The challenge
In 2020, the electricity market experienced unprecedentedly high churn rates, with customers frequently switching providers shortly after signing up. Fortum, a leading Nordic energy company, was facing challenges around customer retention and revenue. We set out to reduce this early churn by understanding and addressing the factors that caused customers to leave soon after enrollment.
Customer interviews and surveys revealed that new customers felt a lack of contact and predictability in the initial days following their purchase. Proper communication often did not occur until as many as 18 days after signing up, leaving customers feeling neglected and uncertain about their new service. Fortum needed to enhance the onboarding experience to foster immediate engagement and build trust with their customers from the outset.
The goal was to develop an effective onboarding journey to reduce early churn, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately increase revenue by creating a more connected and predictable initial experience for new customers.
The approach
Reodor Studios collaborated with Fortum to tackle the high churn issue by redesigning the customer onboarding journey. The project began with comprehensive customer interviews and surveys to gain deep insights into the customers' experiences and expectations. These findings highlighted the critical need for timely and proactive communication during the initial stages of the customer relationship.
We facilitated workshops with Fortum's team to co-create a new onboarding process. To validate the proposed approach, the team conducted live tests by calling new customers while posing as the onboarding department. This hands-on method provided valuable real-time feedback and helped refine the onboarding blueprint to meet customer needs effectively.
Building on the insights gained, the team scaled the onboarding process by introducing structured email communications to provide timely updates and information. A no-code application was developed in Appfarm to automate and personalize the onboarding journey further. This application was eventually integrated fully with Fortum's backend systems, ensuring seamless operations and data flow. The integration not only enhanced the customer experience, but also improved internal processes for customer service and future customer success initiatives.
The results
Together with Fortum, a leading Nordic energy company, we created a new customer onboarding journey that reduced early churn by 13%, delivering an immediate and substantial financial gain for Fortum. The immediate and personalized engagement with new customers enhanced satisfaction levels and strengthened customer loyalty.
The fully integrated no-code application optimized the efficiency of Fortum's customer service teams, enabling them to provide better support and proactively address customer needs. This successful initiative positioned Fortum as a customer-centric energy provider, demonstrating their commitment to addressing customer needs proactively and effectively.
By effectively reducing early churn and improving the onboarding experience, Fortum not only retained more customers, but also established itself as a forward-thinking company capable of adapting to market challenges while maintaining customer satisfaction and driving sustainable business growth. This onboarding experience has set the standard for Fortum’s customer experience across all markets in which they operate.
“Reodor has been commissioned by Fortum’s Consumer Solutions in Norway to create new value across the innovation portfolio. During that time Reodor have worked with user experience, customer churn, and NPS, and also assisted in launching new services that help people consume energy smarter and cheaper.
Reodor has been a trusted collaborator throughout our partnership, supporting us to achieve our desired market position of energy advisor to our customers.”
Reodor has been a trusted collaborator throughout our partnership, supporting us to achieve our desired market position of energy advisor to our customers.”
Kenneth Stokke,
Director of Consumer Energy Solutions, Fortum
Director of Consumer Energy Solutions, Fortum
