Transforming the EV Charging Experience: A Tale of Innovation and Customer-Centricity
Oct 31, 2023
By the Talink Team, October 25, 2023
2-3 minute read
How Talink's Software Solutions Revolutionised a Leading UK EV Charger Supplier
Ever wondered how software can revolutionise hardware-centric products like Electric Vehicle (EV) charging? This post dives into a real-world example of how Talink partnered with a leading EV charger supplier to transform their customer experience and operational efficiency to unlock growth.
The Catalyst for Change
Our client, a top supplier in the UK's EV charging market, was initially relying on outdated third-party software, causing challenges in both customer engagement and overall business growth. This outdated system lacked the capabilities to offer customer-specific features, was tailored for a different market and had a range of inefficient manual processes that frustrated both staff and customers alike.
This is significant when you consider the McKinsey report (Customer experience: Creating value through transforming customer journeys, Winter 2016) that showed that up to 25% of customers will defect after just one bad experience and that customer orientated operations generate shareholder returns 35% higher than the broader market.
Getting it right for the customer and tackling technical complexities
One of the major challenges of the project was the technical complexity involved in designing a software solution that could satisfy diverse customer personas (and nailing a compelling value proposition for each) while also fulfilling sophisticated technical requirements. Together with Talink, the client identified three distinct customer personas. The software was then designed to cater to the specific needs of each persona, enhancing customer engagement and satisfaction, delivered in an iterative fashion.
The project's technical complexities ranged from handling very high volumes of real-time charging data to storing and providing insights from this for the different customers. The solutions to these challenges included adopting a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) based serverless strategy and leveraging Node.js with TypeScript for backend logic.
The Agile Approach to Success
We took an agile, sprint-based approach to development from the initial Proof of Concept through to the delivery of a mature product. We were backed by a robust team of around 12 developers, both onshore and offshore, who were adaptable and scaled as the project matured, without causing any disruptions in team dynamics. One of the unique elements that set us apart was our strong focus on customer personas, ensuring that the software we developed was not just technically sound but also tailored to meet distinct customer needs.
Conclusion
In partnership with our client, Talink has set a new standard for how EV charging solutions can be both technically advanced and customer-centric, providing a unique advantage to our client.
As customer demands for excellent experiences and insights from data continues to grow, isn’t it time your business considered how specialised software solutions could propel you into the realm of outperforming your peers?
About the Author
David McKinney, Director UK & Ireland at Talink, has over 20 years of experience in tech solutions and customer engagement strategies gained through working with some of the worlds largest enterprises. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Feel free to engage, comment, or share your thoughts on how software can transform hardware-centric industries!