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This study will help you connect the customer to the utility by providing customer feedback on many of the strategies energy service providers (ESPs) commonly use to communicate with small and midsize business customers. We interviewed more than 900 energy decision-makers at small and midsize businesses in the U.S. and Canada to identify the most effective sales and marketing channels for communicating with businesses in the Grocery, Restaurant, Education, Lodging, Industrial, Retail, Office Buildings, and Healthcare market segments. These survey respondents gave their preferences relating to 9 community-related activities, 17 communication channels, 6 business association partnerships, and 10 web site-related features. In addition to providing feedback on each of these specific channels, we explored general customer perceptions of their ESPs, including overall satisfaction, preferences for contact, and web site ratings and evaluations.
For more information on the full study, download a PDF of the prospectus.
You may also purchase specific areas of the study separately or in combination, in the following modules.
Module 1: Community Events & Communication Channels
This module addresses ESP communication channels in two ways: First, we explore customer preferences for contact about general information, and then we examine customer perceptions of the appropriateness and effectiveness of specific channels for promoting products and services.
Module 2: Business & Trade Associations
Industry-specific or trade organizations, chambers of commerce, and professional organizations are the most common types of trade association memberships. Over a quarter of our respondents report they have received energy-related information from the organization they most actively participate in. Additionally, our findings include data on which business type is most likely to be a member of an ethnic or gender affinity association and what levels of engagement respondents have with their business association.
Module 3: Utility Web Site Visitation
Because the web is of particular interest to utilities as a communication channel, we have researched the effectiveness of utility web sites in great detail in this study. In addition to inquiring about overall visitation and perceptions of utility web sites, we asked survey participants about the types of content and information that would increase their likelihood to visit their ESP's site.
Download a PDF of the results flyer.
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