Otter Tail Power Company

Developing a rich understanding of the end-to-end customer journey for a rural utility company.

A man in a plaid shirt stands like clockwork, feeding a group of sheep near a wooden structure in a fenced area. The ground is blanketed with straw, while trees adorned with autumn foliage create a picturesque backdrop.

The challenge

Uncover and recommend improvements to Otter Tail Power’s customer experience

As an electricity provider serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers over a three-state area, Otter Tail Power (OTP) manages a large and diverse group of rural customers. With a new focus on building a stronger customer experience practice, OTP realized that they needed a strong understanding of their customers’ current experience. This includes online and offline touchpoints, from new enrollments, power outages, and paying bills to customer service calls and more.

What we did

  • Conducted employee interviews to gather an understanding of existing touchpoints and perceived customer challenges and opportunities
  • Conducted customer interviews to gather “voice of customer” feedback and insights
  • Developed customer personas and journey maps for baseline understanding of the current state
  • Created, sized, and prioritized high-level recommendations to address pain points
Two hands place sticky notes on a board filled with paper sections. One yellow note reads Journey Map, pointing to an experience design session. Blue and pink notes are partially visible, suggesting a planning or brainstorming session focused on enhancing user experience.
Hands arranging colorful sticky notes labeled with words like Journey Map and Customer on documents. People collaboratively planning on a white surface, enhancing the user experience through custom software solutions.
Two people are seated at a glass table, engrossed in developing a digital solution. One is pointing at the screen while the other types, embodying seamless collaboration and experience design akin to clockwork.

Outcomes

Our work with Otter Tail Power Company established a shared internal understanding of their core audiences and how those audiences interact with online and offline touchpoints. The customer experience strategic roadmap we created identified and incorporated prioritized areas of improvement based on outcomes.

How we did it

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