When One Customer Struggles To Pay, Every Department Pays the Price

CX, IT, Finance, and Operations are all feeling it. Here's why vulnerability is now a whole-organization challenge. 

There’s a certain time every month when utility bills start landing in mailboxes and inboxes. Whether it’s a rip of an envelope or a click of a mouse, for a growing number, that moment has become dreaded. That single moment doesn’t just stay with the customer. It sends ripples through the entire organization, creating pressure in four departments at once: customer experience (CX), finance, operations, and IT. One customer moment. Four crises. And that’s just one customer.

The Numbers Are Hard To Ignore

Financial vulnerability has grown rapidly over the past few years, leaving utilities struggling to develop and implement adequate responses. In the past 12 months, 38% of American households say their economic situation has worsened. A troubling 1 in 6 American families are behind on utility bills, and 31% frequently worry about how they'll pay. This is not isolated to the United States. Canadian consumers are facing similar pressure. Nearly two million households are experiencing energy poverty, and 1 in 7 are cutting back on basic needs to pay their energy bills. What was once an occasional edge case is now much more widespread across diverse customer segments.

When Affordability Becomes Everyone's Problem 

And customers have noticed. When asked whether their utility was doing enough to help the less fortunate pay their bills, 69% of customers said no. Whether perception or reality, the sentiment is held by a wide majority. This means utilities aren’t just managing a growing problem. They're managing one that customers already believe is being handled poorly. 

What is undeniable is that affordability challenges are touching so many customer segments that it has shifted from a customer service issue to a cost-to-serve issue. CX absorbs the volume of distressed calls and complaints. Finance absorbs the risk of nonpayment and write-offs. Operations absorb the cost of manual case handling and disconnect/reconnect cycles. IT scrambles to support the payment workflows and self-service tools customers need to keep up. What used to be a collections problem is now a cross-functional one. One that utilities can no longer afford to ignore.

From Reactive to Ready

Four departments. Four pressure points. One customer moment. 

The question isn't whether this affects your organization — it's which department feels it first. Utilities that are getting ahead of this aren't waiting for customers to fall behind. They're redesigning the journey before it breaks.

Ready to move from reactive to ready?

Watch the on-demand webinar: Supporting Vulnerable Utility Customers in Moments of Need,
featuring KUBRA and Chartwell research.

Watch Now!