Cuivre River's "90" Satisfaction Score Is Among Top Scores For All U.S. Industries
Cuivre River Electric Cooperative members remain among the most satisfied and loyal customers of any U. S. industry, according to their own responses in the latest member satisfaction survey project.
The score, an American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) of 90, is among top scores in the U.S. "It's very impressive," says General Manager/CEO Dan L. Brown. "We're just jubilant," he adds. "Considering the economic problems many members face as they struggle to pay their electric bills, we just didn't know what to expect this year."
"I can't say enough good things about our employees. They are doing a great job for our members, often in tough circumstances," Brown says.
The ACSI puts Cuivre River members' experiences in perspective with the experiences of customers with other utilities and a variety of companies. This includes e-commerce entities, new to the ACSI this year. The score is derived from Cuivre River members' responses to questions about satisfaction, ideal utility attributes, expectations and loyalty.
This is the third time Cuivre River has received a "90", which was also the Cooperative's score in 2002 and 2007. Last year's score was "86."
What is the ACSI? It is a nationally-renowned organization founded by the American Society for Quality and the University of Michigan School of Business to produce customer satisfaction scores. ACSI produces scores for more than 225 companies in 47 industries, and 200 government entities. Touchstone Energy® Cooperative receives a general score for its 729 members. Individual Touchstone Energy® Cooperative members, like Cuivre River, are eligible to receive their own scores as well.
"Survey results go beyond an ACSI score," says Manager of Communications Mary Jane Clark, who oversees the project each year to learn what members are thinking, detect areas of concern, and determine if the cooperative's efforts to communicate are hitting their mark. "We monitor attitudes and perceptions about reliability, rates, energy resources and other issues. We want to know if we're doing everything we can to help members know they are more than just customers."
Additional results indicate about one in three members contacted the office in the past year, most to pay or discuss their bills (75%), request information (14%) or report a problem (12%). During those contacts, 99% of respondents said employees were responsive; 100% who reported a problem or power outage said problems were resolved to their satisfaction.
As the survey concludes, members have the opportunity to report any concerns, which are then directed to department managers and supervisors.
The annual project is conducted by an independent organization which interviews a random selection of residential members. Results have a margin of error of plus or minus (+/-) 4.9% at a 95% degree of probability.
During the phone survey period, other members were offered the opportunity to take the survey online. Those results were not included with the random survey, but were reviewed by managers as well.
For more information about the survey project contact Clark at 800.392.3709, ext. 234, or e-mail mjclark@cuivre.com.
To learn more about the American Customer Satisfaction Index visit www.theacsi.org.
Energy Utilities are ranked by the ACSI.