It has been almost a month since Alfa Energy was named Consumer Champion at this year’s TELCA and a little over a year since our Diana Bebic won the Unsung Hero award. We sat down with Elvin Ahmovic, Alfa’s Commercial Director, and Diana to see how it’s been since and what winning the awards means to them.
What does winning the Consumer Champion Award mean to you?
Elvin: Winning the Consumer Champion Award means a great deal to me, personally. Over twenty-one years, winning our first few clients meant that we’ve got their vote of confidence. Today, we service over 4,000 clients. They trust us to help them make the best possible decision when it comes to energy cost management in what is a very volatile market and a very dynamic industry. It is a huge responsibility, which we don’t take lightly. We operate in an incredibly competitive marketplace, with hundreds of competitors. If we don’t deliver the service level that our clients expect from us, then they will quickly take their business somewhere else.
Over the years, we have been achieving high levels of client retention, which is one of our key performance indicators. As much as we have created robust internal processes and built a sophisticated system to service our clients, it is our people who are the main reason for customer satisfaction. Over 100 people across four offices work incredibly hard, day after day not only to meet but to exceed clients’ expectations. More than anything else, winning this award is a huge recognition of our people and motivation to continue delivering high levels of customer service.
Diana, you won the Unsung Hero Award last year, do you remember how it felt?
Diana: It was a huge surprise, not that I didn’t believe in myself, but there was such a strong competition. Winning was very exciting, and it felt more than just an individual award, but like it was for the whole team. Being recognised by other members of the industry is certainly rewarding and I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction and accomplishment.
And to add on to Elvin’s answer, winning the Consumer Champion award this year is nothing less than more proof that we work great as a team to offer the best to our clients. It is the way going forward.
This year, you were invited by TELCA organisers to present this year’s award to the new Unsung Hero. What was that like?
Diana: It was a great experience and it was great to see all the familiar faces again. The event was very well organised and it provided a great opportunity to meet new people. It was a pleasure to be a part of the show.
What sort of advice would you give to your colleagues to help them be great consultants?
Diana: Be available for your clients, be honest, set the right expectations, and live your client’s business as if it is your own.
Where is alfaenergy headed in the next 5-10 years?
Elvin: We are very excited about the future. We live in times of great uncertainty but also great opportunity. A need for effective energy cost management is not going to go away. Energy prices are extremely volatile and organisations of all types and sizes need assistance with managing that volatility and protecting their budget. Furthermore, it is highly likely that non-commodity cost will continue to rise well into the future. The need to capture the data, monitor energy consumption, and, wherever possible, reduce the usage has never been more important. Most organisations face real danger of their energy costs spiraling out of control.
alfaenergy has been investing in customer-friendly invoice validation, budget forecasting, and energy data management. We have built a range of tools and services that enable our clients to take a full control of their energy spend, reduce administrative costs, and provide greater transparency and visibility of different elements of their total energy cost.
Also, we have built an amazing team of energy professionals with decades of experience, many of them with specialised sets of skills in different areas. Furthermore, we have built international capabilities. Today, we are one of few energy consultancies who can claim to be truly international.
We are committed to continuing with learning and development and look forward to many more years of working with our clients on solving their challenges.
Along with the TELCA wins, Alfa Energy has won Broker of the Year at the Energy Awards in both 2012 and 2014. They are looking forward to this year’s Energy Awards, which will be taking place on 30 November 2016.
