Every month, CEO/General Manager Tony Mallory has a message for our members in Your Co-op Connection in Rural Missouri.
November 2024
Co-op's success relies on delivering value to members
Adapted from CEO's remarks at the 84th annual meeting held on Sept. 18, 2024
Member satisfaction is our touchstone. In other words, your satisfaction is the standard by which the success of this co-op is measured. I’m pleased to report that Crawford Electric is meeting that standard.
In fact, in our member survey earlier this year, we received a score that earned the co-op a 2024 Customer Satisfaction Award from the American Customer Satisfaction Index. This award is a testament to Crawford Electric’s ongoing efforts to provide the best possible member experience.
I want you to know that “member satisfaction” is not just a feel-good slogan for us. It’s a reminder that we work for you! And that is the heart of the “cooperative difference!”
The survey confirmed that having the co-op provide good value for the money is among members’ top concerns. But what actually brings you value? Here are some ideas and examples:
Our core mission is to deliver reliable, high-quality electric service. To most, that means the power needs to be there when you need it, and you want it to stay on even through the roughest weather. To make that happen, we regularly invest millions of dollars to build and strengthen the system that brings you power.
Engineering studies and load forecasts help us be strategic about when and where we upgrade poles and wires.
We regularly inspect critical components, like poles, insulators and other line devices. We aim to change them out before they fail.
We’re undergoing a long-term project related to installing devices that will help minimize the impact of outages.
And we focus on maintaining our 30-foot-wide utility easement along our 3,000 miles of power line. This is a massive undertaking! Trees and brush grow back – so the work is never done.
Your safe and reliable power depends on us doing all these things.
It also depends on us being prepared to handle outages when they do occur.
We understand the hardship a power outage places on our members.
Outages also are among the most difficult and most dangerous work that our field crews handle. Think about it: They’re out there during heavy rain and wind (or snow and ice!), with limited visibility, tricky driving conditions, encountering damaged and dangling equipment, broken poles and toppled trees. All these elements combine to create a hazardous work environment.
Thankfully, we’ve not had a lost-time work accident in a while now. Of course, that’s good news for any employee who might ever experience such a thing. It’s also good news for the co-op’s bottom line, as our safety record has a direct impact on insurance rates and potential discounts. Remember: Anything that impacts the co-op’s bottom line ultimately impacts you – our members. Why? Because, after all: It’s your money!
So, first and foremost, we want to handle outages as safely as possible.
But we know we need to serve our members, deliver on the trust you place in us, and bring value to your co-op membership.
That’s why we’ve worked so hard to improve our abilities to speed restoration and communicate with you during outages. Ways we keep you informed include our web-based outage map and real-time Facebook updates. Also, our dispatchers are terrific and regularly share updates from the field.
Here’s the attribute that seems to most influence your satisfaction and the value you place on your membership with Crawford Electric: the human touch – our dedicated and knowledgeable employees.
Future innovation in service excellence will be driven by people who are able to recognize the value a new product, program, or technology could bring to our service to you. That’s how we’ll be able to strive for continued excellence – through our constant dedication to improvement.
Remember: Your satisfaction is the standard by which the success of this co-op is measured. Our core mission is to bring you value through safe, reliable and affordable electricity. And the talented and dedicated workforce we have in place will make that happen for you.