Utility Customer Service Benchmarking

Join our 2012 Customer Service Benchmarking Community.
See our Leaders & Members
If you would like to download our brochure which includes a complete schedule and more information, click on the link here: Customer Service Benchmarking Brochure

Study Overview
First Quartile Consulting (1QC) provides a Utility Customer Service Benchmarking Study designed to deliver comprehensive performance benchmarks and detailed analysis of best practices through surveys and discussion topics:
Surveys use a standard on-line questionnaire (updated annually to reflect emerging practices and trends) to collect performance measures, demographics, and practices across the full range of customer service functional areas (see list below).

Discussion topics change each year based on participant input and need, and entail inteviews, discussion forums and presentations with and by member companies. Read more about 1QC’s Discussion Topics

First Quartile’s Customer Service Benchmarking Philosophy
We believe that the best approach to benchmarking is one that integrates measured performance in cost, service and safety with customer expectations, your company demographics, and best practices in and out of the industry. By taking this approach, our Community Members can better identify and support improvement opportunities, goals, analytic and implementation needs.

We believe that being a part of the 1QC Benchmarking Community can help you to enable development, measurement, and achievement of your company and continuous improvement goals, and also actually “bring home the results” to a demanding audience that often requires support from a skilled, dedicated and experienced benchmarking partner such as 1QC

Benefits to Our Community Leader and Member Companies

Getting Your Benchmarking Efforts Started Right...

Assistance through an “on-site start-up meeting” to help get you started, organized, and bridge past efforts
Consistent guidelines and definitions for terminology developed over years of working with our member companies
On-line data entry
Interactions with the benchmarking community in frequent “topic area discussions” to clarify and explain questions BEFORE data is validated or presented
Highly responsive service to requests/inquiries

Validating Your Data…

Individual support from 1QC in identifying and addressing data issues and needs for your company
Identification of data “outliers” and missing data
Participation in comprehensive Data Review Webinars and Conference

Interpreting The Results and “Bringing It Home”…

Detailed, useful reports and analysis, including the ability to create your own customized reports on-line using our proprietary reporting software!
Individual company profiles of performance (“Performance Profiles”), demographics, and adoption of best practices
Attention to demographic differences by creating panels of like utilities
Participation in our Annual Community Insights Conference that summarizes the years benchmarking study, findings, analysis and research
Help in developing/coordinating an “On-Site” data presentation

…and as always we pride ourselves in being the most responsive organization possible to our Community Members needs!

Additional Benefits to Our Community Leaders

Community Leaders get all of the benefits that Community Members receive. In addition, they receive the following:

Ability to set the direction for annual enhancements to the benchmarking program
Opportunity to ensure that your key corporate “KPIs” are included.
Chance to select specific practice areas for research
On-site data review and diagnostic assessment meeting
On-site presentation to management team on gaps and opportunities

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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