Pursuant to the TAURON Group’s Strategy for 2016–2025 adopted in 2016, we defined a vision, according to which we strive to be a company that is best responding to customer needs in the Polish energy industry. Based on the above as well as on the assumptions of Sustainable Development Strategy of the TAURON Group for 2017–2025, in 2017 the Management Board of TAURON Polska Energia S.A. adopted the TAURON Group’s PRO Customer Social Policy for use.
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This document is aimed at developing appropriate organizational and business conditions required to achieve the strategic goals of the TAURON Group with respect to customer and market environment relations.
The policy is a collection of main assumptions applied in the customer sales and service process. It also defines measures taken by the TAURON Group as part of a dialogue with the customers, highlights the importance of developing long lasting relations both with the customers as well as with the market environment, and it also defines the responsibilities lying on the company’s side with respect to this very large and extremely significant group of stakeholders.
| Supply group type | Supply Line of Business | Transmission and Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | 5,088,339 | 20,556 |
| Business (including institutions) | 423,607 | 200,779 |
| Total | 5,511,946 | 221,335 |
Due diligence procedures and internal regulations
By implementing the assumptions of the PRO Customer Social Policy the TAURON Group is responding in the best possible manner to customer needs, focusing its efforts on the following principal issues:
- making sure the highest standards are met in the relationships with the customers, based on transparency, mutual respect and trust,
- continuous bi-directional communication, based on a dialogue,
- surveying customer opinions (feedback), experiences and expectations,
- responding to customer needs through a clear offering, satisfying their needs and meeting expectations.
Due diligence procedures implemented as part of the PRO Customer Social Policy include primarily periodic surveys. It is important for us to get to know our customers as much as we can and, based on that, to be able to even more fully respond to their needs. The monitoring of the marketing communication is done in cooperation with market analysts. The summary of such surveys conducted in 2019 is presented the Table below.
| Subject of the survey | Time when the survey was conducted |
|---|---|
| Surveys on products / services: | |
| Survey of satisfaction with the online PZO (hand-over and acceptance protocol) – quantitative | February and March 2019 |
| Survey of the demand for Health (Zdrowie) and Music (Muzyka) products in the SME segment – quantitative | July and August 2019 |
| Product survey for AMI meters – qualitative FGI | September and October 2019 |
| Product survey for AMI meters – quantitative | November 2019 |
| Survey of the Mój TAURON service in the seniors segment – qualitative IDI | September 2019 |
| Survey of the Mój TAURON service in the target segments – qualitative FGI | November and December 2019 |
| Price positioning for electricity and gas: | |
| Price positioning on the market for electricity and gas offerings in Q2 2019 | June 2019 |
| Price positioning on the market for electricity and gas offerings in Q3 2019 | September 2019 |
| Price positioning on the market for electricity and gas offerings in Q3 2019 | December 2019 |
| Monitoring of coherence and transparency of the marketing communication, including in particular the communication related to the new products and offerings, including: | |
| Surveys to check effectiveness of campaigns and campaign spots Loteria TAURONa | November and December 2019 |
| Surveys to check familiarity with the offering (quantitative surveys): two survey groups | III fala czerwiec i lipiec 2019 I fala listopad grudzień 2019 |
| Survey conducted at Customer Service Centers | 3rd group June and July 2019 |
As part of the due diligence procedures also educational activities addressed to the disadvantaged groups, first of all customers sensitive to energy pricing and seniors, were conducted. The summary of such surveys and their quantity is presented in a table.
| Information campaigns | Activities conducted as part of the campaign |
|---|---|
| GOOD ENERGY IN A GOOD COMPANY! CHECK WHO IS OFFERING YOU ELECTRICITY AND GAS (DOBRA ENERGIA W DOBRYM TOWARZYSTWIE! SPRAWDŹ, KTO OFERUJE CI PRĄD I GAZ) is a campaign conducted jointly with the Energy Trading Association (Towarzystwo Obrotu Energią – TOE) and implemented in cooperation with the largest energy companies in the country. It aims to promote knowledge of the energy market and raise awareness of the activities of companies that employ unfair market practices. | 600 commercial spots on the radio |
| 8.7 million viewings (hits) on the Internet | |
| 5 million press readers | |
| 16 mobile billboards at 32 parishes | |
| “ACTION – REACTION” (AKCJA – REAKCJA) is a warning campaign, conducted in a specific narrow area in response to a problem of unfair commercial practices employed by electricity and gas suppliers observed and reported by customers. Customers, having been misled, sign documents, which later turn out to be sales contracts, or offers that the customer misunderstood. As a result, TAURON reports a decrease in the number of active contracts (customers). | Commercial spots on 60 radio stations |
| Press advertisements in 18 papers | |
| Advertisements in the city transportation company, social media and on YouTube | |
| Messages in radio spots on 16 radio stations, on posters and in social media |
Seniors, pregnant women, persons with young children and the disabled are treated as privileged persons in the TAURON Group’s physical contact channel.
