Australian Gas Infrastructure Group in second phase of CRM transformation

Australian Gas Infrastructure Group is entering the second phase of a CRM transformation, with an end goal of establishing a more connected, transparent and proactive service model.

Third from left, AGIG's Monther Alnababteh speaks at SAP NOW AI summit.

The group, which owns and operates infrastructure that delivers gas to more than 2 million homes and businesses, is implementing SAP Service Cloud as the technology foundation for the transformation.

Speaking at the SAP NOW AI summit in Melbourne, senior project manager Monther Alnababteh said that phase one of the program - now delivered - saw AGIG “centralise and streamline customer service processes across multiple business units.” 

“This has led to … better visibility, and for services staff to be able to use real-time analytics to identify issues before a customer even needs to call,” he said.

“Now, we are moving to phase two of the program where we are focusing on expanding customer engagement capabilities, especially in marketing and outbound communication. 

“The aim is to better manage stakeholder relationships and how we proactively engage customers, so this next phase is all about being more proactive.”

Additional phases will see the company integrate more systems and data sources with the SAP CRM; Alnababteh said that a roadmap had been created to map out this work.

AGIG is a gas distributor, meaning it does not have a direct relationship with the gas consumer.

However, there are exceptions, such as the priority services register it maintains for residential users in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland who are experiencing vulnerability.

Alnababteh said that through the transformation, “significant strides” had been made to supporting vulnerable end customers.

“Since going live, the number of vulnerable customers on our operator service register has increased by more than 400 percent,” he said.

“The time taken by our teams to process requests from customers experiencing vulnerability who are interested in joining our operator service register, so the time to process those registration applications, has improved by more than 75 percent.

“There were significant improvements in the time to handle inquiries from the customers as well. When a customer on the priority service register reaches out to AGIG asking for one of the services that we have as part of our operator service catalogue, the time it takes for us to provision and deliver this service to the customer has improved by 25 percent.”

Other AGIG stakeholders, such as gas retailers and councils, are also set to benefit from the transformation program.

“At AGIG, we see great customer experience as being easy to deal with, transparent, and responsive, especially during high stress situations like emergencies and outages. 

“It’s about making sure field staff, customer service representatives and digital channels are all aligned to provide clear communication and quick resolution for customer requests. 

“Because our services involve coordination with contractors, retailers and councils, we also look at seamless customer experience [for them as well], so those behind-the-scenes processes are connected and frictionless.”