Åsmund Møll Frengstad
12. Dec 2022 | 6 min read
Improving the customer experience is something every business should spend time on because it directly affects customer retention. This is something that can make your business more sustainable by increasing revenue and lowering marketing costs. For those in the business of charging, it’s more important than ever to keep EV drivers coming back to your chargers time and time again.
According to Hubspot, a 5% increase in customer loyalty can increase revenue anywhere from 25%-95%. Alongside strategies to bring in new customers, the revenue from repeat business can soon add up. For any charge point operator looking to grow, a focus on keeping EV drivers happy is a great way to create a sustainable business.
The importance of a positive charging experience
EV drivers are facing a whole host of challenges when it comes to charging their cars, from problems finding working chargers to a lack of availability as more people make the switch to electric. This means that when a driver has a good charging experience, they’re more likely to go back to that specific charger or use the same charge point operator.
With happy EV drivers coming back for more — regardless of whether you offer DC or AC charging — you increase customer retention. This positively affects your bottom line and could also lead to an increase in new customers. EV drivers talk about their charging experiences, both good and bad. If you’re able to offer a great experience, drivers will recommend your charge points to others.
How to give a great charging experience, even as you scale
When you only have a handful of chargers, it’s often easier to maintain a good customer experience. As you grow, however, it’s important to not let your reputation slide. Here are some tips for offering a great charging experience.
Focus on reliability
One of the biggest pain points for EV drivers is the lack of reliability across the charging network. If you can maintain decent uptime, you’ll have EV drivers coming back time and time again. One way to do this is through electric vehicle smart charging. With a smart charger, you’ll be able to keep an eye on your chargers and whether or not they’re working.
Even when one stops working, a smart charger could allow you to fix the problem remotely, enabling the user to get plugged in and charging without the need to send someone out. These chargers also enable you to check things like maintenance schedules, uptime, and more to help you find ways to ensure EV drivers can always charge when they want to.
Listen to customer needs
If you want to keep EV drivers happy, you must listen to their needs. For example, are you installing the right chargers to meet those needs? You might think that fast charging makes sense but maybe you have a location with long dwell times (such as a shopping centre or cinema), in which case destination charging for EVs is going to make much more sense.
Further reading: How to keep EV drivers happy
Free up admin time to offer better support
If your team spends a lot of time paying bills, sending invoices, and managing the billing side of your charging business, you should look for ways to automate your payment system. With EV charger management software such as SmartCharge, you can trust the system to automatically send invoices and free up your team’s time. This allows them to focus on customer service and the wider charging experience.
Work with third parties
As you scale, you’ll need to work with more third parties to ensure the chargers are properly maintained. Whether you’re working with an electrician, location owner, or another third party, it’s important they’re kept in the loop. With a smart charger and the right EV charge management software, you can set permissions to allow third parties to see as much information as you need them to. This helps keep on top of maintenance schedules but can also help all involved see charger usage.
Ensure you’ve got a great app
Even the most reliable chargers won’t get used unless drivers can find them. It’s important you’ve got a reliable app that shows everything a user will need to know. This is where electric vehicle smart charging comes in useful as it’ll show the availability of a charger as well as if it’s working or not.
If you’d like to open up your chargers to other apps to increase your visibility to EV drivers, speak to us about our roaming services.
Scaling your EV charging business doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the customer experience. Embracing smart charging and using the right EV charger management software can help you get a step ahead of the rest, even as you continue to grow. With satisfied customers that keep coming back to your chargers, you’ll be able to increase revenue — even if you aren’t adding more chargers.
If you’d like to talk about how CURRENT’s SmartCharge software might help you retain customers, book a demo today.
