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Designing the energy retailer of the future

Tags
Service StrategyExperience StrategyExperience VisionService DesignPrototyping
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Home Electrification Co.

An energy retailer aimed to lead in home electrification through customer-focused services.

Summary

Project Overview

A prominent Australian energy provider, embarked on a transformative journey to establish itself as a leader in the home electrification market. The initiative, internally conceptualised as “ElecCo,” seeks to deliver innovative solutions in home electrification that address critical climate challenges while meeting evolving customer and installer needs .

Objective

To position this retailer as Australia’s preferred provider for home electrification by designing a customer-centric, experience-led service offering that integrates seamlessly with current market needs and future trends.

Outcomes

The energy retailer has successfully outlined an experience-led electrification business model poised to:

  • Enhance trust and adoption among skeptical customers.
  • Position itself as a partner of choice for installers.
  • Scale capabilities cost-effectively to meet future market demands.

The project underscores the importance of embedding customer and installer insights into service design for sustainability and competitive differentiation.

Approach

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Customer and Installer Research

  • Conducted over 30 hours of qualitative interviews with 15 customers and 16 installers across three sprints.
  • Explored customer perceptions of electrification, including value trust, and installer challenges.
  • Identified core human needs driving electrification adoption.

Collaborative Ideation

  • Collaboration between with Cognizant and Oliver Wyman for workshops and ideation sessions.
  • Synthesised insights into actionable mindsets, value propositions, and service blueprints.

Technology and Business Modelling

  • Evaluated illustrative technology stacks and estimated build and run costs for scalable digital delivery.
  • Proposed distinctive business models to attract and retain installers while ensuring commercial viability.

Key Insights

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Customer Challenges

  • Lack of understanding and trust in the benefits of electrification.
  • A preference for solutions that align with personal priorities and home contexts.

Installer Challenges

  • Limited corporate support in addressing business and personal challenges.
  • High value placed on flexible, growth-oriented partnerships.

Deliverables

Value Propositions

  • Tailored to diverse customer mindsets and economic circumstances (e.g., low-income households, landlords).

Business Models

  • Installer-focused strategies emphasising trust, empowerment, and profitability.

Service Blueprints

  • Detailed mapping of customer and installer journeys to ensure seamless service delivery.

Technology Roadmap

  • High-level architecture estimated at $39M to deliver a scalable and cost-efficient digital solution.

Sample deliverables below:

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My role as leader

Strategic Oversight and Vision

  • Defined the project’s long-term goals and success metrics, ensuring alignment with AGL’s sustainability and business growth objectives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • Led and facilitated collaboration between internal teams, Cognizant, and Oliver Wyman.
  • Organised workshops that fostered innovation and synthesised diverse perspectives into actionable insights.

Customer & Installer Insights

  • Directed qualitative research efforts, including 30+ hours of interviews, to uncover actionable insights.
  • Championed the integration of customer and installer feedback into the design and delivery strategy.

Value Proposition Development

  • Guided the creation of customer and installer promises, ensuring they reflected genuine needs and differentiated AGL in the market.

Business Model Innovation

  • Supervised the design of scalable business models tailored to installer engagement and customer adoption.

Technology Planning

  • Oversaw the evaluation of technology requirements, approving a $39M budget estimate for scalable digital solutions.

Stakeholder Alignment and Reporting

  • Regularly communicated progress to executive stakeholders, ensuring alignment with corporate priorities.
  • Advocated for innovative solutions while balancing risk, feasibility, and financial viability.