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Is This Some Kind Of Joke?
(Our Top 5 April Fool's)
You may have seen our Toy Store for energy brokers last week.
Sorry again about that.
You see, as well as developing software for the last 10 years, like the little children we are, we’ve also been rolling out yearly 'April Fools' jokes.
Here we’re looking back at
our favourite UtilityClick fools*
from the past decade...
A Crafty Ale Fool
Brewed for the energy industry
A few years back, we once announced our boldest product pivot yet - into craft beer.
Not just any beer, of course. This was energy industry hops. Leading the lineup were MOP DC/DA IPA and the ever-sessionable PresALE ResALE.
There were labels. There were names. There was, briefly, genuine demand.
Sadly, there was no beer.
Broker Universal Management AI
Here we unveiled a revolutionary AI assistant designed to change the way brokers work forever.
Broker Universal Management, or, B.U.M. for short.
Just say what you want, and it delivers:
"Generate pricing for renewals in the next 28 days."
"Resolve the latest objection from British Gas."
It was seamless. It was powerful. It was extremely well received. One beta user even said:
"Your B.U.M. not only looks great but I can do more with it than I could ever imagine."
We were ready to roll it out to the masses. But in the end, we had to pull the plug.
Energy Crush
The world’s first energy dating app
Finally, a dating app that gets you.
Energy Crush was built for those who’ve tried dating outside the industry... and learned their lesson.
Because we knew non-energy folk:
Don’t appreciate a well-formed pylon They won’t debate the Climate Change Levy over dinner And they definitely don’t respect you when you’ve won a paid-for industry award
So we stepped in.
Tell us your top five energy passions, and we’ll match you with your perfect industry soulmate we said.
From connecting brokers and suppliers… to connecting hearts. It felt like a natural next step.
Now That’s What I Call Energy
The album
Here we briefly entered our musical era.
A full compilation album featuring:
Freddy The Broker Jodie’s heartfelt ode to her Tesla The team’s electrifying group hit, Electrical
It had everything. Anthems. Emotion. Absolutely no distribution deal.
Despite early promise, you won’t find it in any bargain bin... or anywhere at all, unfortunately.
Introducing UtiliToys
The Energy Broker
Toy Store
Our most recent creation - and arguably our biggest yet.
UtiliToys promised a range of essential tools for the modern broker:
Broker Ear Defenders Oops, That’s My Commission - the board game The ever-popular Stress-Relief Gas Pipeline
We even backed it with “research”:
"Studies show that short, tactile interactions can help maintain focus during complex tasks..."
It sounded legitimate. It felt helpful.
It was, again, complete nonsense.
So...
Why do we do it?
April Fool's isn’t just about the joke for us. It's a space where we get to show how we think, not just what we build.
Because behind all the features, workflows, and dashboards... it's just us.
A group of people sat in a room (or on Teams, or occasionally in a shed) trying to make something genuinely useful for brokers.
We're not a huge corporation with layers between us and the people using the software.
We talk to brokers.
We hear the frustrations.
We build around them.
And sometimes we turn them into a toy shop.
Every ridiculous product in that store came from a real moment. The “surely this could be easier” feeling.
That’s the stuff we actually care about.
April Fool’s just gives us a way to say it out loud without sounding like we’re writing a brochure.
We never want to be a faceless platform, lecturing the industry on what it thinks is best.
We're a team of real people, building things we hope make a difference.
*No, our CEO, Andy Hunter, isn’t one of the top UtilityClick fools listed above - shame on you for even suggesting it!
BILL VAL 3.0
BILL VAL
Three Point Zero
HAS ARRIVED
Clearer, faster, and more intuitive energy bill validation.
BILL VAL 3.0 is our most advanced version yet - built to help you save time, reduce errors, and gain total visibility over your energy billing.
Say goodbye to clunky workflows and hello to a new era of intelligent automation.
Take a look at the colossal features we've added:
🧠 Smarter Validation with Intelligent Parsing
Our upgraded parsing engine does the heavy lifting. BILL VAL 3.0 automatically extracts and verifies key billing data, so you can catch issues faster with less effort.
🎯 NEW: Consumption Targets
Help your customers hit their energy goals. BILL VAL 3.0 lets you bulk or manually set consumption targets per supply, perfect for budgeting and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) tracking.
🧼 Redesigned for Simplicity
A clean, modern interface makes navigating your bill validation process effortless. BILL VAL 3.0 delivers a smoother experience from start to finish.
