Event Profile

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Who Should Attend:

Customer/member service representatives, energy service representatives, and others in customer-facing roles.

Overview:

High bills are the number one concern or complaint of all utility customers. As a result, when consumers come calling with these concerns, it is the biggest opportunity that the utility has to serve, to assist, and to educate these customers. It is also one of the biggest challenges.

Because they deal with so many of these types of complaints, some customer/member service representatives can become almost robotic in their responses and may serve with a lackadaisical or jaded approach at times. For all the information available to the general public, most people are still highly biased against the utility, feeling that it is the utility’s fault that their bill is so high and not taking any responsibility for their usage. This can lead to a certain amount of defensiveness on the part of the utility’s employees as well. Join Debra Ballard to learn strategies to approach this difficult subject, avoid complacency, and better serve your customers in understanding their bill.

Upon successful completion of this course, attendees will:

• Be able to look at these types of complaints in a different light by understanding the human dimension to the complaint.
• Have a strong understanding of the reactions that customers have, the level of customer knowledge, the results that customers want, and how to help them achieve those results.
• Be better equipped to respond to high bill complaints

Recordings:

This webinar will be recorded. Registrants will be emailed a copy of the recording after the webinar upon request.

Instructor:

Debra Ballard, The Ballard Group

Schedule:

The webinar will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Pacific Time. Attendees will be admitted 15 minutes before the webinar begins.

How to Participate:

Instructions will be emailed to attendees within 12 hours of the webinar and we recommend that you test the link to the meeting as soon as you get the instructions. The webinar is best viewed using Chrome as your browser. We recommend that you use a landline for both your phone and your internet connections.

This registration is for one person to attend. We manage our webinars on an honor-system basis; if more than one person from a utility wishes to attend, each is to register separately.

Fees:

Utility Member Rate: $90
Associate Member Rate: $135
Non-Member Rate: $180

Note: Organizations that register a group of employees will receive every fifth registration for free. For example, if you register five employees, you only pay for four; register 10 employees, you only pay for eight; and so on. There is nothing additional you need to do to receive this discount.

Cancellation Policy:

For webinars and virtual classes, if the request is made at least five days prior to the course, then 100% of the registration fee will be refunded.

For in-person events, the following fee structure applies: cancellation at least 30 days prior to the event, full refund; within 15-29 days, $100 fee; and within 1-14 days or no show, 100% of the registration fee.

Continuing Hours:

This course qualifies for 2 continuing hours. Certificates are issued upon full completion of the course.