Who will our future customers be? What trends and disruptors are we seeing across the country? What will that mean for the water sector? These are the questions water utilities are asking to improve their understanding and engagement with customers and make better decisions about future investments, products and services.
To assist our members in their shift to a customer centric culture WSAA and KPMG have released a report on The Customer of the Future to determine how the motivations, behaviours and expectations of urban water customers may change over the next 5 – 10 years. A review of existing segmentation research and new ethnographic research were mapped against megatrends. These were explored in more detail in a workshop with WSAA members and subject matter experts to determine how changes in settings of technology, environment, social and political setting would impact on the life stages of customers over the next few years. More importantly, what would this mean in regards to their interaction with water, the utility that provides it and changes in their expectations.
The report identifies some focus areas and potential actions for water utilities to explore to prepare for changes in the future. Some of those look at how a connected home could impact how water and other services are managed in the home, the opportunity for water utilities to take a stronger role in the community and the importance of building partnerships and relationships to deliver not only expected digital services but also to educate and support vulnerable customers.