🚀 NEW: Quick Add Batch
Whether it's a CSV, a PDF, or scrawled notes from a supplier, Quick Add Batch lets you get invoices in fast.
📊 Enhanced Reporting That Delivers
Spot savings and issues at a glance. BILL VAL 3.0 features more powerful reporting tools to keep you and your customers one step ahead.
Get a First Look at BILL VAL 3.0
This is more than an upgrade it’s a clearer, smarter way to work.
If you’re ready to see how BILL VAL 3.0 can transform your invoice validation process, let’s talk.
LITE CRM Launch
We’re super excited to officially launch a powerful new tool built especially for small to medium brokers who want to do things properly, without breaking the bank.
3 Reasons To Love LITE
LITE CRM is all about giving you access to the tools you need right now. Helping you win business, stay organised, and offer competitive pricing to your customers. We think it's the perfect starting point for brokers looking to grow.
Here’s what makes it special:
1.
Built for Now, Ready for Later
Being an energy broker shouldn’t mean choosing between spreadsheets and expensive software.
2.
Keep Control of Your Pipeline
LITE CRM helps you manage all your customer and lead data in one place, so nothing slips through the cracks.
When it’s time to close the deal, it integrates with DocuSign or Signable to generate pre-filled contracts in a few clicks. That means less admin, fewer mistakes, and more time doing the work that gets you paid.
3.
Access The Pricing You Deserve
Let’s face it, getting access to competitive supplier rates can be a major hurdle for new brokers.
That's why LITE CRM connects you with our trusted aggregator partner, giving you access to exclusive supplier pricing that you wouldn’t usually see at this stage. So you can go toe-to-toe with the bigger players and win.
Perfect For Pyjamas
A Demo
Perfect for
Pyjamas
(even embarrassing ones)
Ah, the live software demo.
It's a staple of the corporate world, a rite of passage for anyone looking for better tech solutions.
But at 2am, when you're sat in your PJs, googling 'Best energy software' for the best part of three hours, you usually have two options:
1. Book a call with a "sales advisor" (and hope you can squeeze it in before the school run).
OR
2. Watch the corporate advert (complete with stock video footage of business folk pointing at screens and overlaid animated graphs).
Neither seems overly attractive... or even helps you see what the actual software looks like right now.
Thank goodness then for our recorded demos.
There's no "give us your name and email" before you can watch it either.
Just click and play from the comfort of your own pyjamas.
We've got one for PRO CRM and BILL VAL and we'll be adding more very soon.
(Don't worry - In the cold light of day when you want to see more of what the software can do, there's always the option to book a live demo with us... but we don't mind if you're still in your PJs).
Election Help: Which Way Will You Vote?
Which way
will you
Can't Decide?
We're here to help
Aren't we fortunate to have such great candidates to choose from? 😅
But which one are you going to choose?
Thankfully UtilityClick is here to help you decide!
Let’s take a look at the options...
The Blue
Candidate
Name: PRO CRM Date of Birth: 2015
Likes
- Organizing chaotic customer data with flair.
- Making instant decisions and winning applause.
- Multitasking like a PRO, handling multi-site with ease.
Dislikes
- Delays in contract submissions caused by incomplete data.
- Messy, unorganized data.
- Seeing non-UtilityClick users performing tedious manual calculations.
Career Highlights:
PRO CRM began its illustrious career as a visionary leader in the energy sector. Known for its efficiency and adaptability, it revolutionized energy brokerage by introducing a comprehensive system for managing leads, generating pricing quotes, and forecasting commissions.
The Red
Candidate
Name: API Date of Birth: 2017
Likes
- Seamlessly integrating into any system.
- Handling complex requests with a smile.
- Providing top-notch support from skilled developers.
Dislikes
- Rigid, inflexible systems.
- Unresponsive support teams.
- Off-the-shelf CRMs that don’t utilise energy procurement tools.
Career Highlights:
API is a versatile and forward-thinking candidate renowned for its role in integrating advanced technology into the energy brokerage sector. API's career is marked by its ability to empower businesses by allowing seamless integration of UtilityClick's tools into their own systems, ensuring complete creative control and enhanced functionality.
The Green
Candidate
Name: BILL VAL Date of Birth: 2021
Likes
- Spotting errors from a mile away.
- Clear, concise reports that dazzle the audience.
- Helping customers save money and energy.
Dislikes
- Ambiguous billing statements.
- Wasteful energy practices.
- Vague, uncustomizable validation criteria.
