Because utilities often lag behind other industries in their investment and commitment to creating advanced customer contact systems, Primen set out to determine the factors that have enabled some utilities to create customer contact management systems that are among the best in the industry.

With support from the Electric Power Research Institute, we interviewed representatives of two utilities: Progress Energy and Kansas City Power and Light. This report presents case studies of their experiences. We found similar processes were followed by the two companies, despite the differences in their territories and circumstances. Among these was a commitment by executive managers to customer service, aided by active measurement of customer attitudes and behavior, and distribution of customer data to managers in various departments. Each company used an iterative approach to developing a customer database and contact management system, rather than buying a comprehensive package from a vendor. Each also worked around or in parallel to existing CIS/billing systems.