Advantage Utilities Partnership
We're delighted to announce our new partnership with Advantage Utilities.
Advantage Utilities are constantly pushing the boundaries and evolving their focus. From winning the Wellbeing award at the 2020 TELCAs, to championing reductions in their customers' carbon footprint - they are acutely aware of the dangers of standing still.
In September 2020, they embarked on another step of their evolution, this time regarding their internal technology - selecting a new CRM to replace existing software within their business.
After diligently reviewing the market for an energy-specific system that shared their ethos, they chose UtilityClick.
Since then, both businesses have worked closely, ensuring that the implementation process was executed successfully. Here is what they both had to say:
The team at UtilityClick had this to say:
"We were delighted to be selected as the preferred software provider for Advantage Utilities. They are one of the top TPIs in the country and go about things in the right way for their customers. They share our principles with respect to how the energy industry is changing and why servicing end-user customers is more than just about giving them the best price.
Our system is continuing to evolve to become as automated and efficient as possible. Not just on procurement, but across bureau and energy management services too. Advantage Utilities provide first-class, comprehensive services to their customers and we’re really excited to be working with a professional, future-focussed, friendly company who can help us to continue to enhance our system."
Advantage Utilities had this to say:
"After using various connected systems to manage our business for 20 years we had been looking at ways of achieving more efficiencies, streamlining systems, consolidating our data and finding faster ways to service our customer base within the business. After much research and testing in the market we decided to deploy UtilityClick as our preferred software partner.
From the very first introduction the team at UC were both very knowledgeable and understanding of us and our requirements. The software has allowed us to centralise all our data, speed up the time it takes to produce quotes and allowed us to incorporate our complex energy financial statements directly into the system when this used to take weeks.
Although we are still a relatively new partner, UC have already made several changes to the software that we require and work with us on a daily basis to improve the functionality. I look forward to working with UC for many years to come and advise anyone looking at Utilities Broker software to speak with UtilityClick."
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Development Update – March 2024
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Development Update - May 2021
This month:
The month of May has been a bitty one in the dev team.
New feature ideas come from all sources. As you might imagine, most are spawned from our customers but many are generated by staff and some are simply dictated by industry change.
The priority of each feature idea can vary for numerous reasons but two common traits considered are "How long will it take to develop?" vs. "How many customers will it help?".
As mentioned, for one reason or another, this month it's the 'bitty' features that have taken our priority. They're relatively quick to develop compared to the showstoppers but when combined, you have a set of new features that will hopefully help the many.
Read on to find out more about each of these features.
Supplier Pricing Participation
You can now mark whether a Supplier will be participating within a tender/custom pricing request. Suppliers can also update the flag within their portals. Ideal for keeping on top of who will be quoting on pricing day.
Built for: UKUSASupplierLinks
Parent/Child Pipeline UI
We've updated the system interface to make it much easier to review your Parent/Child portfolios. You can now use a collapsible grid to easily view all child contracts linked to a single parent contract.
Built for: UKUSASupplierLinks
Show rates in dollars rather than cents
We've listened based on your feedback and updated the system accordingly. Rates in the USA system can now be shown in dollars as well as cents.
Built for: USA
Other bits and bobs...
We've also added the following other bits and bobs...
System Export enhancements
Numerous columns have been added to data export across the entire system, providing a more detailed level of reporting.
Built for: UKUSA
History Logging - Leads and Contracts
History logging within Leads and Contracts have been improved to help you monitor even more changes with your data.
Built for: UKUSA
Business Type added to Contracts, Tenders & Sales Exports
Business Type has been added to Contracts, Tenders & Sales Export reports.
Built for: UKUSA
User Type access applied to Employee Payments section
Based on customer feedback, we have added User-Level access to the Employee Payment section of the system.
Built for: UKUSA
Option To Exclude Completed Activities from Activities Export
A tick box has been added to the Activities Export page to allow you to exclude completed activities from the report.
Built for: UKUSA
Suppliers with no relationships excluded from matrix pricing
We have amended the system to only show by default matrix pricing for suppliers that are marked as No Relationship within the supplier section.
Built for: UKUSA
Other field added to Supplier Contacts
A new field called Other has been added to Supplier Contacts so that you can also add contacts that don't fit into our pre-set categories.
