A Guide for ESCOs--Understanding Small Business Customers

Abstract

In tod ay' s increasin gly compe titive envi ronme n t, ene rg y se rvice
com panies are see king ways to le arn mor e about their cus tome rs and
prospects. Sur vey research is one tool that they can use to identify cus-
tom er conce rns . Th is article present s the fin di ngs of a sur vey of T enn es-
see sma ll bu siness owne rs. It pro vid es sev eral pieces of inf ormat ion that
may be help ful to ene rgy service p rovid er s that are interested in m ar ket-
ing services to th is cus tome r gro up.
The research pr esent ed here has the same limit at ion s as ot her types
of s urvey effo rts. The issues that affect resp onses can va ry accord ing to
the time of yea r, ge ne ral econo mic si tua tion, or geograp hica l region.
Ano the r limi tation of survey resea rch is its reflection of resea rcher inter-
es ts and biases.
Because of these limitation s, energy serv ice pr oviders sho u ld view
thi s a nd othe r su rvey research as one piece of a very lar ge cus tome r
pu zzle. Since resear cher s and resp on dent s b oth play roles, it ma y be
help ful to view survey research as a jointly produ ced story ab out a par-
ticul ar set of qu estions. In th is article we addr ess the follow ing qu est ion s.
Firs t, wh ich cha llenge s d o sma ll bu siness owne rs cons ide r m ost
imp ort ant to their future success? Seco nd, how d o ow ne rs assess the im-
port an ce of ene rgy conc ern s relativ e to oth er issu es? Third, d o owne rs of
va rio us bu sin ess typ es and sizes perceive issues differently?
By see king the an swers to these and othe r qu est ion s, e nergy se rvice
pro vider s can ga in insi ght s into wha t's on the m ind s of s ma ll bu siness
cus tome rs. This is an esse ntia l p art of packaging appr opr iate services
a nd messages for this p art icular gro up.