An important component of AGL’s strategy is to transform from being a mass retailer to being a trusted, personalised energy retailer. We have aimed to provide customers with tools to navigate the complexities of the energy market through our product and service offerings

By doing so we aim to build customer trust and loyalty, reduce customer churn, and reduce customer complaints. We listen to what our customers are telling us about the way they want to use energy and manage energy consumption, and design the products and services we deliver to meet our customers’ needs.

We have continued to focus on improving our customer experience throughout FY18 by enhancing our customer-facing channels, including our digital channel, to make it easier for our customers to interact with us. We operate in a highly competitive retail environment, so improving our customer experience remains a core part of delivering on our strategy. Our Customer Charter provides clear standards of service that customers can expect from us on key issues impacting their energy accounts.

Our annual net promoter score declined compared to FY17, decreasing from -18.7 to -24.7. This can be attributed partly to the increased focus directed at the energy industry over FY18, including some negative media coverage. Improving our Net Promoter Score will continue to be an area of focus over FY19.

We monitor a range of indicators to measure the quality of our customer experience. Visit the data centre to view or download information on the following topics:

• Net promoter score
• Ombudsman complaints
• Customer churn rates
• Customer numbers by location and fuel type

In August 2016, we launched a customer experience transformation program, designed to deliver our customers an industry-leading digital experience. Some of the important aims of the program have been to increase our net promoter score, reduce churn, increase digital sales and usage, reduce call volumes, and introduce new ways to take our products and services to market and for our customers to interact with us. Throughout FY18 this program continued to drive digital adoption amongst our customers, and deliver unique customer experiences that build trust, advocacy and loyalty, and that put customers more in control of their energy consumption.

These initiatives helped drive increased use of digital self-service channels over FY18, with annual monthly average of 2.49 million My Account and other digital interactions⁵ taking place per month, up from 1.57 million in FY17. This will continue to be a focus into the future, and we have set ourselves a FY19 target to achieve a 30% increase in the monthly average usage of My Account and the AGL App as compared with 30 June 2018 (see Product innovation section).

Digital sales have also increased, doubling channel share in new sales and retentions compared to FY17. Overall there has been a high level of customer satisfaction with AGL’s digital channels, with a net promoter score of +35 for AGL's digital channels for FY18⁶.

Development of energy consumer charter

AGL is working to increase the focus on the consumer within the broader energy industry. We are one of fifteen energy companies from across the supply chain that has committed to the development of a consumer charter that would progress the culture and solutions required to deliver energy in line with community expectations.

The goal of this charter is to reconnect the energy industry with our customers and local communities through transparency, values and collective accountability. It is an investment in the culture and conduct of energy businesses to place customers at the centre and to deliver better, more sustainable outcomes over time.

The charter represents the first whole-of-supply-chain initiative to address community expectations together. Supporters are committed to playing their part in delivering solutions that will move each part of the energy industry closer to customer expectations.

It is anticipated to be a principles-based disclosure regime that would be applied to all businesses across the gas and electricity supply chain with a focus on the core actions required for the energy industry to deliver better customer outcomes.

The energy charter will seek to achieve this through:

• Clarity of expectations: Confirming expectations of performance of each part of the energy supply chain, and how that fits with the purpose of delivering energy in line with community expectations.
• Consistency in reporting: For easier comparison across energy businesses to identify performance on customer outcomes.
• Increased transparency: Disclosure to identify leaders and laggards in the sector to improve standards and outcomes for energy customers.
• Engagement: We will work with consumer advocates, industry, institutions and government to ensure the charter is appropriately targeted.

Assisting customers to manage energy costs

Over FY18 we continued to focus on developing products and services that minimise customers’ energy costs and improve the transparency and clarity of their energy bills through a number of initiatives:

