During the challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to understand the thoughts, opinions, and sentiments of your customers so you can better prepare to meet their needs. As we begin to return to a “new normal”, it is important to understand how your utility will operate in the coming months, and how customers will feel about these changes. Use a low-cost digital survey by GreatBlue Research to understand how your residential and commercial customers think about their ability to pay future bills, payment options, disconnect policies, and utility re-opening plans. GreatBlue proposes the use of digital research to effectively and efficiently gather insights from your residential and/or commercial customers. These research findings can then be used to target those customers with immediate needs and/or concerns and provide the best possible assistance.
The market research partner of Hometown Connections, GreatBlue supports the customer survey requirements of community owned utilities.
Unique Digital Research Approach
The primary objective of this research is to quickly understand the needs and concerns of your customers on a granular level and how your organization can help. GreatBlue has developed a brief, fifteen-question digital survey to gather this information. The questions are action oriented and applicable for all utilities, or can be quickly customized to fit specific needs. The survey has been developed for easy distribution to all customers and contacts within your digital database. You will receive a link to include in email communications, on social media platforms, and/or your company website. To maximize the value received and to ensure you are able to collect data from as many customers as possible, we will allow for an unlimited number of completed surveys to be collected over a pre-determined timeframe. Due to the time sensitive nature of the data, in real-time and upon conclusion of data collection, your organization will be provided access to the data via an automated report and the raw data via Excel/SPSS file.
Goals of Research
To accomplish the goals of this research study, the survey will include but is not limited to the following topics:
- What immediate needs are required from your utility in the short-term, and potentially the long-term?
- What are your concerns with your utility resuming disconnect protocols for nonpayment and/or late fees?
- What bill payment options do you want to see available from your utility (online sources such as PayPal, Venmo, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, etc. / mail / in-person)?
- Prioritization of financial payments during this time (i.e. utility bills vs. food vs. rent/mortgage payments)
- Opinions surrounding the utility’s re-opening plans
- Are you aware of the programs and services your utility is offering?
- Preferred communication methods and frequency of updates
- Interest to speak to a representative immediately to begin process for assistance
- Demographic profile of respondents
Project Fee
This research service is being offered at total cost of $6,000. Our goal is to offer an all-inclusive, pre-developed product to streamline the process and allow for quick turnaround and interaction between your organization and customers in need. We want to help any way we can during these troubling times. Contact GreatBlue Research today for further information. For more detailed information, send an email to info@hometownconnections.com.
About GreatBlue Research
GreatBlue is the exclusive market research partner of Hometown Connections, the non-profit utility services organization meeting the unique needs of community-owned utilities. A full-service market research firm using quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, GreatBlue Research studies customer perception and satisfaction, employee satisfaction, product awareness/interest, market visibility/needs assessment, and marketing effectiveness. Utilities receive statistically reliable data with thoughtful, concise insights and detailed recommendations. GreatBlue is a leader in tracking customer opinion data across the public power sector, able to show individual utilities how they compare to peer organizations nationwide.