The Secure and At-Risk Customer Perception Gap
Utilities often look at their overall customer satisfaction scores and feel reasonably confident. And they should, because that confidence is justified.
But averages can hide something important. A Customer perception gap. Not a small one—but a meaningful difference in how customers experience and evaluate the utility.
Not all customers see the same utility
In UtilityPULSE research, customers are grouped into four levels of attitudinal affinity:
- Secure — highly satisfied, strongly connected, and advocates
- Favourable — positive, but less emotionally connected
- Indifferent — neutral, less engaged
- At-Risk — dissatisfied, disengaged, and unlikely to support the utility
While all four affinity groups matter, the most important contrast is between Secure and At-Risk customers. Because they often see the same utility very differently.
The Customer perception gap
Survey results show clear and meaningful differences between Secure and At-Risk customers.
Secure customers:
- report fewer outages
- experience fewer billing issues
- rate the utility higher on trust, communication, and value
- and are more likely to give the utility the benefit of the doubt.
At-Risk customers:
- report far more outages—often two to four times more
- experience more billing issues
- rate the utility lower on trust, communication, and value
- and are more likely to question decisions and communications.
This raises an important question: Does the utility deliver different levels of service? Or are customers seeing the same service very differently?
Operationally, most utilities are consistent, but perception is not.
Secure customers are supporters of the utility and what it does.
At-Risk customers are detractors of the utility and what it does.
Every utility would want more Secure customers. The key is to identify and address the issues customers are concerned or worried about—before those issues become triggers for anger (as explored in our article: “The Difference Between Anger & Outrage”).
Why this matters
The difference is not just attitudinal, it is operational.
At-Risk customers:
- require more time and attention
- are less receptive to communication
- and are more likely to challenge decisions.
Secure customers:
- are easier to serve
- more understanding when issues arise
- and more supportive of the utility’s role in the community.
In a world where outages, billing questions, and external pressures will always exist…the mix of customers matters.
A leadership implication worth considering
It is not the customer’s responsibility to move themselves from At-Risk to Secure. Most customers are not even aware of where they sit in the affinity scale. That responsibility belongs to the utility.
Which leads to a different way of thinking: the goal is not just to reduce the number of At-Risk customers. It is to create more Secure customers. Because focusing only on reducing At-Risk customers is like treating symptoms. Focusing on building Secure customers is about strengthening the organization.
A final thought
The gap between Secure and At-Risk customers is not just a measurement. It is insight. Insight into how differently the same utility is experienced across its customer base.
Understanding that gap is the first step. Acting on it is where the opportunity lies.
A deliberate, consistent approach to gathering customer feedback, opinions, and wisdom—a standard feature of every UtilityPULSE survey—helps identify what moves customers up the affinity scale… and what prevents them from getting there.
Let’s Connect to discuss the power of polls and feedback to provide important data which, in turn, prompts meaningful internal dialogue about strengthening operations and the utility’s relationship with its customers.
Another article that could be of interest: The Difference Between Anger & Outrage