South Staffs Water has put a a new strategic partnership in place with San Francisco company WaterSmart Software to engage with their end-use customers through a digital analytics and communications platform.
South Staffs Water is implementing technologies to improve water-use efficiency while driving measurable improvements in customer satisfaction as part of a broader program to develop and adopt innovative solutions.
Commenting on the partnership, Phil Newland, Managing Director of South Staffs Water said:
“We are excited by the use of technology to engage with our customers. Our aim is that through the WaterSmart platform, our customers will become more actively involved in the shared challenge of how best to manage our precious water resources.”
The announcement signals international expansion for the digital water technology pioneer. Robin Gilthorpe, WaterSmart Chief Executive Officer commented:
“WaterSmart is excited to bring our award winning engagement and efficiency solutions to the UK market. South Staffs Water is an industry leader and their embrace of innovative technology approaches in a quest for improved customer engagement is an ideal fit for the WaterSmart platform.”
WaterSmart provides households with access to easy-to-understand information via email Water Reports and a web and mobile portal.
The platform offers detailed water use data, comparative water scores, alerts and notifications, and an innovative ‘discovery’ module that allows customers to take specific actions to better manage their water usage. The initial program will serve a pilot group with digital Water Reports and will include an additional randomised control group in order to measure program effectiveness for South Staffs Water.
South Staffs Water (incorporating Cambridge Water) supplies drinking water to around 1.6 million people in its two areas of supply. The company does not provide wastewater services, but bills customers on behalf of Severn Trent Water and Anglian Water.
In March 2017 Ofwat published a report it commissioned looking at best practice in customer engagement, including other sectors and other countries.
Tapped ln - From passive customer to active participant is intended to help water companies identify the possibilities for them and consider what they need do to bring customers into their thinking as active participants ahead of the business planning stage of PR19.
WaterSmart said its platform represents a best-of-breed solution that is proven to achieve the objectives of the framework for customer participation called FACE (futures, action, community, experience) set out in the report, supporting better customer engagement as a prerequisite for improved water system resiliency.
WaterSmart works exclusively with public and private water suppliers and is one of just 30 companies worldwide to receive the 2016 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers Award for their potential to “significantly impact business and society through the design, development and implementation of new technologies and innovation.”
WaterSmart said suppliers using its cloud-based customer engagement and analytics platform have been proven to reduce costs, protect revenue, and increase customer satisfaction by more than 25%.