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Breaking it to them gently
You’ve put it off. You’re worried the reaction won’t be good. Will they call? Will they write? Will they march en masse down Main Street and stand outside your door chanting, “No way, we won’t pay”?
Chances are it won’t be anything like that, but reactions to increased water rates can be unpredictable. The key is to let customers know – in plain English – why they’re about to pay more for their water or wastewater service, how much they’ll pay and what they’ll get as a result.
This edition of eBulletin will give you tips on how to do just that. By breaking the news clearly and concisely, you can avoid the riots – or more likely, most of the angry phone calls.

Reasoning with the reasonable…and the rest
First off, keep a good attitude about your customers. Sure, there is always going to be one or two who complain and a few more who may grumble, but the fact is, most will understand why the rates are being raised. In today’s economy, rising costs are a fact of life, from gasoline to groceries. It shouldn’t be a surprise that applies to essentials like utilities or water and wastewater services. Most people are reasonable and will understand when given a proper explanation.
The trick is dealing with those who will complain no matter what. It may not be pleasant, but it’s something every service provider has had to deal with at some point in their career. Follow these rules to make the experience easier:

Rule No. 1: Be polite. Probably the most important rule to follow, whether the customer is calm or yelling in your ear, being polite will diffuse further conflict. Ask how they’re doing today, use “ma’am” or “sir,” and always speak in a calm tone. Never raise your voice. There’s a good chance your politeness will help get the customer past his anger and will help him understand the situation. At the very least, being polite gives him one less thing to complain about.

Rule No. 2: Don’t avoid the conversation. Unless there’s a conflict, don’t put off a conversation with a customer, even an angry one. Ducking the conversation will only make the customer angrier, and that leads to nothing good.

Rule No. 3: Listen to the customer. If your customer has taken the time to call and complain, chances are they’re pretty fired up. Let them vent their frustrations. Listen to what they have to say. They may make points or provide ideas you haven’t considered, or they may make you aware of water system problems you didn’t know about previously. If you listen to them, it may encourage them to listen to you once they’re done. So listen to what they have to say.

Rule No. 4: Address their issues. Let the customer know you understand their arguments and their reasons for making them. Provide answers to any questions they have, and explain why the rate increases are necessary despite their arguments. Again, be polite when explaining things, and tell them you appreciate the phone call (even if you don’t).

Rule No. 5: Follow up. If a customer complains about the water rate increase because their service isn’t what they expect, be sure to follow up. Check their service lines. There may be a bigger problem brewing than just a lack of pressure for one customer. Is there a leak? Do lines need replacing? The best way to find problems is through customer tips, even from irritated customers. Once you’ve checked things out, be sure to contact the customer and let them know you’ve checked things out and what you’ve found. Most customers will be less likely to complain in the future if they feel they’re getting good service with attention to detail.

Presenting your case
The best way to minimize complaints altogether is to educate your customers as to why the rates are going up.
The key to this is to keep it simple. Don’t spend an entire page apologizing or justifying the rate increase. Just give a quick explanation of why the rates are going up, i.e. rising costs of treatment chemicals, infrastructure in need of replacing, water tap numbers growing faster than expected or declining more than predicted, or improvement projects that must be funded.
Next, provide three important bits of information:

• when the rates take effect
• what the rate changes are
• what the customers can expect

The last point often can allay customer concerns. Residents may not grasp how much a 5% increase means to them, but they’ll understand that on average they’ll spend $24 more each year, for example.
There is one other important piece of information to provide to customers in your correspondence: a phone number. You may think you’re inviting complaints, but your customers may feel better to know they can call with any questions.
We found a good example of such correspondence from the town of Essex Junction, Vermont. They increased their water rates in May and provided a detailed explanation as to why in a letter posted on their Web site, listed below.
The document consists of three parts: a letter explaining the rate increases, a set of common questions about such an increase and the answers to those questions, and appendixes containing the rate study conducted to determine the financial needs of the water system.
Providing the entire rate study might be a bit much for every customer, but if you have a Web site it may not hurt to have the study available for those who want to download it. The key elements are providing a simple yet detailed explanation of the rate increase and stating why the increase is necessary.
Once you’ve outlined the what and why, you have to get the word out to your customers.  The three best methods for this are via letters in the mail or included in the monthly bills, posting the information on the city or water system’s Web site and providing the information through local media.
Newspapers, especially smaller newspapers, often will print stories about water rates as a courtesy to the public, so don’t be afraid to call the local paper and provide your letter or a press release. Local newscasts may do the same thing, and don’t forget about radio stations that provide local news.
Don’t forget to post the correspondence on your city’s or department’s Web site. The Web site allows you to not only post the letter sent to customers, but additional information as well, such as the rate study that may have recommended the increase. Make sure you provide the documents in a format that can be read on any computer. Plain text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) are the best types to use. Any computer can read plain text files, and Adobe provides a free Acrobat Reader on its Web site to allow people to read PDF on their Windows or Macintosh systems.

Additional Resources
Town of Essex Junction, Vermont
http://www.essex.org
Adobe Systems Acrobat Reader download page
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

We’ve created a form letter you can edit and use to let your customers know all about the increases. The letter can be edited as you wish, and is designed to include all the basic information your customers will need without having so much information that it gets bogged down. It can serve as a starting point for your correspondence, but feel free to add answers you think your customers will need. It also can be used as an outline for information to put on your Web site or in your press release.

So break it to the customers gently, treat those who complain politely, and get ready for a productive new year.