Credit card companies have set the standard for the highest number of consumers using direct online bill payment services. About 30% of credit cardholders who use the Internet use it to check balances or perform another account management task. Further, 60% of the same group used an issuer's site to pay a bill in the last year. The majority of these cardholders were introduced to the Internet channel through cross-marketing by credit card issuers. Energy companies can use many of the same cross-marketing techniques. An example would be putting a message on paper statements to introduce the concepts of online account viewing, consumption management, and bill payment.

But driving customers to a site is only half the battle. Converting online "tire kickers" into regular users requires energy companies to present clear online options, satisfy users' security concerns, and demonstrate the ease and time-saving value of the web channel.

Signing in A key message energy companies should convey to their online customers is that the web site offers a unified account management experience. Far too often, energy companies segregate service offerings into products, confusing customers in the process. Online bill payment, for example, should be incorporated into the overall value proposition of managing accounts online, viewing statements, and self-servicing accounts.

This integrated experience begins at the login page. The most egregious example of a fragmented online energy experience is separate logins for account management and bill payment. Financial services companies with a strong online presence have largely migrated to presenting login fields-username and password-directly on the homepage. This not only provides a clear entry point for returning users; by providing a direct approach to online account management, it also facilitates ease of use. Additionally, sites can further use the login area to provide security reassurances and helpful information to first-time users. Citibank's www.citicards.com homepage is an excellent example of this "best practice."

Paying bills

Customers who pay their bills online represent the retail banking industry's upper echelon of profitability. Extensive research indicates that online bill payers are the most valuable, profitable, and attractive customers. They also hold more accounts and have lower rates of attrition.

The same could be true of customers of energy utilities. But to make it so, energy companies will have to provide a bill payment experience that works seamlessly. Customers who try online bill pay and find it easy and valuable naturally want to do it regularly. To grow its online customer base, a utility must make the payment function an integral part of the online offering by providing contextual information such as the next payment's amount and due date, the date and amount of the last payment received date. Providing a memo fields enables customers to customize their online experience.

The web site of credit card issuer Juniper illustrates how easy it is to pay a bill. Among the features of its site are multiple pay-from accounts, same day credit, future-dated payments, recurring payments, and recurring payments of the full or partial amount.

Paperless statements

Reducing the volume of paper statements is currently a focus of many credit card issuers. For example, Citi Card's online, interactive statement can be sorted and clicked on to highlight a specific transaction and view information not available on the paper statement-such as the individual making the purchase. But Citibank goes a step further by allowing customers to click onto "Stop Paper Statements" during the online enrollment process. The option is presented as a check box with a link to a pop-up window to "Learn More."

For energy utilities, online statements enable opportunities to deepen customer relationships by providing trend metrics and year-to-year comparatives that customers can use to analyze and adjust their energy consumption. Providing links to energy-saving tips is another useful offering. Interactive statements-such as those from American Express-also can encourage customer self-service and reduce dispute inquiries by quashing them before they are launched.

Customer self-service

Online self-help features channels decrease traffic on traditional lines of customer service such as the telephone. By doing so, they can lower the company's costs and enhance its customers' online experiences. One simple way to provide customer self-service functionality is through context-sensitive "Help" pages. These can be accessed through direct links to specific topics that provide information on their functions. Such links are especially effective for new users or those accessing areas of the site for the first time. First USA (www.firstusa.com), for example, provides both context-sensitive and page-specific help for customers.

In addition to context-sensitive help, companies should also provide multiple feedback methods for customer inquiries. Secure messaging-such as Discover's-allows customers to get a response without having to leave the channel. Best practices include indicating proper usage for web communications, providing pre-formatted forms and pre-filled information, and indicating when the customer should expect a reply.

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