Water companies should harness to improve customer service and better equip agents to do an already demanding job
“A bad system will beat a good person every time.”
W. Edwards Deming’s words remain as relevant today as ever – particularly when it comes to how technology is implemented in customer service.
Despite the rapid evolution of automation and digital tools, we are still fundamentally reliant on people. Too often, we ask them to work harder, take on more training, or compensate for shortcomings in technology, processes, or the working environment. Over time, even the very best people cannot sustain that. The system will always win.
Rather than pushing individuals to do more – and then feeling disappointed when outcomes fall short – it is worth stepping back and asking a more fundamental question: have we designed the system to achieve the outcome we actually want?
In my own organisation, I constantly come back to a simple challenge: what is the purpose? Once that is clear, we design with intent and clarity towards it.
Great people can fill the gaps in a poorly performing system, but it is exhausting if they have to do so continually. Eventually, some will disengage or leave altogether. A well‑designed system, by contrast, amplifies human capability rather than relying on heroics.
If the desired outcome is, for example, to deliver a genuinely superior customer experience – measured by benchmarks such as the UK Customer Satisfaction Index – then the technology, data, and processes should be engineered explicitly to deliver that goal.
This focus on outcomes is increasingly important as we move into AMP8. C‑MeX has encouraged comparison across utilities, but UKCSI raises the bar further, demanding greater transparency, responsiveness, and trust.
Although water companies remain regional monopolies, adopting a mindset more akin to competing for market share would materially improve how customers are served. Thinking in terms of brand loyalty, rather than obligation, changes behaviour – and investment decisions – for the better.
Single views of interactions and time on the Tube
Technology, when used well, enables better relationships between customers and service teams. At a minimum, customer service systems should provide real‑time insight and practical tools that help advisors quickly understand the customer’s full story, including a single, consolidated view of past interactions.
This enables faster, better‑informed resolutions and removes the frustration caused by fragmented information spread across multiple systems.
Today’s customers are used to rapid responses. Not every issue can be resolved immediately, a site visit may be required, or further investigation needed but expectations can still be managed effectively. If the system clearly shows the timeline, next steps and responsibilities, and this is communicated openly, customers are far more likely to remain understanding and engaged.
A good analogy is Transport for London. For years, the Underground was criticised for reliability. One of the most effective changes was not operational, but informational: countdown timers on platforms showing when the next train would arrive.
Actual punctuality did not dramatically change, but customer perception did. Knowing whether the wait is one minute or three makes a surprisingly powerful difference. Expectations are set, and frustration falls.
We saw the inverse effect during last year’s South East Water outages. Where communication was unclear, customer frustration understandably escalated. If water supply is likely to be disrupted for two or three days, customers need transparency, early clarity, and frequent updates.
Information becomes a service in its own right.
Alongside speed, customers increasingly expect services to be personalised. That requires organisations to take data seriously.
In an ideal world, a utility’s technology architecture can draw on multiple sources of information to support better decision‑making and more tailored customer interactions. But this only works if the underlying data is accurate.
Accurate data provides the context an agent needs to support a customer effectively and consistently. In organisations with complex legacy estates, however, data quality is often a major constraint.
The good news is that improvement does not have to wait for a full system replacement. Data can, and should be, cleaned iteratively. Doing so early reduces risk, complexity and cost when migration or transformation projects do take place.
At Echo Managed Services, we often talk about building a data culture. Sometimes this starts with simple, practical behaviours: encouraging advisors to validate a customer’s postcode during routine interactions, for example. Repeated thousands of times, these small actions naturally improve data quality while reinforcing why good data matters to the business.
Being a customer service agent is demanding. Advisors are expected to handle a huge range of queries, resolve issues quickly, and still deliver a warm, personalised experience. The role only becomes sustainable if the systems around them provide meaningful support.
That is why modern utility platforms must do more than record transactions. They should enable the next best action, surface relevant insights, flag vulnerabilities proactively, and provide clear billing and service information – all in real time.
“Technology should remove friction, not add to it. When designed well, it allows advisors to focus on what people do best: problem‑solving, empathy and judgment. That is ultimately what builds trust”.