AusNet has a robust customer satisfaction (C-SAT) research program.

Our CSAT is one of the ways in which we engage directly with our customers. It focuses on tracking customers’ levels of satisfaction across key operational activities for each of our distribution networks.

The program adopts a quantitative (numerical ratings) and qualitative (text comments) approach and surveys gas and electricity distribution customers who have interacted with us in relation to planned or unplanned outages, new connections (including solar and battery for electricity) or a claim/complaint in the month prior. The survey is run monthly, by telephone interview. An external research provider, CSBA (Customer Service Benchmarking Australia), administers the program on our behalf.

We monitor C-SAT closely. The data collected helps us understand how our customers are thinking and feeling regarding their interactions with us, pinpoint what we are doing well where we can improve and where to target investment in customer experience to deliver material improvements for customers. It also helps to detect and address trends in our service delivery before they become significant issues.

Our C-SAT scores are built into our corporate key performance indicators (KPIs), contracts with key suppliers, and into incentive schemes overseen by the regulator. There are many reasons to take customer experience seriously, not least of which is that it is the right thing to do and tying our financial outcomes to C-SAT scores demonstrates how committed we are to delivering for our customers.