Operations manager

The HVC Group from Dordrecht started supplying renewable energy about five years ago. They didn't exactly do that halfway. The HVC Energie business unit now owns several wind farms, including one of the largest wind farms in the Wadden Sea, various solar parks, a bioenergy plant and is involved in geothermal energy. The electricity that is generated goes to 44 municipalities — which are also shareholders — six water boards and private individuals. To improve the processes within the new branch, Leon Harrewijn was brought in.

Standing next to the customer

“When I joined HVC Energie, the company had just started,” says Leon. “There was only the basis for debtor management. Within the group, there was a debtor application for business waste customers, on which we hitchhiked. Problem: that application was far too business-friendly. If someone did not pay, and it took longer for the bill to be paid, the tone became stricter and stricter. But you can't approach consumers like that. The vast majority are at a loss for their hands if they have no money for the energy bill. Then you should not stand opposite, but next to someone. By the way, that is also a wish of our shareholders. So I started looking for a system that could help customers with payment problems.”

Workflows: hour of work

Via good old Google found Leon on the POM website. “What triggered me about their software was the workflow, that you can set an entire process in motion. I'm quite a fan of processes, workflow and automation. In addition, the term “tone of voice” and its interpretation appealed to me. Not just “You have to pay”, if a bill is not paid, but dealing with customers in a friendly way: what else is possible?”

Leon has now set up the amicable process in HVC Energie's debtor process with POM software. “We have a process of at least forty days. This involves multiple channels: e-mail, text messages and sometimes also by letter. We have multiple processes for different parties and different target groups. Consumers, business customers, municipalities and we, for example, also distinguish between people who have or do not have a 06 number. The workflows are very easy to set up. It's an hour of work per target group.”

I'm not paying button

A special addition to the workflow for individuals is the “I'm not paying” button at the first payment reminder. Customers who click this button can then indicate why they are not paying: do they disagree with the bill or are unable to pay. These customers are then called up to discuss this. “By doing it like this, you take the sting out of the situation,” Leon explains. “Instead of people resisting or making excuses like 'I didn't get the bill, 'you see people becoming much more honest about why they're not paying. And then you can go and see together: what is possible, what can we agree on? For example, making a payment arrangement, delaying it or using debt counseling. That helps the customer enormously.”

Good results

Leon is happy with the collection results that HVC Energie is achieving with POM. “In those forty days of our amicable process, we won 88.5 percent of the outstanding posts. The total number of outstanding posts has decreased by twenty percent, while we have grown two and a half times larger in recent years.”

Crowdfunding and error reports

In addition to the collection process, HVC Energie also uses POM for crowdfunding. “If we want to set up a windmill somewhere, local residents can participate and share in the profits. We have a platform where people can subscribe to the bonds. After that, the process runs via POM. The participant pays to the notary via POM's software. That works really well.”

Lately, HVC Energie has also been slightly 'abusing' POM's platform, Leon confesses with a laugh. “We also offer district heating. More and more neighborhoods and homes are connecting to this. Because the network is being tinkered with a lot, it can sometimes fail. When that happens, we send text messages to residents via POM to inform them and indicate approximately how long it will take before the fault is resolved. Residents like that. '

Optimise

Now that the debtor process' is' at HVC Energie, Leon wants to further optimize it. “We are working with POM to improve the link between our system and that of the bailiff and collection organization we work with. After the amicable process, we transfer the files to them, but there has been a bottleneck. We are trying to solve that with a bit of customization in automation. POM takes that up well. I am also looking at the possibilities of Robocall. Now that we have grown so much, we no longer have sufficient capacity in the debtor department to call all debtors. Who knows that the Robocall can play a role in that. That's how we pick something up every time. I am very happy!”

‍