The results are in. According to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, a six-year streak of improving or flat customer satisfaction with residential water utilities has come to an end.
Andrew Heath, Senior Director of Utilities Intelligence discusses key findings of the study.
TRANSCRIPT
Alanna Maya: Hi. I'm Alanna Maya of my for WaterWorld magazine. The results are in and according to JD Powers' 2022 U.S. Water Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study a six-year streak of improving or flat customer satisfaction with residential water utilities has come to an end. Andrew Heath, Senior Director of Utilities Intelligence at J.D. Power, has joined me today to discuss the key findings of the study. Thank you, Andrew, for joining me again this year.
Andrew Heath: Great to be able to join you, Alanna. So while the overall score was lower, the satisfaction scores in several parts of the country were a little bit different and some were even flat.
Maya: So can you talk to me about the various discrepancies in the results here?
Heath: Sure. Yeah. We we every year will survey every utility that is serving populations of more than four hundred thousand. So that's actually nineteen water utilities across the nation. And you're right, we had a decline overall of six on a thousand-point scale. So first time we've had a decline. But as is often the case, that's not a universal.Some parts of the country, the Northeast, for example, scores held up. We actually got the same score we got the last year. The areas where we saw the biggest, in fact, double digit declines were the Midwest and the South. So some of the customers there were reporting lower satisfaction than we'd seen for for a while.
Maya: And what contributed most to the decrease in customer satisfaction scores this time, based on your research?
Heath: You know, what we'll do is we look at the answers from the customers. We look at all the various factors driving satisfaction, the product itself, the quality, reliability, price, conservation, communications, billing and payment, and then also customer service of those six. Probably no surprise for everyone. The one that went down the most was price. So price dissatisfaction explains a lot of what was going on with the scores and the feedback we were getting from customers this year. Yeah, the results show that the average bill increased a little bit over $5 this year.
Maya: So does that rise and pricing correlate with a higher use, maybe with more people staying at home towards the end of the pandemic? Or has that trend continued?
Heath: We looked at it. We actually have a different story. If you think of it. We've actually started it's been the last two studies pretty much cover the last two years of being in the pandemic. The first year, it was clear that what was going on, that it's a residential survey, more people were at home and consequently more people were just using more water. So their average bill went up. That changed this year. That's not the case. We actually asked customers, are you using more water than last year? Things like that and actually that just went back to normal levels. So yes, we were still in for a lot of us in lockdown and a lot of people still impacted by the pandemic. But it was much more the actual rates that were having an impact. So one question we asked people is, did you know about a rate increase recently? Most consumers really don't pay that much attention to the water utility. So we're got to keep that in mind. But it was still the highest number we've seen. So over a third of people saying, yeah, I was aware that the rates have gone up this year. That's really what is driving these lower price satisfaction scores. So even though most people were aware of those rate increases, it seems like they were getting some communication from their water utilities about that. But one of the other areas that was pointed out in the study was that utilities we're not communicating that well with their customers.
Maya: So can you talk to me about what an area of opportunity this presents for water utilities?
Heath: I think it's a challenge for all businesses and maybe even more so for water utilities. You know, when things aren't going the way you want them to any business, there's a tendency or a risk of staying quiet. It's really the exact opposite. You need to be getting out there, communicate clearly when costs overall are rising. Explain why that might be helped. People tell them what they could do to save water. One thing we'll do is we get all the feedback from the customers is we looked at the things that they've experienced from their utility and how that has had an impact on the levels of satisfaction. So there were two areas that really stood out. Most of them relate to electronic or digital experiences. So when you have a customers telling JD Power that they'd heard a message through some form of electronic media, email, social media, the website then their actual satisfaction scores go up 79 index points a significant impact. And a similar thing happens when customers choose to use digital channels like the website or an app as part of the way of getting an answer to a question. So when that happens and they choose to self-service and they use one of those digital customer channels, again, almost the same number, the the impact on satisfaction is significant. So both of those are areas I think the whole industry could focus on to provide solutions that will drive up the satisfaction scores going forward.
Maya: What are some ways that water utilities could improve their communication skills then to ensure that their message is delivered at the right time in the right format, that their customers will receive it and ingest it in the right way?
Heath: Yeah, I think it's the biggest one by far is volume. We have a real simple question, Do you remember hearing from your water utility? And it's a startling number of people who say, actually, no, I don't remember hearing anything. So number one is might contact get information out when you have the opportunity to get messages regarding things that customers care about. Conservation is a very good one. Throughout the nation, we're facing water shortages, especially over in the the southwest and the West. What can the water utility do to help customers navigate through trying to use less water? What are the impact of the restrictions? What are the solutions that the utilities make available to customers that will allow customers to help? As we're all trying to conserve the water resources we have.
Maya: So what are the next steps then, with this information? How can utilities move forward to bring their scores back up to where they were in the last couple of years before?
Heath: I always think it's a few things that always keep the focus on the basics. Reliable, high quality water will always be number one. Doing everything we can to keep the water affordable and providing support for customers that are going to be payment challenged. Keep that billing and payment process smooth and then think through all those aspects we've been talking about, Alanna, regarding better communication, clear information regarding conservation, and when people do reach out, make sure that they've got a great experience available to them through digital channels. Don't just think about the phone. It's primarily the digital solution that customers are wanting to use these days.
Maya: Great. Thank you so much, Andrew, for taking the time to speak with me today.
Heath: My pleasure. Great to see you again.
Maya: For WaterWorld Magazine, I'm Alanna Maya.
