Customer journeys that encourage understanding and participation

Engaging with customers is essential for California Water Service, the largest regulated utility west of the Mississippi River. Cal Water, as it’s known, provides a reliable supply of safe, clean water and wastewater service to more than two million people.

For Cal Water, connecting with customers on a personal level is especially important in two key areas: when communicating important and relevant information and when encouraging participation in programs, such as conservation rebates.

The utility communicates with customers about rate adjustments, water quality, violations of water rules, or infrastructure improvements that may impact them. “We want to be communicative because being proactive usually leads to better results than following up on misinformation or remaining silent,” says Yvonne Kingman, Cal Water’s director of corporate communications.

Beyond just need-to-know information, the communications team strives to provide relevant context to customers. For example, when people need to know about a rate increase, there’s power in sharing why the rate has gone up. “Even if it’s not the information they want, people respond better to knowing the truth and the reasons behind actions,” Kingman adds.

One of the primary ways Cal Water has traditionally connected with customers was through “flat” mass emails that provided only general information. The messages, while timely and relevant, weren’t personalized to individual customers, so they often didn’t inspire action.

The conservation department also relies on engagement to drive participation in water-conservation efforts. The utility offers several water-conservation rebate programs; however, when customers visited the conservation portal for information, they often found the application process confusing and difficult to navigate. If customers had a question, they could email the conservation team, but they’d have to wait for someone on the team to manually send a reply.

“The public-facing portal was a bit confusing, and there wasn’t a lot of detailed information,” says Anthony Meyer, conservation coordinator in the conservation department. “There weren’t journeys to guide them through the process. The demographic that isn’t so computer savvy, like elderly people, struggled trying to navigate our programs, and people would drop off during the application process.”

As Cal Water expanded its efforts to increase participation in conservation programs, it became clear that a more personalized and responsive approach was needed, one that would tell customers why they should participate, lead them interactively through the process, and ultimately increase application conversion and overall water conservation within Cal Water districts.

Next was helping Meyer’s conservation team revamp the Cal Water conservation portal with a Salesforce customer portal. For over seven months, more than a dozen of our consultants helped build a portal that presented more detailed information and a faster, easier process for applying for rebates online.

This phase started with a makeover of the conservation section of the Cal Water website. When customers visit the new section, they see a high-level overview of every program and rebate the utility offers locally. When they click on a program, they get sent to the portal for details. The portal has the same look and feel as the main website, ensuring continuity so that customers know they’re still in the right place.

Salesforce will capture their Cal Water account number, automatically validate each visitor, and then display conservation programs and rebates that are specific to their area. The system guides customers with customized application wizards, prompting them to upload the necessary receipts and attachments for Cal Water to process their rebate applications. If a customer has questions about the status of their rebate, they can access their application and view processing information in real time.

“This makes it very simple,” Meyer says.

Regardless of which rebate program the person is applying for, the information will arrive in the same format, greatly reducing the manual effort previously needed to combine multiple sources. Additionally, information will automatically filter to the appropriate conservation representative, reducing any delay in response to customer needs.

The simplicity that Marketing Cloud creates for the corporate communications team enables them to engage with customers more frequently, head off objections, and address misinformation. Kingman is handling most of those emails herself, but the automation gives her more time to focus on strategy.

For instance, Kingman recently sent a campaign with 22 different complex, district-specific emails. Marketing Cloud simplified the process of differentiating recipients and creating customized messages. “If we had to do it ourselves, it would have been much more tedious, and it definitely would have taken us time that we didn’t now have to spend,” Kingman says.

On the conservation side, Meyer has been excited to see the pieces fall into place. “All that information is in one location with all those wonderful Salesforce resources,” he says.

“There’s so much engagement with our customers,” Meyer says. “This will help us with both the timeliness and the breadth of our communications. We have a small staff, so reducing the number of inquiries and phone calls is going to make a massive difference.”

The conservation portal is now live, and Kingman will continue to expand how she uses Marketing Cloud for communications. Slalom will be there to support them.

“I can’t even put into words how great it’s been working with Slalom,” Meyer says. “There were facets to this that were completely foreign, and they went out of their way to meet me at that spot and put everything into layman’s terms.”