Essential Energy has been recognised as an industry leader for its excellence in customer service at the annual Australian Service Excellence Awards during a gala event in Melbourne on 24 October.

The awards, organised by the Customer Service Institute of Australia, showcase organisations and individuals who have delivered best practices, performance and innovation in customer service. 

Brooke-Lynn Berndt, Tanyika Fraser, Jason Hitchiner

Essential Energy was a finalist in the Government/Not For Profit category alongside the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator and Sydney Water.

Essential Energy’s Head of Customer, Mike Cole said the award recognises that the company is making huge strides in its customer service initiatives across the organisation.

“The very nature of our business means we have to find ways to deliver cost effective customer service excellence in an often creative way, given there are specific legislative requirements and we continually aim to keep downward pressure on our component of customers' bills,” Mike said.

“We’ve focused on our business strategy of putting the customer first through increased levels of assistance, advice and communication while empowering our customers through greater levels of engagement,” Mike said.

Specific initiatives that led to being recognised as a finalist include extensive consultation with residential and small business customers on an ongoing basis to inform decisions as the industry transitions, complimented by a voice of customer program that delivers feedback in real-time which is actioned by teams from across the business.

“We see this recognition from the Customer Service Institute of Australia as evidence of the passion our people have for customers and I want to thank everyone across the business who contributes to this outcome each and every day,” Mike said.

“Each year, our field crew employees respond to more than 27,000 outage incidents, while our 51-person Contact Centre operators manage around 350,000 customer calls, operating 24/7 regardless of weather and natural disasters such as floods and bushfires.”