For more than 180 years AGL has been committed to growing and innovating to enhance the lives of Australians.
Yesterday we announced our FY20 full year results, and while we’re pleased to be growing our customer base, we recognise it’s been a challenging year for our people, customers and communities.
We take our role as an essential services provider seriously – serving 28% of households across Australia – and that means putting our customers at the centre of everything we do.
Listening and responding
We’re committed to listening and responding to our customers – ensuring we’re there in the good times and the bad.
We have a ‘Customer Moments’ program where our senior leaders and directors participate in customer research groups and listen to calls to understand what’s on our customers’ minds and where we need to do better. We also regularly share webinars and podcasts with employees to bring the voice of the customer into AGL.
We’re guided by our purpose – ‘Progress for life’ – and values in everything we do, including how we support our customers and the community through challenging times. From the bushfires and drought that ravaged large parts of Australia earlier this year to the COVID-19 pandemic, we recognise there’s always more to do when it comes to supporting our customers, particularly in times of crisis.
Improving our customer experience
Our customers expect a consistent, seamless, and personalised experience through a range of digital channels. That’s why our customer experience transformation program – completed in 2019 – was so important in changing how our customers interact with us through a streamlined digital experience.
We’re putting power back into the hands of our customers by making it easier for them to manage their account and understand what’s driving their energy usage through tools like our Self-Service Meter Read and Energy Insights.
Customers with smart meters can now view their energy usage down to half-hour intervals on our app, allowing for greater accuracy and understanding of their usage patterns. Our solar customers can also view their solar generation on the app.
Through in-app messaging, customers can message our contact centre team directly instead of needing to call, while our native payments functionality means easy bill payment through a preferred payment method stored in the app.
Looking ahead
As we look to the future, we’re focused on investing in new ideas and expanding our portfolio of products to make them more sustainable, reliable, affordable, and useful.
This includes providing choice and value for customers through our multi-product offering across energy, gas, and telecommunications. It’s about connecting our customers to all essential services of the future.
Offering choice for our customers is part of AGL’s Climate Statement, which outlines our commitment to managing the energy transition in a way that supports our customers and the community. We’ve already seen more than 6,000 of our residential and small business customers choose to sign up to our new certified carbon neutral electricity product since it was launched in July.
We’re also exploring how we can deliver innovative, scalable energy solutions that will support the transition to a new energy system and provide another way for us to put power back into the hands of our customers – including batteries, smart homes, electric vehicles, and more.
It’s about actively engaging with our customers, listening to their feedback, and responding. And by continuing to keep the customer at the centre of everything we do, we’ll keep innovating and taking action to shape a better future for all.