SECO Energy Scores 90 in Satisfaction
SECO Energy members have rated the not-for-profit electric cooperative as a customer satisfaction leader. SECO received an American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score of 90 for 2019. SECO’s 90 is a one-point increase from its 2018 score.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index provides a one-of-a-kind, cross-industry measurement of customer satisfaction in the United States. Each year, the ACSI uses data from interviews with roughly 300,000 customers as inputs to an econometric model for analyzing customer satisfaction with more than 400 companies in 46 industries and 10 economic sectors. ACSI data has proven to be strongly related to several essential indicators of micro and macroeconomic performance.
At the end of 2019, NRECA Market Research Services conducted the membership survey on SECO Energy’s behalf that included the ACSI metrics at year end and contacted members by email to ask about their unique experience with the cooperative. Members rated SECO with an impressive ACSI score of 90.
SECO Energy’s ACSI score is tops when compared to average ACSI scores in the energy industry. Nationally, cooperative utilities averaged 75 in 2019, which is 2 points lower than the 2018 cooperative average. Investor-owned utilities and municipal utilities scores averaged 73, both of which are 2 points lower than the 2018 average.
In the 2019 membership survey, members scored SECO well in all 18 service attributes with 16 rated as “excellent.” The highest rated were employees, bills and payment options, minimizing outages and community support. A service attribute that increased significantly is “Keeping members informed on the status of outages.” The increase in this particular attribute can be attributed to SECO’s online outage and communications platform StormCenter that communicates outage alerts with enrolled members via email, text or voice notifications.
CEO Jim Duncan stated, “SECO Energy excels in customer satisfaction. When comparing our 2019 ACSI score of 90 to our industry peers and Fortune 500 companies, SECO is clearly a satisfaction frontrunner. One of the reasons members have rated SECO so well over the years is our world-class employees. We are customer service champions because of our employees’ dedication to member satisfaction and their commitment to local communities.”
Duncan added, “Thank you, members, for taking the time to respond and recognizing our employees’ efforts on your behalf. We are grateful for your approval and continued support.”
In recent years, SECO Energy has received national attention and three J.D. Power trophies for its exceptional customer satisfaction rankings. In the 2015 J.D. Power study, SECO Energy was ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Midsize Utilities in the South.” And in 2016 and 2017, SECO was ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Cooperatives.”
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