnerable customers.

Companies today are dealing with an increasing range of vulnerable customers and should remember that seemingly small changes can have a significant impact.

As we’ve mentioned in a previous article, 2021 saw smaller UK energy suppliers cease trading and exit the market at an unprecedented rate.

The second year of the pandemic has seen more people in the UK slide further into debt and organisations need to recalibrate their response through empathetic collections.

Treating customers with empathy has been an increasingly important area of focus within the customer experience industry.

Since January 2021, global market forces and, more recently, soaring natural gas prices have forced no fewer than 14 smaller energy suppliers to cease trading.

More consumers can now choose to charge an electric car at home, generate their own electricity from solar panels, track their energy usage with a smart meter and turn their washing machine on wirelessly when their energy is at its cheapest.

As we’ve noted before1, next-gen energy consumers are prioritising household and community technologies that support the UK’s drive to carbon net zero.