Customer satisfaction

Customer convenience with Stedin

We ask our customers to give us feedback on our services immediately after completion of our works. We quantify a customer’s experience of convenience with a percentage (a Customer Convenience Score). The percentage shows the proportion of customers that experience high or very high convenience. For 2022, we are reporting on customer convenience and inconvenience for Stedin (excluding Zeeland) and for Zeeland separately. All targets were achieved in 2022.

Stedin customer convenience excl. Zeeland

The Customer Convenience Score rose to 81% in 2022, an increase of 6%. Customer inconvenience declined by 5%. The improved scores are mainly due to improvements in our service relating to connections. For example, the ease with which customers can now request a quotation and also schedule appointments improved in 2022. As in the previous year, our customers were positive about the way in which we install smart meters. And according to the scores, we were better at resolving problems in meter cupboards than in the previous year. Friendliness and expertise are terms that frequently crop up in customer feedback. Customers are very positive in particular about the speed with which our fitters fix problems (90%). The contact with the Central Outage Desk also contributes significantly to a higher convenience (86%).

Stedin customer convenience in Zeeland

In 2022, Zeeland scored well on customer convenience, with scores of 81% for convenience and 10% for inconvenience that were well above the target. The work performed by fitters also had a positive impact on the customer convenience experience in Zeeland as well. With regard to the installation, modification or removal of a connection, 71% of customers reported a convenience experience and 17% reported an inconvenience experience. However, we did witness a declining trend in convenience experience in 2022. This was mainly attributable to the large amount of work as a result of the energy transition, which lengthened lead times. We are working on improved customer expectations through better communication on lead times. As a result, this trend is now stable. The performance of the work by fitters is the decisive factor for smart meters, and this is experienced as positive in practically all cases. The customer convenience scores on problems in meter cupboards were also above target over the year as a whole. Here too, most customers mention the fitter as the main reason for a customer inconvenience experience, with professional expertise and a quick resolution of the outage frequently mentioned in the feedback.

Customer convenience in relation to market facilitation

In the annual measurement of the level of satisfaction of market parties in the cooperation with the grid managers, Stedin - like the other large grid managers - scored slightly lower than last year and thus lost a few tenths of a point on the benchmark figure. The smaller grid managers on the other hand saw a small increase in their scores. The differences are disappearing due to the ‘single entrance’ and processes becoming more uniform and all the parties are becoming more similar. The market assessed Stedin’s service provision with a score of 7.1 (compared with 7.3 in 2021) and customer convenience regarding dealing with requests was 59% (compared with 75% in 2021). Despite the good relationship, the main causes for the lower scores were expectations among market parties regarding the integration of Stedin Zeeland that were not fulfilled and backlogs at the service-providing departments.

Customer convenience in relation to electricity outages

This year, we also focused on optimising our service in relation to outages in the electricity grid. For instance, since April 2022 we have posted the expected end time of an outage in the low voltage grid on our website. We are also working on a text message service. Since mid-2022, customers experiencing an outage in the medium voltage grid have been asked by us to let us know how much inconvenience they experienced. 56% stated that they had experienced little or very little inconvenience, while 27% said the outage had been highly or very highly inconvenient. The main reasons for inconvenience were damage to equipment, having to reset electrical equipment and having no electricity.

Customer convenience in relation to a planned interruption to electricity supply

We carry out scheduled maintenance works in order to keep our grid in good order. Customers notice this because they sometimes have no electricity during these works. Therefore, in addition to our letters, we have developed an online campaign, which is featured on Facebook, to announce upcoming interruptions to the electricity supply. We also tell our customers why we are carrying out maintenance works and how this will affect them. As a result of this campaign, the number of calls we received about scheduled maintenance works declined by 30%.

Reporting of electricity outages via the website

We already had a functionality on our website that customers can use to report an electricity outage. This has now been expanded so that employees at the Central Outage Desk see these reported outages directly in their own application and can convert a reported outage into an ‘actual’ outage with one mouse click. This means we can send a fitter to the affected location earlier and also fix the outage sooner. This reduces the downtime. As customers also receive immediate confirmation that the outage has been reported, they are less inclined to contact the Central Outage Desk.

Lead time for low-use connections within 18 weeks (incl. Zeeland)

For 2022, it was our ambition to complete 90% of our connection works within 18 weeks or on the date preferred by the customer. We achieved this ambition, as we managed to do this in 95% of cases in 2022. The improvements made in relocating, installing and removing connections were effective. A few examples of this are given below.

Simplified quotation process

We focused on simplifying our quotation process. Approximately half of all quotations for simple works are now generated automatically. This shortens the processing time for all requests. Steps have also been taken towards automating more complex requests, for example by using photo recognition. More automation enables us to use our human capacity for really complex activities. We are also working towards a situation in which customers pay the costs stated in the quotation while the request for the works is still pending. They can then make an appointment immediately online on a date that suits them. This shortens the lead time for the request by more than 10 days.

Planning appointments online

Customers appreciate the flexibility they have when scheduling their appointment online. The process by which customers can schedule an appointment themselves is regularly evaluated and provided us with a great deal of input as to how we can improve our online scheduling service. This year, we could conclude that our customers were very satisfied with the online scheduling of their appointments, and therefore very few changes were required in 2022. We are very pleased to be able to conclude that this process is working adequately.