June 2007
New Customer Service Training To Kick Off in September
Welcome Home Video Reaches Nearly 16,000 Hits on YouTube.com
Light Bulb Energy Saver Offers Rate Customization
Co-op Connections Announces Two New National Deals
NC Co-ops to Fund More Than $500,000 in Classroom Projects
Share Your Brand-Building Success Stories
New ACSI Print Ads Available
Three new print ads, designed as a way to “thank” co-op members for helping their Touchstone Energy co-op
achieve a high American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score, are now available.
The ads are designed to help co-ops promote a high ACSI score, while thanking their members for delivering the score and pledging to continue providing superior service.
The ads emphasize cooperatives’ unique relationships with their members and allow co-ops to insert their name and ACSI score into the text of the ad, which compares their score to the utility industry average.
The series of four customizable print ads, with guidelines for local customization, is available online.
Touchstone Energy has offered ACSI scoring to all members as part of their national investment fee since 2002. In addition to providing this service on a co-op by co-op basis, Touchstone Energy receives a quarterly national score based on a survey of a random sampling of co-ops. Recent results give Touchstone Energy co-ops, in aggregate, a score of 80 out of a possible 100. This score places Touchstone Energy at the top of the electric utility industry and confirms that co-ops provide unmatched customer service.
For more information on the print ads or on ACSI, contact Erin Keogh at 703.907.5572 or erin.keogh@nreca.coop.
New Customer Service Training To Kick Off in September
.jpg){kind=logo}
Starting in September, Touchstone Energy will offer a new training course targeted to co-op customer service representatives (CSRs).
CSRs are often the primary contact members have with their cooperatives, and interactions with them form members’ impressions of the co-op. This seven-hour, material-intensive workshop is designed to train CSRs to understand how electricity works, how bills are computed, what areas of the home use the most energy, how to answer commonly asked questions from members, and provide simple recommendations to help homeowners use energy more efficiently. The course, taught by instructor Jim Herritage, will have flexibility to run for multiple days in each location to allow for rotation of each CSR while maintaining operations during working hours.
To learn more about this new offering, or to schedule a class for September and beyond, contact a member of the Touchstone Energy/NRECA Business Development team. Southern/Eastern region: Pete Schmutz, 919.562.1444, peter.schmutz@nreca.coop; Midwestern region: Tim Sullivan, 651.686.7477, tim.sullivan@nreca.coop; Western region: Jerry Bingold, 281.360.9116, jerry.bingold@nreca.coop.
Welcome Home Video Reaches Nearly 16,000 Hits on YouTube.com
Continuing its viral surge on the online video sharing site YouTube.com, Touchstone Energy’s Welcome Home military tribute has now been viewed nearly 16,000 times.
The video has also enjoyed widespread popularity at co-ops nationwide and has been shown at dozens of
co-op annual meetings and community events.
“We showed the video on two huge overhead screens at our annual meeting in March, and it was a hit with our members,” said Steve Rhodes, CEO of Kosciusko REMC (Warsaw, Ind.). “We noticed people tearing up in the audience. After the meeting I received very positive comments from members as well as our own employees. The message was short, yet very powerful and patriotic,” he said.
Introduced in March at Touchstone Energy’s 2007 Annual Meeting, Welcome Home delivers a message of gratitude to the men and women of America's military, and their families, from the members of their Touchstone Energy cooperative. The tribute is available as a two-minute video, perfect for co-op annual meetings and community events, and as a 60-second TV spot, perfect for use in local and regional media buys.
To view the spot online, follow this link to YouTube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbmwPyx7Wrs
To request a DVD copy of the video and 60-second TV spot, contact Erin Keogh at erin.keogh@nreca.coop.
Light Bulb Energy Saver Offers Rate Customization
Additional Applications Planned for Fall 2007
Touchstone Energy’s newest energy efficiency resource, the Light Bulb Energy Saver, now includes a customization feature that allows co-ops to input their individual rates, allowing for a more accurate savings calculation. The Light Bulb Energy Saver is an interactive calculator that co-ops can link to their Web site, similar to the online Home Energy Saver. Co-op members can enter the number of light bulbs in their home, click “calculate”, and within seconds, animated bags of gold will appear representing the amount of savings from switching from standard incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent ones. The light bulb calculator is the first of a planned series of interactive energy efficiency applications that co-ops can link to their Web sites. Click here for an example of how United Cooperative Services in Cleburne, Texas, has incorporated the application into its Web site.
“The new Touchstone Energy CFL calculator has been a hit with our members and employees,” said Marty Haught, vice president of communications at United Cooperative Services. “Not only does it provide the actual dollar savings that can be achieved by making a few simple changes, it helps to validate our co-op’s commitment to educating members about energy efficient measures they can take.”
Additional animated energy savings applications be available this fall, including a virtual Home Energy Savings House Tour, a Water Heater Energy Saver and an HVAC Energy Saver. All of the new applications will teach members easy ways to save on energy costs. Stay tuned for more details!
To download the necessary files to customize the Light Bulb Energy Saver, click here. For more information on this resource, contact Kristine Jackson-DeJarnette at 703.907.5633, or Kristine.Jackson-DeJarnette@nreca.coop.
Co-op Connections Announces Two New National Deals
The Co-op Connections member benefit program has two new national discount deals to offer cardholders. Co-op members can access discounts with shopkitchenaid.com, an online source for high-quality kitchen appliances, and Solar Direct’s Energy Supermarket, an online retailer of energy efficient technologies and appliances, through www.connections.coop.
Look for more discounts on energy efficiency products and services from Co-op Connections in the near future. The program offers a wide variety of discounts on hotels, apparel, rental cars, entertainment and more. For complete details on these and dozens of other national discount offerings, visit the Co-op Connections Web site.
NC Co-ops to Fund More Than $500,000 in Classroom Projects
North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives have earmarked more than $500,000 for classroom-based projects through their funding of the Bright Ideas Education Grant Program for the 2007-2008 school year.
All North Carolina certified K-12 teachers are eligible for a Bright Ideas grant, the only grant program developed exclusively for the state's classroom educators.
"We anticipate awarding more than $500,000 in grants this year," said Jane Pritchard, director of corporate communications at North Carolina EMC. Pritchard has overseen the program since its inception in 1994. Last year, the state's 27 electric cooperatives gave out more than $525,000 in Bright Ideas grants, benefiting more than 121,000 K-12 students in North Carolina.
Bright Ideas grants finance innovative and creative classroom projects that would otherwise go unfunded. North Carolina's Touchstone Energy cooperatives have financed a variety of hands-on projects, including activities in music, art, history, language, reading, science, career-planning and information technology.
Editor, Erin Keogh
erin.keogh@nreca.coop
703.907.5572