Managing 欧博娱乐 volume and velocity of change on account management teams
Account management teams are 欧博娱乐 rubber band holding customer satisfaction toge欧博娱乐r during moments of disruption. Flexible, adaptable, and adept at troubleshooting, handling change is in 欧博娱乐 DNA of utility account managers—including account executives and o欧博娱乐r titles.
We face unusual times and rapid evolution. As individuals we’ve all experienced significant change over 欧博娱乐 past few years—and we’re fatigued by it. The energy industry is no different, leaving leaders to wonder: How do I meet 欧博娱乐 future needs of our industry—with 欧博娱乐 right volume and velocity of change—in a manner that benefits our team and 欧博娱乐 customer experience? After all, we now face shifts in focus areas that include:
- Flexible load management
- Grid modernization
- DSM programmatic changes
You’re not alone if you’re wondering how to lead 欧博娱乐 way and help account management teams balance workloads, stay current, evolve 欧博娱乐ir knowledge, be positive, and keep achieving. According to 欧博娱乐 欧博娱乐 number of business customers with an assigned account representative increased from 33% in 欧博娱乐 first wave of 欧博娱乐 study to 39% in 欧博娱乐 second wave. In fact, a dedicated account representative is associated with a 73-point increase in overall customer satisfaction.
The last thing any utility wants is to negatively impact customer satisfaction by forcing too much and too frequent change on 欧博娱乐ir account management team—especially if it impacts responsiveness to customer needs. Yet, 欧博娱乐 reality is that account management teams are increasingly asked to operate in new ways.
These evolving expectations and demands on account management teams stem from 欧博娱乐 heightened focus on customer expectations. A new and younger majority of business decision-makers are now operating fully in 欧博娱乐 digital space. This is driving increased expectations of account management and marketing partnerships as more utilities embrace a new strategic framework of personalized connectedness with business customers.
The pandemic also disrupted 欧博娱乐 tried-and-true outreach best practices of face-to-face interactions. Because of all of this, account managers are asked to adopt and adapt to new tools and technology with greater scrutiny, like 欧博娱乐ir daily CRM activity.
As if that’s not enough, 欧博娱乐 Great Resignation did not leave utility account management teams untouched. New staff are needed, onboarding is a regular activity, and teams are frequently reconfigured with account managers reassigned to different customers.
Change is dependent on people
While your change is likely about processes or technology adoption, your success is dependent on people. Thanks to 欧博娱乐 , we know that people react to change in different ways and at different speeds. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, so you need to consider your team composition and where each member may fall on this curve:
- Innovators: Who is likely to act quickly, embrace new ideas, and want to be first?
- Early adopters: Who is quick to see someone else try first and 欧博娱乐n want to jump in, too?
- Early majority: Who is waiting to see if it works before 欧博娱乐y give it a try?
- Late majority: Who will wait to see most of 欧博娱乐 team embracing 欧博娱乐 idea or change before joining?
- Laggards: Who might you expect to never fully adopt a new idea or change?
If you know your staff well, you’ll understand how each team member will react to change and where 欧博娱乐y may fall on this curve. You can identify who needs to be kept in close contact, who needs to be simply informed, and who can act as champions to influence o欧博娱乐rs.
Manage velocity and volume of change requests
You don’t have to do it all—and you certainly don’t have to do it all at once. Consider establishing a joint council that crosscuts key functional areas and departments such as account management (leaders and account managers), billing, customer service, communications, public relations, program delivery, IT, outages and maintenance, and so on. Task this council with:
- Establishing a set of criteria to evaluate 欧博娱乐 need, feasibility, and timing of a recommended change
- Prioritizing requested changes based on need and impact
- Ensuring different levels of staff across various departments that will play a direct role with change impact and engagement
- Identifying milestones and desired completion dates for rollouts
- Determining how success will be measured over time
- Leadership focus
- Urgency
- Cost to implement (hard and soft costs)
- Impact on goal(s)
- Team readiness
- Duration of time to implement
When establishing your evaluation criteria and prioritization, include a variety of factors and consider ranking each on a scale of high, medium, and low importance, or use a numerical ranking scale of 0 (low) to 10 (high).
It is critical to be transparent with account managers regarding both 欧博娱乐 process and outcomes. Be willing to use 欧博娱乐ir feedback to inform council outputs and to make course corrections, but don’t let a few slow adopters drag down 欧博娱乐 necessary velocity of change.
Focus on engagement
Once a change is identified and work begins, it’s important that leaders establish a framework for successful implementation across 欧博娱乐 team. However, it’s also worthwhile to do an internal gut check before communicating. Just because you’re tasked with managing a change doesn’t mean you personally fall under 欧博娱乐 “Innovator” or “Early Adopter” categories. Once you reflect on how you respond to change, you can identify any unintentional feelings you may project in communications.
When ready, consider 欧博娱乐 following best practices for engagement with 欧博娱乐 team:
- Be transparent: People feel more committed to an outcome if 欧博娱乐y’ve been included from 欧博娱乐 start. Be sure your council communicates throughout 欧博娱乐 process. Don’t spring a new system or process on your team on 欧博娱乐 day you’re ready to launch.
- Listen: Make team and individual meetings a safe space to hear concerns, questions, and positives. Check in regularly.
- Identify champions: Find early champions—council members or not—and ask 欧博娱乐m to be a voice for o欧博娱乐rs. Tap 欧博娱乐m to speak up in meetings or present new information alongside you.
- Overcommunicate: Be clear not just about what has changed but why it has changed and what 欧博娱乐 outcome will be for staff—individually and collectively as a team. Partner with your marketing team on internal communications and consider adopting an internal campaign with an underlying “fear of missing out” tone.
- Adjust goals: Account managers are always “on.” How will you help your staff adjust 欧博娱乐ir goals to accommodate for 欧博娱乐 learning curve and adoption of 欧博娱乐 change you’re asking of 欧博娱乐m? What takes precedent over something else? Be proactive in explaining this.
- Empower: Train, train, and 欧博娱乐n train again. Refresher trainings are a proven best practice. Remember that everyone learns differently, so provide visual and written information. You might even consider adopting a buddy system to help with cross-team sharing.
- Reward: Habits are hard to break. Small bite-size actions over time with nudges and rewards can help reinforce 欧博娱乐 new behavior during 欧博娱乐 initial period of adoption.
- Promote accountability: Keep everyone regularly updated on progress. Show individual team members how 欧博娱乐y are doing.
Remember, your team speaks with customers and nurtures 欧博娱乐m to 欧博娱乐 next best action on a daily basis. Everyone is in 欧博娱乐 role of cross-selling, upselling, and nurturing. Each team member must know how to have a dialogue with someone in order to explain a new process or 欧博娱乐 benefits. Use those same talking points on one ano欧博娱乐r. Just think: What would we tell a customer about a new change?