Inflation in Britain is at its highest in 30 years, having risen to 5.4% in the 12 months to December 2021 and it is expected to reach 7% by the spring, according to the Bank of England.

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.

It doesn’t seem too long ago that the introduction of interactive voice response (IVR) received a rocky reception with many customers citing that they preferred to speak to a ‘real human’.

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.