Allan Schurr, CCO at Enchanted Rock.
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Over the course of the past few years, the climate tech space has shown a remarkable ability to punch above its weight, impressing investors and showcasing the power of private sector innovation. Now garnering more than a quarter of all venture capital dollars, the industry is redefining the global economic landscape while ushering in a breadth of new opportunities and benefits beyond sustainability.
The broad availability of distributed energy resources (DER), from solar panels and electric vehicles to microgrids and more, has given consumers and businesses the ability to increase resiliency, lower energy bills and reduce carbon footprints like never before.
The rapid popularization of climate tech has also underscored just how important it is for companies to align their service quality with that of their core product offerings. Consumers and businesses aren’t just basing their purchasing decisions on the technology alone but also on the service and support they can expect throughout the products’ lifetimes.
Why is service quality so important?
Impeccable service quality is emerging as an opportunity for great climate tech business leaders and companies to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded space. After all, the long-term nature of most climate technologies presents significant opportunities for companies that place the overall customer experience at the heart of what they do.
Owners of electrical backup systems, for example, depend on their provider for round-the-clock monitoring and proactive maintenance. They are instructed to remain hands-off and to wait for trained professionals to arrive in a (hopefully) timely manner should anything occur.
The reasons for this are numerous. In addition to potentially damaging the equipment, improper care of climate technology can pose a human safety hazard.
What are the consequences of low service quality?
How quickly an issue—regarding either renewable natural gas backup power, solar panels or something different—is addressed varies significantly by company, as many are just now starting to pay attention to the customer service aspect of climate tech.
It’s not uncommon to come across firms that have yet to even begin optimizing their service quality and logistics—much to their own detriment as well as that of their customers. Quality service, rather than technological specifications, is increasingly what’s driving the divergence between market leaders and followers.
While poor service quality may simply represent a mere inconvenience for some technologies, for others, it can equate to tens of thousands of dollars in damages—and even worse, potential threats to entire communities.
Take resiliency microgrids, for example.
Resiliency microgrids are often tasked with ensuring electrical continuity for critical facilities like hospitals and data centers during power outages. If technical abnormalities aren’t immediately and adequately identified (or even predicted) and addressed by service providers, facilities risk shutting down in the event of a power disruption, which renders their microgrid investment irrelevant.
Providing top-notch service—in addition to reliable technology—is the most cost-effective and straightforward way of eliminating this potential liability, and it’s for this reason that my organization offers 24/7/365 asset monitoring and assurance.
Leaders seeking to meet their customers' demand for resiliency should deploy measures that can proactively monitor for technical inconsistencies and errors and execute solutions remotely and in real time. Additionally, when on-site maintenance is required, the companies must put the right supports in place in terms of coordination resources for their teams on the ground.
Today’s climate tech landscape is hardly recognizable from years prior.
The exceptional maturation in climate tech has shifted the balance of the equation away from the tech itself towards high-quality service offerings. While many companies are rightly proud of their cutting-edge technologies, this alone is no longer enough to differentiate oneself from competitors.
Climate tech businesses need to ensure that they not only offer innovative technology—but also superior service—if they want to remain at the top of their fields.
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