Energy Market Research & Utility Market Research

Energy market research studies addressing:

• Users of half-hourly (HH) electricity meters, large gas users and those on flexible energy purchasing arrangements

• Topics covered include: Energy efficiency services, impact of non-supply charges, micro- and on-site generation, energy supply and performance contracting

• Smaller business users of energy – including SoHos and those operating from home premises

• Topics covered include: Customer journey and service design, loyalty and churn research, brand tracking, pricing, market opportunities for non-supply propositions, the role of brokers

Utility market research studies addressing:

• B2B water users – ranging from process industries through to small businesses

• Topics covered include: Customer service and problem resolution, bill design, expected impact of market de-regulation

• Major business users of LPG, LNG and cylinder gas, including farmers, fork-lift truck operators, catering and hospitality, welders and other industrial buyers

Energy markets are undergoing fundamental change: Moving from highly centralized generation to more localized and distributed energy systems. We’ve helped several of our clients to understand these new opportunities:

• Research into the requirements from grid and distribution network operators
• Understanding b2b energy buyers’ awareness and consideration of new energy solution opportunities
• Sizing the market for energy services and solutions
• Product and proposition development for energy solutions packages targeted at business and municipal customers

• Research in the solar, onshore & offshore wind and hydroelectricity markets
• Target audiences: Asset owners, operators and managers; Financiers and investors; Equipment OEMs; Providers of operations and maintenance (O&M) services;
• Many have been global studies covering Asia, Europe, Africa and Americas

• Suppliers and users of energy market insight and information providers

Fixing the “leaky bucket” and reducing churn through improved customer experience is almost always less than the cost of new acquisition – particularly in business markets. We can help you to identify the parts of the customer experience that need addressing most.

Read more:

Lost customer research

Voice of the customer research

• NPS (Net Promoter Score) studies
• Customer exit research
• Market-wide satisfaction trackers and benchmarking surveys
• Touchpoint-based and event-driven surveys
• Building case and action management systems

How do buyers choose a supplier? How would customers prefer to be served – on the phone, online or through a broker? What problems arise when customers are “on-boarded” as a new customer? We can help with specific questions like these through “deep-dives” into specific parts of your customer journey.

Read more:

Customer journey research

B2B decision journey research

• Quote and bill design research
• Customer decision journey research
• New customer research
• Renewal journey studies

Business customers are as diverse as consumers – yet relatively few energy and utility suppliers have implemented a sophisticated segmentation strategy. We can assist you to identify and implement a segmentation framework that helps you to unlock latent customer value, while being practical to implement.

Read more:

Segmentation research

• Market segmentation research
• B2B buyer persona research
• Segmentation implementation consultancy services

As basic supply of energy and utilities becomes more commoditized and subject to the vagaries of the market, suppliers are looking to diversify into new or adjacent offerings. We can help by assessing businesses’ appetite for new solutions such as energy auditing, re-fits and energy management.

Read more:

Product and proposition research

• Ideation research
• Concept screening and validation
• Price testing and bundling
• Marketing collateral testing
• Value proposition (CVP) development