High-quality products and services

How can we improve the quality of our products and services even further? This is a question that we work hard to answer every day, with each other as well as with our customers. That is how we maintain the vitality of our services.

New measurement method; customer satisfaction

On 1 January 2020, Stedin introduced a new method to measure customer satisfaction: the Customer Effort Score (CES). As we want our customers' experience of transacting with Stedin to be effortless, we ask them to rate the ease or difficulty of their experience. We continuously measure customer satisfaction as regards connections, smart meters and failures.

We view the contact our customers have with Stedin employees as an essential part of this experience. After all, they make the difference. To understand what they appreciate, on the one hand, and to gather input for continuous improvement, on the other, we ask customers how enthusiastic they are about this contact. It is in open feedback in particular that customers share valuable ideas. The new measurement method means that it is not possible to compare the figures for 2019 and earlier years with those for 2020.

Customer convenience overall

Customer convenience in 2020 exceeded our ambition: 74% of customers report experiencing ease or considerable ease. The target for 2020 was at least 68%. In particular, customers are positive about smart meter installation and about our approach to remedying failures. Customers have a very positive opinion about our fitters.

In terms of lack of ease, 16% of customers report high-effort or very high-effort service experiences. The target for 2020 was no more than 19%. Although this means that the target was reached, the result is not yet in line with our ambition: we want to be below 10%. The main cause driving this score is information provision. A large proportion of customers feel that they are not kept sufficiently updated about progress/status and any changes affecting previously made agreements. 

Customer satisfaction at DNWG

Customer satisfaction at DNWG was the same in 2018 and 2019, scoring an average of 7.8. In 2020, this figure was 7.6. We contact consumers and small business customers with requests for low-use connections a number of times to make substantive arrangements and match up expectations. This focused attention is appreciated by customers, resulting in a consistently high score. We plan to implement this approach among the project developers DCO and corporate/industrial customers as well. This calls for good coordination in the chain, with a corresponding dashboard. We made extra efforts in this regard in 2020.

In the second half of 2020, DNWG began converting its customer satisfaction survey into measurement of the customer effort score. This has now been implemented for the failure response procedure, and the DNWG customer effort score on this aspect is 84%: low or very low effort. From 2021, both Stedin Group and DNWG will report on the same KPIs for customer satisfaction using the CES metric.

Comprehensive customer profile

In 2020, we took the first steps with the 'comprehensive customer profile', which ensures that all relevant customer information is readily available in one place. It gives a complete, 360-degree picture and provides all customer-facing employees with direct access to the right information during contacts with business customers and consumers alike. As employees no longer need to search across different systems for past queries and requests, orders, letters and telephone call records, we can ensure a personal experience for every customer contact moment. It also guarantees increased speed, ease and transparency, which in turn helps us to be more efficient.

In 2020, we implemented the comprehensive customer profile for several departments, including Key Account Management, contractless parcels and non-contracted consumption.

Customer convenience for connections

It was agreed that the customer convenience for connections should be at least 44% for 2020 as a whole. The current average figure is 50%. This more positive score is largely due to increased customer contact and reduced lead times.

Fast connection times therefore lead to a considerably improved customer effort score. Consequently, we are actively discussing with our partners how lead times can be shortened, for example by speeding up the process to obtain the necessary permits.

In 2020, we took steps to ensure that changes to connections for low-use consumers are implemented within four weeks. Acting through the product teams, we implemented a series of process optimisations and put in place reporting in 2020. This enabled us to establish that we met 50% of the requests within four weeks for the product 'Downgrading' and 37% of requests for the product 'Reinforcement' in 2020. This approach will be developed further, and it is our expectation that, in 2021, we will meet 55% of requests relating to downgrading and reinforcement within four weeks.

In order to ensure better information for customers, we will implement improvements in our order track & trace procedures in 2021. We will also make it possible for customers themselves to schedule an appointment for certain simple work. We will also measure convenience as regards the contact with municipalities, public authorities and COMBI contractors in terms of purchasing products in this way in 2021.

Time limit of 18 weeks for connections

For 2020, it was our ambition to complete 84% of our work within 18 weeks or on the date preferred by the customer. In particular, the abrupt suspension of work during the first COVID-19 wave meant that we were unable to achieve our target for 2020. Work was initially suspended for several weeks in mid-March 2020. Work to be performed outdoors was the first to be recommenced, with due regard for the COVID-19 measures and using additional means of communication and work instructions. We were able to make up the backlog for 90% of the work. The work that needed to be carried out at customers' homes or in small spaces in teams of two was affected by delays the most.

