While 2020 has inarguably turned out to be anything but what we planned, there are still a few things that have lived up to expectations. One consistent factor in the efficiency landscape is the water industry’s continued growth and change. This year may best be described as the year of lessons learned, and the same goes for what we can expect moving forward. To best meet the needs of your customers, check out the top water trends to watch this summer.
Water Savings Strategies
Industry experts agreed back in September of 2019 that a recession was looming in the near future, and had begun to influence strategic planning across the water industry, including hardware and technology, engineering, utilities and investors. And they certainly weren’t wrong. What they didn’t expect was the absolute uncertainty that would preside and the speed at which the world’s economy would come to a halt. While planning may continue to be complex well into 2021, what won’t be changing is the need for water savings. Most Americans are facing financial uncertainty and will look to their utilities to help them adapt. This summer, bring your customers what they need the most: savings. And while change may be on the horizon, now isn’t the time to introduce surprises. Rely on tried and true methods to meet the needs of your customer base. Immediate savings will come in the form of high-efficiency water measures. Or better yet, provide your customers with a kit full of water-saving products and behavioral education materials. Kit programs are a quick, turnkey way to achieve verifiable savings for your utility and deliver right-now savings to customers. And kits are the touchless customer engagement tool that opens the door to more savings. That’s a win-win for both your utility and the people you serve.
Utilities Partnership Programs
Look no further than California to get an understanding of the benefits utilities reap from partnership programs. Your customers are looking for savings, and you are looking for a cost-effective way to help achieve those savings. Enter partnership programs. Utility partnership programs often incorporate multiple utilities or agencies within one service territory—think water, gas and energy. Partners team up to deliver a savings program to shared customers, while sharing the costs, and claiming 100 percent of their resource savings. What’s more, joining with energy providers increases customer engagement because energy utilities are more likely to have invested in customer experience solutions such as Franklin Energy’s NGAGE. As a partner, you benefit from these resources without contributing to the upfront costs. While kit programs are often viewed as the easiest partnership program, where both partners get ample branding recognition, partnership programs are also common in education programs and online marketplaces. And, partnership programs don’t just apply to utilities. Anyone with a customer base can benefit from a partnership program. Regardless of whether you sell products, invest in customer education, or work with commercial and industrial customers, partnership programs span all sectors.
Digital Solutions For the Water Industry
Companies nationwide are increasingly turning toward digital solutions to help address water industry issues like water quality, affordability and supply. If anything, the pandemic sped up the adoption of digital solutions—not just for those invested in the water industry, but for residential and commercial customers as well. The water industry is experiencing a digital transformation with smart metering projects, customer experience solutions, and real-time water-quality monitoring—enabling providers nationwide to deliver operational efficiencies, communicate more effectively with their customers, provide behavioral insights to improve conservation, and provide a better customer experience. Getting started may appear to be more complex than necessary. Starting with the customer experience, you can look towards online kit portals, integrated marketplaces, online education programs and even digital marketing services.
AM Conservation Group offers a variety of products and services designed to deliver water savings and increased customer engagement. In addition to our turnkey digital solutions, we have resources available to help your customers start saving water today. Get in touch with us today to find out what AM Conservation Group can do for you. 