Built for: UKUSA
Bug fix - changing meter/account usage
We have fixed a bug that was causing an error screen when changing usage figures within a tender/custom pricing request
Built for: UKUSA
That’s it for this month.
Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!
A Waffley Big Problem
How do
YOU
cook your potato waffles?
If you listened to the latest Energy Waffle podcast you will have heard that we inadvertently stumbled into what we think could be a potential green issue.
Toasting our waffles saves a considerable amount more energy over the more conventional conventional oven (iterative pun intended).
Crunching the numbers:
On the back of a packet...
Instructions from the back of a packet of waffles dictate you can either pop them in the toaster for 5 minutes or oven at 220degrees for 15 minutes.
A standard toaster needs considerably less power than an oven. What's more, the oven needs a good 5 minutes to preheat, making the potential oven cooking time 4 times as long!
Even without factoring in preheat time, we estimate the power difference to be 525 wh.
If we then assume that around half of all waffles are cooked in the oven (estimated to be around 5,000,000) then we've got...
A total of
1,312,500 kWh
wasted every year!
(Every great campaign needs a great poster)
Is this a joke?
Ok, so there is of course a good bit of levity with all of this... but there is an important point here too.
We as an industry talk a lot about the importance of climate change but do we take enough individual responsibility? As well as championing the latest green trends, could we also collaborate creatively to spark alternative solutions?
Energy management will undoubtedly become a massive part of all our roles over the coming years, so spending some time and energy (no pun intended this time) on our own initiatives can only put us (and our customers) in good stead for the future.
If each of us here derives a campaign that could potentially save the world 1,312,500 kWh, then surely that could have a massive positive impact on our world?
#NoneInTheOven
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A Big Leap: Monthly Usage Data
What does it do?
It allows you to store monthly usage information that's provided by the utility. Simply locate the relevant file, upload and let the UtilityClick system do the rest.
How does it help me?
Commissions! Update your future forecast based on actual usage and gain a clearer insight into your finances.
Retrospectively amend your forecast to help with reconciling payments to truly get on top of budgeting.
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Development Update – March 2024
Welcome back to the March edition of our regular dev update and with it, we've felt a…
Development Update – February 2024
Welcome back to our February dev update and to be quite honest - it's been a quiet…
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Development Update - April 2021
This month:
It's been another busy month for the dev team. Although (in the UK at least), we've had a lot of national and school holidays (Easter), we've by no means slowed our usually high-paced release schedule.
The phrase "Time and tide wait for no man" comes to mind... but it should really be rewritten to "Time, new features and tide wait for no man".
Here are a few of the items that have taken the bulk of the team's time this month, together with a brief description:
Employee Payment Terms
We've added a brand new feature as an enhancement to our Commissions module. You can now create your employee payment profiles. The system will then report to you the monthly payments due to your internal agents!
Monthly Usage Tool
When switched on it will allow you to store monthly usage interval data you hold for the meter in question, feeding into your commissions. Simply locate the relevant file, upload and let the UtilityClick system do the rest.
We've completed the US phase of this feature. Next month we plan to begin the implementation process on the UK system.
Other bits and bobs...
It's never just about the big projects. We've also added the following other bits and bobs...
HH MATRIX LOOKUP ADJUSTMENTS
The system has been enhanced to return the appropriate Available Capacity rate based on kVA banding levels.
CLICK-TO-DIAL TOOLTIP UPDATE
The click-to-dial tooltip has been updated to show the phone number for the appropriate contact for those TPIs not using the dialler integrator software.
LEAD EXPORT OPTIMISATION
Exporting lead data from the system for our TPIs who have lots of leads was taking a while. We've optimised the export now to reduce waiting times for accessing the report.
NEW ACTIVITY TYPE
We've added "Tender Refresh" to our list of Tender Activity Types. Ideal when your customer doesn't sign down the first time around!
ACTIVITY EXPORT IMPROVEMENT
The time that an activity is created/due/completed has now been added to the activity export report.
CUSTOMER PORTAL UPDATE
The product name for quotes/contracts has been added to the customer portal to help your end-user customers on tender day.
"NO ACCESS" USERS
These are users who can be added for internal purposes but do not increase the cost of subscription.
SPEED INCREASE FOR TENDER CREATION
We've made speed improvements to the creation of major tenders - with bigger optimisations on the way soon!
