Energy and utilities, long assumed to be one of the more stable sectors generating consistent demand and revenue, may not always be a sure bet. 

With rising climate change concerns from consumers and natural disasters weakening infrastructures, the industry is being forced to reimagine and get creative about how it does business to maintain clientele and loyalty. Operations must get sleeker, service faster, and decision-making more informed. And 2024 could be the year for the industry to make these major investments. 

To kick off 2024, our industry experts have identified three key predictions for what conversations and technologies will reign supreme in the energy and utilities industry for the year ahead:

CPQ will dominate as a way to manage complex selling motions

Many organizations are already leveraging Salesforce as a basic CRM tool to accelerate selling with customer information at the forefront. However many don’t know that they would turbocharge their complex selling model with the addition of CPQ. Salesforce Revenue Cloud—a package including CPQ, Billing, and Commerce functionality—supports your existing sales operations by automating pricing, quote configuration, and more. For energy and utilities, this presents the unique and in-demand opportunity to guide sales reps through sales opportunities with a dynamic product/service catalog and land the perfect quote for each prospect every time, considering all negotiations, discounts, and more that’s been put on the table throughout the sales cycle. This means professional, sleek sales quotes—every time, even through all the back and forth of a complex deal.

Customers will demand better order management from their providers

Energy and utilities clients are expecting more responsible, dependable service from their providers, and it all starts with successful order and service management. B2B Commerce, a facet of Salesforce Revenue Cloud, helps organizations manage the moment of order capture with sales and seamlessly move to customer service agents to monitor and follow up on delivery. This is a critical leap in the customer journey, so energy and utility organizations must have the right technology in place to bridge any potential gap in paying customers their due attention.

Leaders will look for ways to read the future

Whether it’s visibility into the assembly line, account-based forecasting, or inventory management, business leaders in the energy and utilities industry want answers about the future. The more transparency and accuracy these businesses can glean from their operations, the better they can make decisions for the future and scale growth accordingly. Production forecasting with Salesforce is a dynamic use of the platform, leveraging functionality from Sales Cloud, MuleSoft, and Revenue Cloud to connect critical data sources, monitor production, and drive insights for users at every stage. 

Simplus has helped countless organizations with all of these functionalities—and more. Reach out today and let’s discuss how we can help roadmap and execute your ultimate transformation initiative.