Career Highlights:
BILL VAL is a distinguished candidate known for its meticulous attention to detail in validating energy bills. This leader ensures the accuracy of customer bills, identifying errors and potential savings. BILL VAL's career is marked by its dedication to transparency and efficiency, providing instant, clear reports through a state-of-the-art portal.
The Yellow
Candidate
Name: PRICED Date of Birth: 2022
Likes
- Generating quotes faster than a speeding bullet.
- Saying ‘goodbye’ to Excel files.
- Delivering perfect PDF results with a flourish.
Dislikes
- Slow, inefficient pricing processes.
- Errors in contract generation.
- You losing out on commission that should be yours.
Career Highlights:
PRICED is a dynamic and resourceful candidate known for transforming how brokers handle pricing. Its career is marked by an ability to generate thousands of prices instantly, making it an invaluable tool for businesses starting out or scaling up. PRICED is celebrated for its commitment to transparency, ensuring brokers retain their commission and providing numerous add-ons to enhance workflow.
UtilityClick Presents CONNECT
presents
Suppliers, Get In Front of 250+ TPIs
CONNECT provides an integration with TPIs and sub-brokers that streamlines the current pricing process and eliminates contract complications. The basic product carries zero implementation fees, API fees, or subscription fees.
Tell Me More
Our TPIs are able to use our service to price and submit contracts at the click of a button. CONNECT not only ensures any pricing requested by a broker is time accurate, it also provides added prominence over your competitors.
And Then There’s CONNECT+
Price is a vital aspect of any quote but when there's a negligible difference, our TPIs will choose based on ‘best traits’.
With CONNECT+ you can present your best traits both through our website and throughout the procurement process.
Our Vision
We’re driven to offer a service that provides full automation between end users, TPIs and Suppliers. Interaction with suppliers is still extremely manual, it combines to create inefficient and data-risky processes, with duplicate data being used multiple times.
To resolve this, we’re now thrilled to offer free unlimited connections from TPI to supplier with CONNECT.
Brochure Download
Introducing Your Next Level PRO CRM
Our Customers
Top 5 Features
No.
Key Features
Description
Bespoke White-label Portal
Give customers access to results under your own brand! See it for yourself.
True Multi-Site Quoting
2 sites? 100 sites? It doesn’t matter! Create quotes large and small.
Real-Time Dashboard
Dynamic charting & reporting to analyse business performance. See it for yourself.
Contract & LOA Generation
Instantly create completed supplier contracts or LOAs with the click of a button.
All Supplier Pricing Files Regularly Updated
No more Excel files. We manage ALL of your supplier pricing files!
Do More with
Carbon Reporting
Quickly and easily input a monthly snapshot of any company’s carbon metric. Then present beautiful carbon reporting for each of your customers.
BILL VAL
Upload batch data files directly from suppliers then systematically examine each entry to ensure each its validity. Upon completion, results are broken down and reported back to your customers.
Carbon Reporting
Quickly and easily input a monthly snapshot of any company’s carbon metric. Then present beautiful carbon reporting for each of your customers.
BILL VAL
Upload batch data files directly from suppliers then systematically examine each entry to ensure each its validity. Upon completion, results are broken down and reported back to your customers.
Meter Lookups
Search and receive vital information on every commercial meter in the UK. Instantly.
Further reading...
Is This Some Kind Of Joke?
As well as developing software for the last 10 years, like the little children we are,…
The Oscars Vs. UtilityClick
If you’d rather skip the marathon, we’ve got a better option: our US blockbuster demo…
A Super Hero Customer Portal for Brokers
The ADR scheme is launching soon and, to help you get ready for this, we have developed a brand new Customer Portal!
An ADR-Ready Transparent Portal...
Your Brand for Your customers...
Your Brand for Your customers...
Zero Development Required
Zero Development Required
Reduce Your
Cost To Serve
Revolutionise your query management process. Allow your customers to create tasks and complaints directly through the portal.
Better Query Management...
A triple threat. Become leaner, compliant and more efficient all at the same time. Open up a better dialogue with your customers, increase their reliance on your services and present transparent upselling opportunities under one roof.
Present Interval Data...
Present Interval Data...
Beautiful Carbon Reporting.
...And Manage Contract Renewals.
Beautiful Carbon Reporting.
...And Manage Contract Renewals.
Further reading...
Is This Some Kind Of Joke?