That’s it for this month.
Our software evolves at such an exciting rate so please feel free to get in touch to discuss any of the functionality we’ve added since you last saw it. We’ll be more than happy to arrange a demo to show you around!
Free Cake and Burning 5 Candles
How many candles are we burning?
Five!
Yes, we’re 5 years old!
It's hard to believe half a decade ago UtilityClick was just an idea from the inside of a South London flat.
Fast forward to today and our software is used to procure over 2.8 TWh every year.
Or to put it another way -
That's 350,000,000 candles*
So you could say we're burning 350 million candles (our design team told us that was too many to illustrate).
Ok, enough talking...
How do I get my free birthday cake?
Book a demo and we'll send you some cake to enjoy whilst we take you through the system.
What better way is there to spend 20 minutes than eating cake and finding out how the UtilityClick system can run tenders, progress leads, or forecast your commissions?
Just enter your address details when booking your demo below and we'll send you the cake to join us in our celebrations (no tricks, just lovely tasty cake).
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Development Update – March 2024
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Welcome back to our February dev update and to be quite honest - it's been a quiet…
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Three demos and a baby
Once upon a time...
...We spent our days living in two different worlds. One where we kept all things workplace related; and another, completely separate, where our offspring would shout:
"Mum/Dad, I need a poo",
again and again, at the top of their voice.
Today those two worlds have very much collided and working practices over the last 12+ months have shifted significantly as a result.
Our team meetings have often been invaded, either by the physical presence, or vocal clues, of other littler beings, just a door handle away.
On the demo front - We've had customers that have needed three calls, where previously they would have had one. Each demo being brought to an impromptu close with the recipient needing to stop to offer unexpected childcare.
We are no longer alone - these worlds have joined. But isn't that amazing?
As a society, we have had some rough hits over this last year but there are also some wonderful positives to find amongst the debris.
Businesses are being forced to relax and show their personality, warts and all. For us, that's been great, especially for our demos. We see them as a chance to chat, get to know someone new and see if there's a mutual fit.
We always have.
What's great now, is that when a new face joins us on a Teams call, they're already accustomed to that approach, having experienced it twenty times previously since this all began.
Our CRM may be all-encompassing but that doesn't mean our demos need to be. We more than welcome the potential family invasion and if you need, we can tailor our demos so that even your two-year-old can enjoy it.
So if you would like to book a demo with us don't worry about having to bring the tribe along.
We'll take you through it all.
Once, twice or three times.
All in baby steps.
Latest articles...
Development Update – March 2024
Welcome back to the March edition of our regular dev update and with it, we've felt a…
Development Update – February 2024
Welcome back to our February dev update and to be quite honest - it's been a quiet…
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Meet Bill Val - Beep beep
At the end of last year, we announced that our new product, Bill Val, had entered a beta phase and was ready to demo. We were rather delighted with the clamour from customers to check it out.
After 2 months of gathering feedback and refining, we’re excited to declare it’s now officially ready and being used in earnest by our customers.
But what is it?
Studies suggest that
"...as many as 1 in 5 utility bills contain errors that could cause the recipient to overpay."
With our new Bill Val product, you can give your clients peace of mind that their bills are thoroughly checked prior to payment.
It’s a tool that allows you to upload bill data direct files from the supplier straight to our system. Once uploaded our system systematically examines each entry to ensure it’s correct.
* Source: www.energylivenews.com
How does it work?
Import your bill data file from the Supplier (.EDI, .CSV, .XLS, etc.).
Our system thoroughly performs all relevant checks.
Any errors are clearly marked ready to be actioned or reported on.
Wait, there's more!
We’re investing heavily in Bill Val, with our dev team currently busy working away on additional power management features. If you sign up for our current Bill Val product you’ll be able to shape the evolution of future improvements, plus early adopters will benefit from favourable subscription reductions on any prospective upgrades.
A Secret Track - UtilityClick Jukebox
...
...A little while back one of our clever developers created UtilityClick Jukebox - a video boombox embedded directly within our CRM.
We encourage our dev team to experiment and innovate as much as possible so these little side projects are always a welcome surprise.
Isn't that a waste of their time?
