1 The electricity industry is changing rapidly. The first years of liberalisation mainly brought com￾petition between utilities. The separation of supply (retail) from distribution, however, and the introduction ofcompetition for residential customers has taken the electric utilities out of their familiar territory into the stroppy waters of fighting for the consumer. Quite a change of paradigm! UNIPEDE, one of the two founding organisations of what has now become The Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC, has decided to analyse in detail the challenges created by this paradigm shift and the starting position of its members in comparison with existing consumer retail champions. On behalf of UNIPEDE, The Boston Consulting Group conducted a best prac￾tice study of customer relationships and retail marketing of UNIPEDE members and their perfor￾mance compared with world class practice insectors such as telecommunication and electronic commerce. In order to get a comprehensive picture, the study investigated ten important retail quality drivers: call-centres, customer communications, staff development, complaint management, product/ser￾vice development, branding, sales channels, advanced customer understanding, customer loyal￾ty and e-retailing. The results are based on customer focus groups, utility interviews and exten￾sive qualitative and quantitative analysis of best practice performers in other business sectors. More than sixty members of The Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC have actively participated in what has become the first comprehensive analysis of electricity retailing in Europe. The study has been designed to help utilities in identifying the areas for action and the instru￾ments to use. This brochure provides an overview of the main results. The detailed report on “Customer relationships and retail marketing” is available for survey participants and EUR￾ELECTRIC members. EURELECTRIC and The Boston Consulting Group would like to thank all who participated in this unique study. Special thanks goes to the Steering Team within UNIPEDE and EURELECTRIC, Helmut Edelmann, Jarmo Kurikka, Yann Laroche, Didier Gras, Alessandro Ortis and Volker Stehmann. We acknowledge the support of the UNIPEDE Directing Committee and its president François Ailleret. We hope that electric utilities will benefit from this study’s powerful insights into the emerging mar￾ket of electricity retail. Alfonso Limbruno Chairman “Products, Markets and Customers” Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC Valentin von Massow Riccardo Monti Vice President Vice President The Boston Consulting Group The Boston Consulting Group Foreword © THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP, 2000 © THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP, 2000 For further information on this report, please contact: Volker Stehmann Head of Unit “Products, Markets and Customers” The Union of the Electricity Industry - EURELECTRIC Boulevard de l’Imperatrice, WE6 bte 2, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: 0032-2-515 1000 Fax: 0032-2-515 1010 Valentin von Massow Jude Bissett Vice President Energy Analyst von.massow.valentin@bcg.com bissett.jude@bcg.com The Boston Consulting Group Devonshire House, Mayfair Place, London W1X 5FH Tel: 0044-207-753 5353 Fax: 0044-207-753 5750 Riccardo Monti Federico Faleschini Vice President Consultant monti.riccardo@bcg.com faleschini.federico@bcg.com The Boston Consulting Group Via della Moscova 18, 20121 Milan, Italy Tel: 0039-02-655 991 Fax: 0039-02-655 99655 Yvan Jansen Vice President jansen.yvan@bcg.com The Boston Consulting Group Boulevard de l’Imperatrice, 13, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: 0032-2-289 0202 Fax: 0032-2-289 0303 Website: www.bcg.com