West Coast Public Water Utility
After a large West Coast public water utility received several public complaints from customers about overcharges, it sought West Monroe’s expertise. We took a deep dive into the data and developed strategies to mitigate future high bill complaints, create operational efficiencies, and restore customer confidence.
After a municipal water utility received many public complaints from overcharged customers, it needed to find out what happened – and course-correct.
To avoid future customer dissatisfaction and reputational impact, the utility partnered with West Monroe to:
Our team knew the answer demanded an understanding of water utilities – and the people, processes, systems, and data within them. We began:
Our review found several contributing factors to customer complaints of higher bills:
Most of the high bill allegations were unsubstantiated. While this was a welcome discovery, it wasn’t a comprehensive solution toward restoring customer trust. So, we identified eight key areas that would prevent the number of high bill complaints:
With these strategies for success outlined, we built a timeline for implementation based on the utility’s top priorities and constraints which was subsequently implemented.
We set out to restore customer confidence for a public water utility and uncovered operational improvement opportunities along the way. The utility now has the potential to proactively address high bill allegations and increase customer satisfaction.