The client background

The client is a multistate regional utility holding company, made up of seven separately branded utilities throughout the Midwest.

The business challenge

One of the priority initiatives for the client is their Customer Service 2022 (CS2022) program, which seeks to drive improvement and standardization of digital customer services provided across all seven utilities. A mobile app project, Customer Mobility is building a platform that will enable utility customers to use their mobile device to pay their bills, report outages and receive alerts related to their energy accounts.

Baker Tilly's digital team has been engaged at the client company since 2010, serving as a valued business advisor, providing a variety of business readiness, project and change management. Specifically related to CS2022 and the Customer Mobility project, Baker Tilly has provided support as the organization prepared for the change of introducing new customer digital channels, including customer-facing mobile apps and a web-based virtual assistant chat.

Strategy and solution

As part of our change management support, Baker Tilly helped the client create a comprehensive change management strategy to implement and operate a new digital channel. The strategy included:

• Communication planning and tracking featuring the introduction of new approaches and mediums, such as internal videos
• Hands-on stakeholder engagement and management from the C-suite to the frontline, including a comprehensive stakeholder analysis and new engagement approaches
• Development and delivery of an extensive five phase pilot program, including informational presentations across the enterprise

Through Baker Tilly's change management support, the client has achieved:

• A high-level of organizational readiness, training and communication in advance of all mobile app deployments
• Communication and issue resolution between digital channels and key stakeholder groups, including Voice of the Business (VOB) and Voice of the Customer (VOC) care center councils, lasting beyond the mobile app project
• Evolved the way client leadership approaches change management and the value it delivers; our change management influenced the broader program-wide change management approach