Navigating Consumer Behavior Change in Energy – How will You Rise to the Challenge?

Consumers are more aware than ever of the effect that energy has on the environment and on their own daily lives. This creates a need for high-quality and personalized service. Succeeding in today’s energy business requires comprehensive knowledge that covers not only traditional energy production, but also developing customer-friendly digital services.  

Energy is essential in modern society, and we cannot function without it. People’s awareness and knowledge of their own energy consumption has increased significantly over the past decade. Along with the green transition, consumer behavior has changed and is still changing. Business models that have previously been successful are now losing ground, but the change also unlocks a vast number of new possibilities.  

Changes in the energy sector create new possibilities, especially for developing digital services. It is essential to anticipate future trends and smoothly measure up to their needs. Customer-oriented thinking and listening are key factors in creating digital solutions that meet the needs and expectations of consumers.  

3 Roads to Success: 

1. Trust is now more important than before. Consumers’ expectations have grown, and they expect reliability and transparency from their energy service providers. Operators in the energy business must get closer to their customers and gain a deeper understanding of their needs.
2. Fast flow of information is in a key position. Customers expect to be informed of disturbances and changes immediately, preferably before they affect their energy services. Proactivity is an asset.
3. Costs are no longer the only significant factor in the choices of customers. Customer experience, reliability, and green values have become more and more important when choosing energy services.  

A data driven approach opens up the opportunity to predict and react quickly to abnormal situations. With an understanding of the rapidly changing environment, you can ideally adapt to new situations proactively and guide the business in the right direction. By collecting data and continuously learning from it, you can improve your services in terms of reliability, predictability, and efficiency. Preventive measures decrease the effects of unexpected disturbances, improving customer experience and customer retention. The improvements should therefore not be considered as a one-time action. Instead, they should be considered as a continuous part of the business that helps the company gain a competitive advantage in the future.  

Therefore, a wide success in the energy business requires broad vision and competence. Improvement of digital services, profound understanding of the field, strong customer orientation, and service orientation are the key factors that open the path to the future of energy business.