Ok, we admit that a jukebox within a CRM might not seem like a useful addition, but we believe that in these moments of experimentation, great ideas (and subsequently, features) are born. Up until now, our jukebox has only been available to UC employees but we thought the world could do with a boost and so UC Jukebox has now been added to the system for all to enjoy.
Once switched on you can listen to some great* tunes whilst managing those important opportunities.
All that bopping got us thinking... and so, here's our perfect top 5 Energy Brokerage tracks that you just might hear on the UC Jukebox...
Marvin Gaye
I Heard It Through The Pipeline
Dolly Parton
KPI Will Always Love You
Guns N' Roses
Sweet Parent/Child Tender Of Mine
Jackie Wilson
Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Supplier And Supplier
Stevie Wonder
Signed, Sealed And Set A Renewal Notice For 24 Months
We don’t just create innovative music features, we also make great software to help procure energy. If you would like to see a demo of our system and understand more about how we can help you dance to a better beat – feel free to get in touch, we’d be happy to show you around.
*The term “great” depends on your love for MMMBop by Hanson.
Further reading...
Development Update – March 2024
Welcome back to the March edition of our regular dev update and with it, we've felt a…
Development Update – February 2024
Welcome back to our February dev update and to be quite honest - it's been a quiet…
Top 5 Tips For Transferring Data
Transferring your data from one system to another is complex, sometimes incredibly so.
Anyone who tells you otherwise has presumably got a long wooden nose and a father called Geppetto.
Whether you are transferring data from an Excel spreadsheet or an intricate CRM system, logic dictates that the process will be fraught with complication.
You are taking data stored in a particular way and moving it into data tables that will be structured entirely differently to which they came.
Planning is vital here (as is a wealth of experience).
We wanted to amalgamate our experience of data transfers and share our top 5 things for you to be mindful of:
Data Mapping:
The first important task is to take your existing data and map it to the relevant fields within the new system. There will be naming convention differences that will need to be adhered to.
It’s also likely that some data will be missing from your data set. Where this is the case, additional data will need to be sourced to fill in the absent sections.
Structuring Your Data:
This process is complex when moving data from Excel. The beauty of a spreadsheet is it gives you the ability to write and structure your data however you want to. However, this freedom leads to huge inefficiencies in how the data is stored, especially if your data is crammed into a single sheet.
The most efficient way of structuring data is to make your data tables as small as possible with data sets being linked from one sheet to another. A process of de-aggregating the data and building it back up needs to occur to get everything ready for a clean import.
Making Logical Assumptions:
You may find in some instances that your data does not match the mandatory fields of the new CRM. There will never be a situation where you hold every facet of data for the CRM you are importing into. Where these examples occur, logic and consistency need to be used to make assumptions against your data. Normally this is enough for the data to operate correctly in your new system but it requires oversight of what makes good data assumptions.
Prioritising Your Imports:
It might feel intimidating to move to a new CRM and you will likely have tens of thousands of data lines. However, you can take the pressure away from the project by prioritising core data for the initial import.
Core data can be defined by data that has an immediate impact on your business. E.g. Live customers, live meters and commission statements for your current and previous financial year only. Any data that sits outside of this can either be stored locally (for auditing purposes) or can be loaded into your new CRM at a later date.
Profiling Your Data:
Trying to load ALL data within your first bulk import is a sizable challenge. You will likely have huge numbers of PDF documents and notes on accounts that go back a number of years. It’s prudent to split these out from your initial import.
PDF documents, for example, can be loaded in by the team once they start using the system on an account by account basis. This will spread out the workload for bulk importing and allows your data set to be built up to 100% over a more manageable period, taking the pressure off the initial exercise.
Our UtilityClick team has plenty of experience when it comes to supporting data imports. We have gone through this process a number of times with our clients and the imports have always been successful.
In brief with UtilityClick you have:
A Double Threat
A Software Company that not only understands data but understands the Energy Industry too.
Unprecedented Knowledge
Unprecedented knowledge in supporting the data import process.
A Deep Understanding
An understanding of the data structure required to efficiently represent your portfolio information.
Personable Team
A friendly team that can guide you through the process every step of the way.
Salesforce and Hubspot
Experience with transitioning data from off the shelf CRMs such as Salesforce and Hubspot.
If you would like to see a demo of our system and understand more on how we can help you transfer your data to our system then feel free to get in touch and we’d be happy to show you around.