In 2019, for privileged persons, at Customer Service Centers (Punkty Obsługi Klienta – POK):
- We continued to provide priority service;
- We maintained the priority service marking:
- in the form of internal marking in waiting rooms for customers,
- in the form of marking on queuing machines at POKs with a queuing system,
- in the form of marking parking spaces for the disabled, at POK parking areas.
- At newly opened POKs or modernized POKs, we maintained the applicable marking, in line with the priority of service policy:
- we launched a POK in Żywiec,
- we moved and modernized the POK in Zabrze.
In the telephone contact channel for the disabled people and seniors we provided:
Telephone support with the filling of the Application to conclude a contract after the death of a party to the contract. A courier was added to the process, who would deliver the completed application to be signed by the new consumer.
In the online channel:
- We digitized the Handover and Acceptance Protocol (PZO) and the Application to conclude or amend a contract (WOZ) – a customer can conclude / assign the contract without the need to visit the POK, as well as without having to download the application from www.tauron.pl, print, scan and ship it.
- We maintained the functionality of the website: www.tauron.pl, on which it is possible to increase the contrast and font size.
Actions taken and results achieved
Among the activities implemented as part of the PRO Customer Social Policy, making sure that we provide clear and transparent communication with customers is of key importance. In order to implement this stipulation, we are conducting the “TAURON uses plain language” project, as well as numerous social campaigns.
TAURON uses plain language
“TAURON uses plain language” is a project implemented for several years, which involves simplifying formal and legal documents, messages and letters addressed to the customers. In 2017, we started cooperation with Tomasz Piekot’s Language Workshop, which trained several hundred people, who are in direct contact with customer service, with respect to simplifying the official language used. We have also selected language consultants, who act as ambassadors of simple communication in the TAURON Group.
As part of the project, in 2019, we developed Stylobuk (Style book), a handbook for effective communication with customers. It is based on 8 principles, thanks to which we can introduce a simple language to our communication. We have included many examples of our communication with customers in the book, along with suggestions on how to simplify such messages.
As part of the TAURON uses plain language project, in 2019:
- we selected 15 in-house trainers, who were trained and obtained a certificate of Tomasz Piekot’s Language Workshop and can conduct in-house training courses in effective communication,
- in-house trainers conducted 24 training courses on the principles of effective communication with customers,
- we trained 31 new language consultants,
- we created a project website on the Group’s intranet, where users will find: Stylobuk, information about consultants and language advice (tips) that our consultants write.
We also conducted e-learning training on the principles of effective communication, addressed to employees of the following subsidiaries: TAURON Polska Energia S.A., TAURON Sprzedaż and TAURON Obsługa Klienta. The goal of the training was to show the principles of effective communication in a simple and accessible way. We also wanted to present the adopted principles also to those employees who do not communicate with customers on a daily basis. The table shows the percentage of the TAURON Group’s employees who have successfully passed the final exam.
| Company | Employees who completed the training and passed the final exam |
|---|---|
| TAURON Obsługa Klienta | 70% |
| TAURON Sprzedaż | 62% |
| TAURON Polska Energia | 65% |
In 2019, we also worked on simplifying letters addressed to customers – we changed the templates of nearly 70% of them. Their quantities are shown in the illustration.
Number of simplified letters addressed by the TAURON Group to its customers in 2019
As a result, in 2019, we did not have any cases of non-compliance of products and services with respect to the information and labeling thereof, as well as any cases of non-compliance regarding marketing communication in the entire TAURON Group.
Responsibility towards the customer
Handling of complaints
Complaint handling processes are an effective way of obtaining information on the quality of services provided. Thanks to efficient management, they could be used to improve customer service mechanisms and impact customer satisfaction level.
