Power Sector Company Uses Discovery to Map Customer Journey

In the energy sector, delivering efficient and transparent service to customers during power outages is crucial for maintaining consumer satisfaction and trust. Companies in this industry face the ongoing challenge of improving user experiences, especially in critical situations like power outages. To address this reality, it’s essential to map the customer journey, identifying touchpoints, pain points, and improvement opportunities.

One of the largest and oldest electric companies in Brazil hired act digital to conduct a Discovery process focused on the customer journey during power outages. This approach represents the first step in implementing product or service-related solutions. In this phase, methodologies are employed to discover actionable opportunities and validate hypotheses according to established processes and the needs or expectations of customers.

The goal of this project was to map the entire customer journey from the onset of the outage to complete resolution, proposing solutions to enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. A key aspect of act digital’s approach was delivering insights with the necessary actions to make the suggested improvements feasible.

Want to learn more about how we mapped the customer journey and the improvements identified? Continue reading to discover all the details of this successful case by act digital.

Client: leader in innovation and universal access to energy

The company that hired act digital for the Discovery process focusing on the customer journey during power outages is one of the largest and oldest electric companies in Brazil. With over 100 years of history, the company is dedicated to ensuring universal, fair, and efficient access to electricity, operating across the entire country.

Recognized as the largest private national company in the electric sector, it serves 8 million customers in 875 municipalities. Its diversified portfolio includes nine electric power distributors, 12 transmission concessions, and innovative initiatives in distributed generation, energy commercialization, and value-added services.

Recently, it expanded its operations to include natural gas distribution. Committed to energy transformation and sustainability, the company stands out by connecting people and businesses to the best energy solutions, promoting comfort and economic development throughout Brazil.

Challenge: understanding service processes during power outages

The company faced the challenge of improving the user experience during power outages. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to map the entire customer journey in these situations, identifying pain points and improvement opportunities at every touchpoint. The company needed to review its processes to ensure that consumers were aware of the progress of their requests and received clear and quick information about the resolution of their problems.

The project aimed not only to identify touchpoints but also to propose a new “to-be” journey that delivered value and operational efficiency. Identifying opportunities throughout the processes would allow for the implementation of solutions that increased customer satisfaction and service efficiency, ensuring more transparent and effective communication between the company and its consumers during power outages.

Solution: mapping the customer journey and identifying improvements

To address the identified challenges, act digital developed a comprehensive Discovery project focused on the customer journey during power outages. This mapping aimed to identify pain points and opportunities, propose solutions, and project tangible and measurable gains by observing aspects of people, processes, internal areas involved, systems, and tools.

Methodology used

The project included on-site immersions at the company’s units located in the cities of Eusébio (CE), Cuiabá (MT), and Porto Velho (RO). In these locations, in-depth interviews were conducted with customers and company teams, along with field visits (shadowing) to directly observe the challenges faced.

This approach allowed for the validation of initial hypotheses and the identification of specific needs, such as differences between rural and urban areas and communication channel preferences. Each journey addressed in the workshops focused on situations to be analyzed, and from these points, it was possible to identify improvement opportunities, such as those exemplified below.

- Emergency Communications Journey: continuous communication with the customer from the beginning of the outage until the power is restored, using artificial intelligence to integrate data from all technical systems and distribute information through service channels;

- Emergency Call Back Journey: proactive flow of verifying the customer’s situation during and after the outage, unifying and providing information on callbacks and recurrences in the work systems;

- Scheduled Shutdown Journey: unifying information for the customer across all channels, tracking the status and stages of scheduled outages, and sending satisfaction surveys with detailed analysis.

Resources and Technologies Used

- In-depth interviews: to understand the pain points and needs of both customers and the company;

- Shadowing: direct observation of processes in the field;

- Qualitative and quantitative research tools: to validate hypotheses and collect data;

- Artificial intelligence: to integrate and parameterize data, improving communication with customers;

- Collaborative workshops: for co-creating solutions with the company teams.

Scope of the Discovery Process

- Qualitative research with company customers: seven participants;

- Quantitative research with company customers: sample of 90,000 participants;

- Qualitative research with the company’s internal team: 46 participants;

- Workshop: 24 participants from 10 company areas.

Results: expectations for improvements and operational efficiency

The Discovery process carried out by act digital is part of an initial stage of improvements to be made by the client, but it is essential for the next steps to be executed. From the implementation, the presented proposals have the potential to generate consistent results in the long term.

Expected benefits from implementing the proposals

- Reduction in average service time: improved operational efficiency by decreasing the number of unnecessary calls and callbacks;

- Unification of internal information: ensuring a continuous and integrated end-to-end data flow;

- Increased customer dialogue: promoting more proactive and transparent communication, raising customer satisfaction indicators;

- Creation of synergy between various areas: enhancing collaboration between different departments and internal companies, resulting in a more cohesive and efficient operation.

How we can help your company

In the dynamic and competitive energy sector, understanding the customer journey is fundamental to providing efficient and satisfactory service. We specialize in conducting Discovery processes that reveal deep insights into consumer needs and expectations. Through methods such as in-depth interviews and field visits, we map each touchpoint and identify improvement opportunities in internal processes and customer communication.

Our personalized approach allows us to develop tailored solutions that meet the specific needs of your business while driving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. We combine our expertise in data analysis and process automation with innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to create integrated systems that enhance proactivity and transparency in customer communication. We are ready to help your company transform challenges into opportunities and achieve consistent and measurable results.

Transform your customers’ journey with act digital and see how our Discovery approach can revolutionize your service. Contact our specialists today.