• Online payment arrangements: we recognise that customers who are experiencing difficulty paying their energy bills may be uncomfortable phoning our customer contact centres to arrange payment extensions due to their disinclination to reveal details of their personal circumstances. This can lead to high levels of customer debt and intervention from AGL. To support these customers, in February 2018 AGL released our online payment arrangements initiative. This initiative allows customers to request a one-off bill payment extension via My Account, eliminating the need for them to phone AGL customer contact centres. This function can also be used to arrange future payments bundled with arrears payments. This has been well received by our customers. Within the first two months of release, thousands of online payment extensions were made, with no detriment to payment extension lengths, along with improvements in kept extensions.
• Here to Help: we estimated that collectively, our customers were missing out on around $9 million worth of grants or concessions available to them. In January 2018 we launched a digital solution called ‘Here to Help’, which allows our customers to access information and applications for energy concessions, rebates and grants. Within the first three months of its release, over 4,000 customers had visited the ‘Here to Help’ site, hundreds of concessions have been applied to our customers' accounts, and more than one hundred grant applications have been made.
• PayMyWay: PayMyWay allows customers to set up regular payment amounts (of their choosing) to proactively manage their energy bills. Customers have responded well to this initiative, taking control of how they pay for energy, and reducing the instance of bill shock at the end of the quarter.
• Bill smoothing: In May 2017 we implemented improvements to our Bill Smoothing functionality which provides customers with greater flexibility on their payment preferences. The service allows customers to smooth out their estimated annual billing into predictable, regular intervals. Customers are able to select their payment date and frequency, and are provided regular updates on how their actual costs are tracking compared to their payment amount. Our bill smoothing plan has delivered significant improvements to the pre-existing product, specifically in customer experience and communications, system controls and business processes.
• AGL Prepaid: As outlined in the Product innovation section, in March 2018 we introduced a new way for our Victorian smart metered customers to manage their electricity consumption and costs with AGL Prepaid. This product allows customers to prepay an amount that suits them, when it suits them, and provides them with access to bonus credits based on their top-up amounts.
• AGL Essentials: Also as outlined in the Product innovation section, in FY18 we launched a new, low fixed-rate, digital-only energy plan available to Victorian residential customers, called AGL Essentials. This product offers fixed rates for 12 months and enhanced energy cost monitoring tools. This was also launched in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales on 1 July 2018.
• Energy plan online comparison tool: Many of our customers are telling us that they find comparing different energy plans confusing, so we’ve delivered a tool to make it easier. 'Tool to Compare' lets prospective customers quickly assess whether an AGL electricity plan is more competitive than their current retailer’s plan. It is also a valuable tool for current AGL customers, providing increased transparency and an easy way to be in control and make informed choices. AGL customers can use it to assess whether they are on the optimal AGL energy plan and whether they could save money by switching to a different AGL plan.

Innovative and convenient ways for customers to pay bills and manage their accounts

As discussed in the Energy prices and affordability section, energy prices can comprise a major proportion of people’s and families’ living expenses. We have aimed to make it as easy as possible for our customers to manage their energy accounts, and pay their bills, by activating a number of industry-leading account management and payment options which have provided our customers with greater choice, flexibility and security:

• My Account: After its launch in FY17, an increasing number of customers continued to register for My Account, which offers customers improved visibility of their energy usage and various self-service options. As of June 2018, 44% of customers are registered for My Account, the AGL App and other digital services.
• Variety of payment options: Customers are making use of the variety of payment options available to them, with a 14.6% increase in the number of direct credit card payments made to AGL in the twelve months till May 2018. There also continues to be an increase in the number of customers opting to use AGL’s digital billing capability, with over 50% of customer accounts (1.8 million) registered for e-billing at the end of June 2018, which represents an 18% increase during FY18. Customers can also now sign up for SMS Pay, which sends customers reminders when payments are due and which also seeks authorisation from our customers for automatic payment. Further, our Pay Now Bank service allows customers to make one-off bank account payments via My Account or over the phone, potentially avoiding credit card merchant service fees. We also continue to offer customers access to PayPal, which provides secure, digital payments for customers who prefer to pay via an intermediary.
• Monthly billing: AGL further enhanced My Account to enable customers to select their preferred billing frequency and date, with the launch of the monthly billing feature. Launched in March 2018, this product further supports our ambitions to become a personalised energy retailer by providing an online feature that allows customers to design their own billing arrangements in a way that is most convenient to them. Customers can select either a bill date or a due date to align to their personal budgeting needs, such as aligning with their pay cycle.
• AGL Easy Move: Over the past year we’ve introduced market leading capability for existing and prospective customers moving house. AGL Easy Move has seen a 30% increase in the proportion of customers using our online channels to manage the changes to their energy accounts necessitated by moving house, delivering a seamless experience to over 15,000 customers to date. AGL Easy Move builds on our existing AGL Movers Guarantee by delivering the ability for customers to track online, in real time, the progress of connection to their new address from the day they book their connection with AGL right up to the day they move in.

Rewarding customer loyalty

It is important to AGL that our customers feel rewarded for their loyalty to us. We introduced My Rewards in March 2018, which provides customers with more direct access to AGL’s rewards program through My Account. Customers are now able to track, manage and redeem a range of rewards, discounts and benefits online including lifetime history for AGL Flybuys points earned, energy plan discounts and credits, and access to a rewards catalogue with over 1,600 benefits.

Related Information

• AGL Customer Charter
• AGL Dispute Resolution Policy
• Here to Help