National Study on the Customer Services Final Report of Water Utilities in Albania National Study on the Customer Services of the Albanian Water Utility Companies FINAL REPORT Prepared by: Valu Add Management Services Sachsen Wasser GmbH September 2011 Valu Add - Sachsen Wasser - 0 - UNDP 2011 National Study on the Customer Services Final Report of Water Utilities in Albania Table of Content 1 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 4 2 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 9 2.1 General Sector Background and Project Introduction ............................................................ 9 2.2 Description of the Report Methodology ................................................................................. 11 2.3 Stakeholders Awareness and Involvement ........................................................................... 13 2.3.1 Identification and Introduction of Key Stakeholders ...................................................................... 13 2.3.2 Actions taken to Involve Stakeholders ............................................................................................ 14 3 Functional Customer Service Areas and International Best Practice Examples ........... 16 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 16 3.1.1 General introduction....................................................................................................................... 16 3.1.2 International Good Practice Baseline Methodology ...................................................................... 17 3.2 Customer Service Good Practice Overview .......................................................................... 21 3.2.1 Customer Service Organization and Staffing .................................................................................. 21 3.2.2 Customer Database Management ................................................................................................... 31 3.2.3 Public Information and Communication / Customer Feedback Management ................................ 33 3.2.4 Customer Complaints Management ................................................................................................ 36 3.2.5 Meter Reading Management ........................................................................................................... 41 3.2.6 Billing and Collection Management ............................................................................................... 45 3.2.7 Service Interruption and Disconnection Management ................................................................... 49 4 Customer Service – Current Status in Albanian Water Utilities ....................................... 54 4.1 Methodology of Sector-Wide Situation .................................................................................. 54 4.2 Findings and Discussion ....................................................................................................... 55 4.2.1 Customer Service Organization and Staffing .................................................................................. 55 4.2.2 Customer Database Management ................................................................................................... 64 4.2.3 Public Information and Communication / Customer Feedback Management ................................ 68 4.2.4 Customer Complaints Management ................................................................................................ 74 4.2.5 Meter Reading Management ........................................................................................................... 80 4.2.6 Billing and Collection Management ............................................................................................... 84 4.2.7 Service Interruption and Disconnection Management ................................................................... 88 4.3 Customer Service Level of Standard Profile Form ................................................................ 93 4.4 Mapping of Utilities according to Service level in selected functional areas ......................... 95 5 Conclusions, Gap Analysis and Specific Recommendations .......................................... 98 5.1 Direction of Good Practice in Well-Performing Utilities ......................................................... 98 5.2 Conclusions Regarding Customer Service in the Albanian Water Utility Sector .................. 98 5.3 Functional Area Gap Analysis and Recommendations ........................................................ 99 5.3.1 Customer Service Organization and Staffing ................................................................................ 100 5.3.2 Customer Database Management ................................................................................................. 103 5.3.3 Public Information and Communication / Customer Feedback Management .............................. 105 5.3.4 Customer Complaints Management .............................................................................................. 107 5.3.5 Meter Reading Management ......................................................................................................... 108 5.3.6 Billing and Collection Management ............................................................................................. 110 Valu Add - Sachsen Wasser - 1 - UNDP 2011 National Study on the Customer Services Final Report of Water Utilities in Albania 5.3.7 Service Interruption and Disconnection Management ................................................................. 112 5.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 114 Annex A – “Short Descriptions” of Best Practices (Selected International Utilities) ....... 115 ANNEX B – “GOOD EXAMPLES” IN THE ALBANIAN WATER SECTOR (IN-COUNTRY CASE STUDIES) ......................................................................................................................... 121 ANNEX C – BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 150 Tables Table 3–1: Overview of Selected Utilities ............................................................................................. 20 Table 3–2: Selected Utility Data for Comparison .................................................................................. 20 Table 3–3: Comparison of Customer Service Organization and Staffing ............................................. 27 Table 3–4: Comparison of Outsourced Services .................................................................................. 29 Table 3–5: Customer Database Management in Comparison .............................................................. 32 Table 3–6: Public Information and Communication / Feedback Management ..................................... 35 Table 3–7: Complaints Management in Comparison ............................................................................ 38 Table 3–8: Meter Reading Management in Comparison ...................................................................... 43 Table 3–9: Comparison of Billing and Collection Management Practices ............................................ 47 Table 3–10: Non-payment Procedures in Comparison ......................................................................... 51 Table 4–1: Utility Departments Covering Selected Customer Service Activities .................................. 58 Table 4–2: Staff Training and Incentives .............................................................................................. 61 Figures Figure 3–1: Organigram of Customer Service / Commercial Department (“division market”) KWL ..... 22 Figure 3–2: Organigram of Customer Service Department Chania ...................................................... 22 Figure 3–3: Organigram of Customer Service / Commercial Department AMD ................................... 23 Figure 3–4: Organigram of Customer Service / Commercial Department Scottish Water ................... 23 Figure 3–5: Organizational Chart of Yarra Valley Water ...................................................................... 24 Figure 3–6: Organigram of Customer Service / Commercial Department Acosol ................................ 24 Figure 3–7: Organizational Chart of the Pawtucket Water Supply Board ............................................. 25 Figure 3–8: Customer Service Department – Division “Market” at KWL, Germany ............................. 28 Figure 4–1: Number of utilities that Outsource at Least One Customer Related Activity ..................... 58 Figure 4–2: Customer Service Activities Outsourced ........................................................................... 59 Figure 4–3: Level of Education of Head of Customer Service Department .......................................... 60 Figure 4–4: Customer Service Staff per 1,000 connections ................................................................. 60 Figure 4–5: Indicated Training Needs in Customer Service ................................................................. 61 Figure 4–6: a) Number of Utilities with Incentive Schemes, b) Percent of Staff Receiving Incentives . 62 Figure 4–7: