Supporting customers through financial challenges

The Staying Connected program at Icon Water is not just about looking after customers when they’re struggling financially. More importantly, it’s about meeting a strong social expectation that water authorities will always look after all of the community. 

“As we came into the pandemic, most utilities quickly moved to consider how to support our customers in that moment of significant uncertainty,” said Davina McCormick, General Manager Customer Engagement at Icon Water. 

“We did a couple of things straight up, including making a decision to freeze prices that first year.” 

At the same time, Icon Water considered who should be part of the customer support program, traditionally designed for residential customers. The decision was made to bring small business customers into the fold. Then the utility analysed more broadly its role in the community. 

“We looked at how we impact the community, and how we act in a fair way that balances the need to continually invest in assets with how we help customers who are struggling financially,” McCormick said. 

“We talked to the community and received a clear message not to delay prudent and efficient investment, but at the same time it was really important that we consider those who may be struggling.” 

The real challenge, McCormick said, was to identify, understand and communicate effectively with those in financial difficulty. 

Seeing into the future

At Unitywater, Insights and Research Lead Celia Farnan has been facing a similar challenge. 

The business has not just been focusing on understanding who is currently facing financial hardship; it has also been looking for ways to predict who would likely face such issues in the near future. 

“We took a data-driven approach to understand what that looked like in our customer base,” Farnan said. 

“In simple terms, we use what data we already have. We look at different kinds of variables that might highlight that a customer might be having financial hardship.” 

For example, if a customer extends the payment terms on their bill, it could hint at future financial challenges, although that’s not conclusive on its own. If a bill is paid late over two or three quarters, that’s another indicator. 

“We put different indicators together into one model, and that can help us predict which customers might be in financial stress,” she said. 

What then is the result of that data? Does Unitywater approach individuals directly with offers of help, for example? 

“It’s not an approach we’d make on an individual basis,” Farnan said. 

“It might be the case that if our credit team is talking with a customer and they see some of those indicators, it gives them a better understanding of the customer and they can deal with that accordingly. Or, there might be a communication sent to a group of people flagged as potentially more vulnerable, that will give them more relevant information.” 

The current process involves a simple traffic light system, with red being the most vulnerable people and orange being those who could tip over into red. Yellow is a less critical to-watch category and green, the majority of customers, are those showing no signs of vulnerability. 

“This information helps us because it makes our conversations with customers more insightful and relevant,” Farnan said. 

Communication is key

For similar purposes, Icon Water has launched a research study into the lived experience of people who are struggling financially, McCormick said. It will result in the organisation being able to communicate more effectively and on a more relevant level. 

“During COVID, everything was done very quickly,” she said. “Now, we have the opportunity to speak with those customers directly, to understand their lived experience as well as talking to those that advocate for them.” 

Work conducted so far has identified the fact that those suffering financial challenges are not necessarily those who are unemployed or underemployed. 

Often they are employed, with young families. Sometimes it is caused by sudden illness or a significant life event. Many are 25 to 40 years of age, with dependent children or other family members living in their home. 

“Financial vulnerability can hit anybody,” McCormick said. 

“We want to understand the different types of vulnerability and hardship and what that means to those customers, in their own words. Only then will we truly understand and with their involvement design support options that best support their needs.” 
 
This article was originally published in the Australian Water Association’s Current magazine.