Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG) has announced the availability of the Convergys Smart Retail Energy Solution, a next-generation billing and customer care offering for retail energy providers.
The system for both gas and electric retailers is designed to improve productivity, reduce costs, and eliminate redundancies across the customer lifecycle. This, in turn, grows margins by streamlining supporting processes, including forecasting, rating, billing, collections, and commissioning.
“With deep experience developing solutions for competitive markets, Convergys technology is a perfect fit for the retail energy market,” said Bob Lento, President, Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions. “The Convergys Smart Retail Energy Solution provides an ideal combination of business agility, time-to-market, and scalable capacity capable of supporting retail energy businesses as they compete, expand and grow.”
Retail energy providers face volatile markets marked by intense competition and driven by thin margins. In order to help retail energy providers overcome these challenges, the Convergys Smart Retail Energy Solution delivers specific value in each segment of the customer lifecycle.
• Targeting and Acquisition – Create offers of unique products and services that are lifestyle-linked. Drive offers across multiple communication mediums, including social media.
• Multi-channel Sales and Service – Capitalise on unrealised up-sell and cross-sell opportunities and maximise service impact through tools and technology, such as portals and mobile device applications.
• Rating and Billing Flexibility – Implement configuration-driven processes from new product design through billing to gain first-to-market supremacy and accelerate expansion, including both simple and complex rates that adapt quickly to changing business conditions.
• Customer Service – Improve CSAT with a 360-degree view of the customer that spans multiple channels, proactive outreach, call containment strategies and a customer front end tailored to retail energy processes.
• Risk Reduction and Profit Maximisation – Improve forecasting and settlement and drive ideal customer operations that flatten process, eliminate redundancies and improve margin.
• Churn Reduction and Win-back – Provide real-time context-sensitive offers to prevent churn and win back former customers through intelligent loyalty programs.
“Given our recent announcement with E.ON IT, the Smart Retail Energy Solution hits the market at just the right time. This solution is especially designed to support retail energy providers in various stages of maturity,” according to Eran Ofir, General Manager for Global Utilities, Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions. “The solution – available in license, managed service and private cloud models – minimizes upfront investment, business risk and impact to existing systems via a modular deployment that enables retail energy providers to solve for today’s challenges and evolve to meet those of tomorrow.”
