For utility businesses, efficiently managing customer billing based on usage is critical, but also extremely challenging. Customers need to be given the option of monitoring their usage to understand how it is linked to their billing plan. They also need to be able to choose a billing plan and a payment cycle that fits the needs of their business.
But for utilities, offering such capabilities is excruciatingly difficult, unless they have a CRM-focused subscription billing platform in place!
Driving a better customer experience with CRM-focused billing
A modern CRM-focused platform allows utilities to efficiently manage customers as well as their interactions through an end-to-end revenue generation experience. It offers a ton of capabilities across subscriber management, a service desk, self-care portal, shopping cart integration, and much more.
Here’s how you can drive a superior experience through a CRM-focused subscription billing platform:
- Quick onboarding: Since the onboarding experience can make or break the relationship utilities have with their customers, a CRM-focused platform ensures that the customers’ profile is set up and their subscription is activated efficiently and in a timely manner.
- Customer autonomy to manage subscription: A CRM-focused platform delivers exceptional customer autonomy to manage their subscriptions. Utilities can set up one account with multiple customers within it, and customers can easily control their subscription plans using a single interface – right from updating account information, changing contact info, or adding new payment. Customers can also view their invoices, make payments, and instantly download payment receipts.
- Automated subscription lifecycle management: A powerful CRM solution automates the majority of subscription management and renewal processes, driving billing efficiencies. Using the platform, utilities can track information across a wide variety of information including what subscription stage the customer is currently in, and send out renewal notifications for those nearing renewal date. Utilities can also easily manage trials, assign credits, issue refunds, and even make mid-cycle changes, if required.
- Centralized service desk: With A CRM-focused subscription billing platform, utilities can also offer a centralized service desk, which customers can reach out to if and when they face any issue. Customers can raise tickets using the service desk and utilities can record customer interactions and responses via multiple touchpoints. They can assign different SLAs to different types of issues and ensure high-priority concerns are quickly addressed and resolved.
- Real-time reporting: A modern CRM platform also allows utilities to focus on the interactions they have with their customers and proactively assist them as and when needed via advanced reports. By constantly gathering information about subscriptions, preferences, and interactions with the business, utilities can unearth valuable data and insights and use them to drive real-time reporting. Such reports can help influence important strategic business decisions as well as strengthen relationships with customers.
Ultimately, having a CRM-focused subscription billing platform makes it much easier for utility businesses to better automate administrative processes, enable flexible billing, leverage robust reporting, and lower operational costs while constantly driving value.