As well as developing software for the last 10 years, like the little children we are,…
The Oscars Vs. UtilityClick
If you’d rather skip the marathon, we’ve got a better option: our US blockbuster demo…
Shhhh. We won't tell if you don't
Energy brokers, by fully customising our software you can:
Allow your staff to send LOAs, COTs & contracts via branded email notifications; automatically generated through the system. Provide end-user customers with their own secure account to manage meters and current contracts. Produce reports, run tenders and present fully branded results to customers in real-time. Give sub-broker access to your pricing books, manage their commissions and allow them to run quotes on your behalf. Offer bill validation as an added service and present a variety of reports within your very own white-labelled customer portal.
Suppliers can take advantage too. You can:
Give TPIs access to your branded portal and connect with them more efficiently. Receive automated matrix contracts. Upload updated pricing or have us do it for you. Receive tenders, import prices and receive feedback automatically. Set & receive statuses to and from TPIs. Know when pricing is due, when it’s received, and how it fared.
With our fully brandable PRO CRM, Supplier PORTAL and Customer Portal, you can seamlessly present our tools as your own and manage it all from one central location.
Further reading...
Is This Some Kind Of Joke?
As well as developing software for the last 10 years, like the little children we are,…
The Oscars Vs. UtilityClick
If you’d rather skip the marathon, we’ve got a better option: our US blockbuster demo…
Does Good Design Matter?
Precursor: In 2020 we wrote an article titled “Could A CRM Give You Pleasure?” which proved rather popular. We’ve also spent much of last year improving the UX of our software.
But WHY?
Does any of it really matter? Thankfully there have been numerous studies to answer this very question…
For example, in 2005 a group called The Design Council studied portfolios of companies that traded on the FTSE over the past 10 years. What they discovered was that the companies that put an emphasis on design outperformed the FTSE 100 index by 200%*.
More recently, in 2015 the National Endowment for the US Arts released a study that concluded that small businesses saw a 17.5% increase in average sales on improved goods and services when they invested in design**.
https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/NEAIndustrialDesignManufacturing-4.28.2017-rev.pdf
As Homer Simpson once said:
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!"
So let’s drill down into
Five reasons why design doesn't just matter for the energy sector, it's imperative:
Good design has the power to simplify the complex processes that you find in the energy sector.
If you were to create a piece of software that fulfilled every part of your job – that system would be complex to a point of chaos but good design can simplify it all into manageable chunks. If done right, the design can act as a translator, simplifying the complex language of your processes.
Good design can affect users emotions and can actually make your team happier.
It may seem trivial to focus on emotion when talking about software but companies are realising more and more that it’s possible to evoke a positive response from simple interactions, like a hover effect or a popup animation.
Firms such as Apple have built billion-dollar products around how good it can make a user feel, where everything is carefully crafted to give the user a positive experience.
A CRM is much like your phone. You’ll likely spend more time looking at it than you will your own family, so it’s only right that it should also invoke positivity for the user.
Good design can make your team more efficient
As humans, we have an inbuilt nature to take the perceived quickest route to a solution, especially if we’re unsure of the path ahead. When performing a complicated task, good design can provide useful tools precisely where and when they’re needed along a workflow. For instance, having an important button appear more prominent than other page elements can help guide users eyes on where they should go next.
Good design can help highlight your wins and losses
Presenting your data is all well and good but if its meaning is not clear, then it’s likely to be overlooked. This is even more apparent when reporting within the energy sector. Good design can help declutter and present important, actionable information whilst giving the option to drill down to the data that matters. Users can then focus clearly on the presented facts and adapt swiftly to the cause of their wins.
Good design can provide assurances of a high level of service.
If we hold two products side-by-side, we’ll invariably focus on the better-looking of the two. This is where the good design looks to assure us that “If they’ve spent this much effort perfecting how it looks, then the way it works must also be as equally well thought out”.
Although we know that doesn’t always hold true, it’s inbuilt within us and we still can’t help but use it as a base for commercial decisions. When providing completely re-brandable software like ours, it’s even more imperative that when your customers are using it, the way it looks matches the high level of service that you provide.
Summing It All Up
Investing in good design is superficial by its nature but the results will bleed into numerous positive areas, far and beyond aesthetics. Here at UtilityClick we care enormously about the software experiences our users will have, that’s why we invest so much in a design to convey that. We don’t believe any equivalent system can attest to that.
If you’d like to see how we’ve taken these 5 points above (and a few more) to transform our software, get in touch for a demo:
An interactive side-by-side of old Vs. new for our PRO CRM product.