It is essential that companies understand what their customers want, and that
customers have trust and confidence that this will be reflected in the decisions that
companies take on an ongoing basis, rather than just at the five-yearly price reviews.
It is imperative that the relationship between companies and their customers should
not be one in which customers are seen as passive receivers of services, but one in
which there is a continuing dialogue, in which customers are genuinely engaged and
empowered and become part of how the sector delivers. The more companies can
build a responsive and effective relationship with their customers’ that fosters trust
and confidence, the more opportunities they will have to work with customers to
create value that can then be shared with those customers as well as with investors
and potentially with the environment and wider society. The relationship between
companies and their customers should be at the heart of everything.