Communicating Level of Service to Stakeholders

It is easy for a utility to lose contact with its users. This may be the result of not actively engaging the community or listening to only a select and vocal few. Community members are much more willing to support what they know and understand. The more transparent the operation is, the more likely a utility is to get customer support and remove suspicion and doubt. While a communication strategy can seem daunting to some utilities, communicating the level of service goals creates transparency. A utility should publicize how well they are delivering the services customers want, which can result in greater support for the rates and fees they charge in exchange for these services.   

Customer communication should involve a feedback mechanism so that a utility can receive information from customers regarding how well they think the utility meets their needs or how important particular goals are to them. To obtain a representative set of consumer opinions, it helps to conduct customer surveys, collect input at public meetings, call random customers, hold focus groups, include bill stuffers, host open house events, or other creative approaches to ensure all community voices are heard.  

• • • Bill stuffers are easy public education tools and a favorite of system managers. They can easily be changed each month to cover specific topics that may be of growing importance to the community, such as source water protection, wastewater reuse, or water conservation. Bill stuffers can also accompany digital bills. 
    • Newsletters can communicate future plans, current events, and past accomplishments. They are an opportunity to include pictures, graphs, figures, tables, and charts to attract the attention of the community. Newsletters can be distributed on paper, via email, and posted on social media and website. 
    • For water systems, the required annual Consumer Confidence Report is also an excellent opportunity to communicate information about how well the system is meeting its goals. 

Utilities should be enthusiastic about going out to talk about what they do and the services they provide to consumers in the community. Articulating a clear set of goals developed with input from stakeholders helps ensure that implementation addresses the desires and concerns of customers for a more sustainable community. Outreach efforts can also be used to gauge the level of customer satisfaction and to direct efforts for service improvements.

• • • Accept invitations to speak at community and civic meetings 
    • Seek out opportunities to be invited to present and discuss operations and plans 
    • Host an open house, tour, or other special event to offer an opportunity for the public and perhaps the media to see what goes on at the utility 

As important as it is to educate the community on the operations, maintenance, and finances of the utility, it is equally important to let the consumers know how they can help, how their behaviors and contributions can negatively or positively impact a system, and the impact their behavior has on the Triple Bottom Line (environmental, social, and financial). For example, the actions or inactions of the community can have disastrous effects on groundwater and surface water supplies. These impacts on water supplies can also prevent recreational usage and harm natural habitats. Customers must be informed about how their actions, such as the use and disposal of chemicals, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and household cleaning products, can affect water supplies. 

Customers must also understand the function of utility infrastructure and sources of their water. For example, stormwater sewers are often misunderstood. Many people do not know the difference between sanitary sewers and stormwater sewers. They may not understand that sanitary sewers flow to treatment plants that provide significant treatment to remove pollutants before discharge, whereas most stormwater sewers flow directly to natural waters, with little or no treatment, polluting the natural waters with chemicals, trash, leaves, and other debris that come from lawns or driveways. These natural waters may be the source for drinking water, and adding these additional pollutants poses a risk. Many communities have started educational programs to help the public understand the importance of limiting polluting discharges into stormwater sewers. 

Image Source: Creative Commons

Customer opinion surveys – Frank Roth, Sr. Policy Manager, Chair of AM Steering Committee, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, Albuquerque, NM