At AVANGRID, we know that utility companies are unlikely to achieve a “most preferred brand” status among consumers, but that doesn’t mean we should ever stop trying to reach that goal. We believe benchmarking our customer satisfaction scores against Amazon, Apple, banks, and hotels will help shift our focus from the industry to you—the customer.

To start, we’re looking at the seven most common journeys or experiences that customers have with AVANGRID and are redesigning those journeys from start to finish. So, for example, emails, websites, call center processes and all other touchpoints are being considered as part of redesigning the customer journey—whether you have a service disruption, questions about your service, or are moving to a new home.

The first customer journey on the docket to be revamped is the move-in/move-out experience. For that and other journeys, we have big ideas about to how to simplify your interactions with us. From self-service options to eBill and automated meters, the digitization of the entire customer experience is on the horizon.

But what if the future of serving customers that we envision is not the same vision you have?

Before any large-scale changes are implemented, the AVANGRID Customer Experience (CX) and Digital Strategy team is going straight to the source for inspiration—you! They’re is planning in-depth interviews and focus groups to see how customers interact with the AVANGRID operating companies, and where they might be getting stuck.

The goal is to experience AVANGRID products from your perspective. This process is known as the customer centered design thinking process and includes empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing—all before the changes are ever implemented.

“We want to know what about your experience with NYSEG makes you angry, what emotions a call to CMP brings to the surface, or how being a UI customer could absolutely delight you,” explains Samantha Subar from the CX team. “As a utility company, we want to give you everything they want and need so that eventually, you don’t have to contact us. You’ll be able to determine and control the way you use energy to fit into your lifestyle.”

While not all customers may be comfortable managing their utility accounts digitally, AVANGRID is moving toward more automation in several aspects of the business, while still accommodating customers who prefer more traditional methods. Perhaps a hybrid model will work for those customers who are hesitant or don’t have the means to adopt new payment systems.

But AVANGRID can’t know unless it asks.