Complaints addressed to TAURON are coming in by traditional and electronic mail, as well as by telephone, using the forms available on the website www.tauron.pl and via eBOK / My TAURON (Mój TAURON). Then, they are registered in the electronic documentation workflow system (SOD). The complaint workflow system in place in the TAURON Group in 2019 is shown in the illustration.
We take all comments and complaints seriously – the time and manner of response are determined by precise and stringent internal procedures. According to them, each complaint coming from the customer is thoroughly analyzed in order to correctly and effectively identify the causes of non-compliance and determine their place of origin. The fact of an occurrence of irregularities is reported to the owner of the business process who is responsible for implementing corrective actions, for the purpose of an ad hoc review of the complaint and providing an answer. The end result is the introduction of preventive actions in order to eliminate the identified non-compliance in the future. The diagnosed cases, corrective and preventive actions taken are included in the periodically verified, with respect to the repeatability of complaints, Cards of Diagnosis related to the causes of complaints.
Establishing uniform complaint management rules ensures their reliable and timely review, as well as allows to define the principles of cooperation between the Complaint Center and business process owners.
In order to best understand the customer’s point of view, TAURON Dystrybucja and TAURON Obsługa Klienta have been conducting periodic workshops, prepared based on the complaints, since 2013. Together with the personnel of the lines of business to which the given complaint referred, the causes and potential alternative solutions are analyzed.
This practice contributes to the implementation of a self-learning organization concept.
Customer Satisfaction Index
Customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty indicators are among the factors that enable demonstrating the implementation of the provisions of the PRO Customer Social Policy, as well as of the projects and activities stemming from them. As we are interested in obtaining credible assessments of our work, we are measuring these metrics periodically using an independent research agency. The last survey was conducted in September–November 2019 by PBS sp. z o.o.
We carry out customer experience surveys in two ways:
1. We are testing customer experience in areas where the customer is most often dealing with the company directly, i.e. in the process of discussing connections, contracts (agreements), settlements (billing), debt collection and filing a complaint. The research is carried out monthly through online questionnaires and through telephone surveys performed every quarter by a research company.
We conduct research on a group of customers who have gone through the process and focus primarily on gathering information about their loyalty level (NPS) having gone through the given process and we examine what effort (CES) the customer has put into getting their case fixed at TAURON.
The charts presented in the following illustrations show the loyalty level (NPS) of customers following the given process in which they have participated. The survey results allow for introducing improvements in the customer service, which translates into a higher rating of TAURON’s services in customer reviews.
Figure Results of the customer loyalty level (NPS) survey among customers from the TAURON Group’s household segment in 2019, as compared to 2018
Figure Results of the customer effort (CES) survey among customers from the TAURON Group’s household segment in 2019, as compared to 2018
2. Once a year, through an independent research agency, we analyze customer satisfaction level in the following segments: households, small and medium enterprises, business. As part of this study, it is also important for us to find out how the TAURON Group ranks against the competition.
Each time a randomly selected group of TAURON’s customers and a group of customers of other energy companies – ENEA, PGE, INNOGY and ENERGA, take part in the survey.
The illustration below presents the results of the customer satisfaction survey conducted in the household segment, as compared to the previous years.
In the household segment, the overall customer satisfaction level and the loyalty level are relatively stable. The highest rated area of cooperation (interaction) are the settlements (billing) and payments (PLS analysis), while the prices and tariffs get the lowest grades (a smaller increase compared to the previous year can be observed here). The most important areas that affect satisfaction and loyalty are currently failures and outages, as well as prices and tariffs.
The level of these two main indicators is one of the best among the electricity suppliers surveyed.
Customer satisfaction indices among business customers
The illustration below presents the results of the customer satisfaction survey conducted among the TAURON Group’s business customers in 2019, as compared to the previous years. The stabilization of the main satisfaction index and a slight increase (as compared to 2018) in the loyalty index can be observed here.
Figure Results of the customer satisfaction survey conducted among the TAURON Group’s business customers in 2019, as compared to the previous years
Customer satisfaction index among small and medium size enterprises
In the SME segment, a significant increase in the level of overall satisfaction of TAURON’s customers can be observed, with a slight increase in their loyalty. Prices have the biggest impact on satisfaction and in this edition of the survey they were rated markedly better than in the previous year. The results of the SME customer satisfaction survey are presented in the illustration.
