Customer Satisfaction

Our customer satisfaction ratings showed a spectacular increase in the business market. Thanks to an extensive programme, the number of satisfied business customers rose to 78%. The outage of 12 December in the Tieler- en Bommelerwaard area more than doubled the outage time.

Business market

Back in 2005 Nuon Business started a programme to improve the satisfaction levels among business customers. In the first years the main emphasis was on improving the organisation of the basic processes and systems and enhancing the data quality. In the past years these improvements brought greater transparency and uniformity, but without translating into the projected structural improvement in customer satisfaction. In 2007 the programme focused on improving specific service aspects. Various means of communication, such as the website and invoice lay-out, were renewed after extensive consultation with customers through customer panels and customer visits. In addition, we introduced the Nuon Business Service Pledge involving clear commitments to customers about what they can expect from us and our services. Meetings and training sessions have been organised for Nuon employees to sharpen their awareness and understanding of the wishes and expectations of business customers. 

According to independent research, customer satisfaction in the business market improved in 2007 to 78% (compared to 66% in 2006), Nuon’s highest score since satisfaction measurements started. This score puts us among the leaders in business customer satisfaction. In 2008 we will continue to promote customer-minded behaviour in various ways, including a complaints-handling programme entitled ‘Samen een hart voor klachten’.

Retail Market

Customer satisfaction in the Dutch and Belgian retail markets developed satisfactorily, rising to 88% in the Netherlands and even to 92% (on the basis of the 12-month rolling average) in Belgium. 

In the customer satisfaction survey, which centres on customer perceptions, quantitative data is supplemented with qualitative information to facilitate more in-depth analysis. This reveals the story behind the figures so that the survey results can serve as a basis for drawing up action plans for process improvements. In 2007 qualitative information was gathered in three ways:

• Mystery shopping
• Qualitative interviews
• Logbook records.    

In 2007 16 of these qualitative information gathering exercises were carried out, mainly consisting of qualitative interviews. On these occasions the interviewer asked our customer about specific processes, such as supplier switches, the supply of information, invoicing, product switches and complaints. These sessions are always attended by Nuon representatives, so that any problems that came to light during the interviews can be addressed immediately.

In 2007 the number of complaints continued to fall, namely by 27% to a total of 34,825. For three years now Nuon Retail has pursued an active complaints policy which clearly defines how complaints must be assessed and handled. The primary focus is naturally on preventing complaints and improving our customers’ satisfaction with the complaints handling process. The recognition and recording of complaints and customer dissatisfaction as well as timely action to remedy these are matters that receive close attention. In 2007 a new control instrument was introduced in the form of a complaints dashboard, which gives monthly insight into the receipt and progress of complaints, causes and customer satisfaction ratings for our complaints handling procedure. 
In 2007 we also set up an extensive customer satisfaction survey, where customers can rate our services, including the complaints handling procedure. The survey in 2007 revealed that 78% of our customers are (extremely) satisfied with our services. Unfortunately, of the customers who lodged a complaint in the past year, an average of 46% is not satisfied with the complaints handling process. This is a matter of concern to us, even though our general satisfaction rating is well above the industry average. We will continue to actively approach our customers in order to measure their opinions on various aspects of our complaints handling process. 

Customer data protection received a lot of media attention in 2007. Nuon has formulated policy for the responsible handling of customer data. For commercial purposes we naturally respect our customer’s wish not to receive any or certain types of information from us. Where personal details are used for promotions, customers are always informed of the possibility not to receive this type of information in the future. Our customers can consult www.nuon.com/privacy for clear online information about our privacy policy.

The average outage time for customers who take electricity from the Continuon grid was an average of 48.4 minutes in 2007 (2006: 29.7 minutes), representing a delivery reliability of 99.99%. The outage of 12 December in the Tieler- en Bommelerwaard area more than doubled the outage time. 

Until 12 December it seemed as if Continuon would achieve its lowest power outage time in the past eight years. But on 12 December at about seven o’clock in the evening an Apache combat helicopter flew against high-voltage lines between Tiel en Zaltbommel during a practice flight, depriving some 30,000 households in the Tieler- en Bommelerwaard area of power. To restore the supply of energy, emergency repairs needed to be carried out under difficult circumstances. Where possible, the energy supply was rerouted and emergency generators were deployed. Ignoring the outage in Tieler- en Bommelerwaard, the outage time this year would have been 23.5 minutes, thus sustaining the falling trend in previous years except 2006.