OREANDA-NEWS. September 18, 2015.  I’m delighted that SSE has been named the best major energy supplier for customer service following a survey by consumer advice service Which?

The survey asked 3,500 members of the public for their views on the 100 biggest consumer brands in the UK and SSE was ranked joint 51st place overall alongside firms like Superdrug, ASOS, Morrisons and Asda and above major customer-centric brands, including Sky, O2, Ebay and Virgin.

Our focus on customer service and doing the right thing first time saw us record a significant improvement with an overall score of 74% versus 64% 12 months ago – no mean feat for an energy firm up being ranked against companies as diverse as John Lewis and cosmetics brand Lush.  

To put this in perspective our energy sector competitors, npower and Scottish Power, prop up the table in the 99th and 100th spots respectively with British Gas and EDF Energy coming in in 73rd place.  

I believe this reflects all the hard work which has gone into not only the service we offer customers, but also the investments we have made in building a brand which customers can trust and engage with.

The work is not done, of course. We want to do even better and it is only right that we should look to improve our service, build our brand and products year on year. Energy is an essential service; customers have no choice but to buy it from someone. However, they do have a choice over who that provider is and that is why it’s absolutely vital they get the best service we possibly can give and tell a compelling story about ourselves. 

Encouragingly, this survey shows major differences developing between customer perceptions of ‘Big Six’ energy companies. This is the prize for differentiating ourselves from the competition by delivering on our promise of doing more for customers. We can all be proud of these results and this should inspire us to aim higher still.

We recently published our Treating Customers Fairly which outlines the improvements we’ve made over the last twelve months and our targets over the next twelve for how we can do better by our customers. However, if you have any ideas of how we can improve further we want to hear your input so email directorofcustomerservice@sse.com.

Customers deserve excellent service from their energy supplier. We aim to give them that. It’s just another way in which we’re proud to make a difference.