In 2020, we carried out or met 43,030 projects/customer requests, of which 84.6% within the period specified.

It remains our ambition in 2021 to progress toward the target previously set. In this light, we maintain dialogue with parties in our environment, to accelerate the granting of permits, for instance. We also invest in dialogue with customers to enable us to determine the impact on our grids in the planning phase.

Customer convenience for smart meters

Our customers continue to be convenient with the offer and installation of smart meters. We received a high customer effort score from 88% of customers, with 4% of customers reporting that they had experienced a 'high effort' service interaction. These are good figures, and it is noticeable that the customer scores were higher after the start-up and the changed planning method than before.

Customers tell us that they really value having control over the scheduling of visits by fitters. If, for whatever reason, the appointment is not convenient, they can easily rearrange it themselves, even on the day before the scheduled visit.

Customers often highlight the friendliness and politeness of our fitters during the visit. They are also very satisfied with the speed of meter replacement. The explanation of the steps to be undertaken and how the meter works generally receives a positive review. At the same time, this is given as a recommendation to fitters who gave no explanation of how the meter works. Fitters are also occasionally late for an appointment or may even fail to turn up at all. In open feedback, customers point out that there is insufficient communication in this regard from Stedin. This would suggest that they generally do not mind if an appointment is cancelled, provided that they are told in good time.

Offering smart meter installation to our customers was suspended for a long time in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We were forced to stop this work on 16 March. Smart meter installation was recommenced in June, following a successful and carefully executed pilot in May. During the period when work was suspended, part of the temporary workforce was also scaled back. We decided not to scale up again later in the year, as the expiry of the large-scale roll-out of smart meters at the end of 2020 made it unnecessary to build this capacity up again. We replaced 158,758 meters in 2020. While this is less than we had planned, we will nonetheless complete the large-scale connection of smart meters in early 2021.

Completion rate of smart meter installations

Number of offers

Completion rate (in per cent)

Transition to the mandate from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy

In 2021, we will start on the additional mandate from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The Ministry is preparing a bill that will provide for the phasing out of the netting scheme. This will require low-use consumers to have a meter that can separately measure the amount of electricity supplied and the electricity returned to the grid. This can be a smart meter, or alternatively a digital meter that is not capable of being read remotely. From 2021, and for a period of two years, grid managers will repeat the offer of a suitable meter capable of separately measuring consumption and feed-in to everyone who does not yet have one. The bill will make acceptance of the smart meter obligatory and is expected to be passed in the course of 2021. The aim is additionally to increase the number of smart meter installations in order to facilitate the energy transition.

The transition to the Ministry's mandate entails a downsizing of our smart meter organisation. Over a period of 18 months, we went from 696 FTEs to 376 FTEs at the end of 2020, including a reduction of 164 FTEs in our temporary workforce. The professionals employed by Stedin can easily be re-assigned elsewhere in the organisation, as we are experiencing an increase in other orders, such as reinforcement of customer connections for a charging point, for example. The number of orders to disconnect homes from the gas grid is also increasing each year. Many employees show interest in another position within Stedin, which makes any major restructuring unnecessary. By the end of 2020, 120 employees had switched jobs within Stedin in this way.

Improved operational planning helps fitters

In 2020, we implemented a series of improvements that are intended to help our fitters in their work. Fitters are given the space, where possible, to carry out other work as well between visiting customers. An example is taking manual readings of meters. They can also fix problems in meter cupboards if they have time on their hands, for example when a customer visit has been cancelled.

Customer convenience with regard to failures

Our customers continue to be convenient with the level of service provision in case of failures: 83% gave a high customer effort score, corresponding to a low-effort experience, while 9% reported experiencing a 'high effort' service interaction. We therefore achieved our targets of at least 75% for low customer effort and no more than 10% for high customer effort. The high scores in the second quarter stand out in particular: customers greatly appreciate the fact that the service engineers continued visits to homes in spite of COVID-19.

Our customers are also positive about their contact with Stedin's Fault Desk. They are appreciative of the tips about what to do and rate the quick response of the fitters as a positive experience. However, customers also report that it is not always clear in advance that they may be billed (for call-out charges).

Customers are very satisfied in particular with the work the fitters do. The fitter really makes a difference. The fitters' speed of response is singled out for appreciation. In addition, our fitters are often viewed as knowledgeable, competent and friendly.