Customer Care Support Services

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1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This tender seeks outsource partners (OSPs) to provide customer care support services for Electric Ireland's mass market customer base, comprising residential and SME customers. The services are structured into two lots, focusing on different phases of a major transformation programme involving the migration of customers to the Kraken Technologies Ltd (Kraken) cloud-based platform. OSPs will operate alongside in-house teams to support and stabilise customer service and operations during and beyond this migration.

The core of the service involves Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs), which are teams of multi-skilled energy advisors handling end-to-end customer delivery. While sales and credit control elements exist, the majority of these services will be procured separately. SME customer support may be required by the OSP during the contract term, though separate pricing is not required for this potential.

Key activities and deliverables include:

• Customer Interaction Handling: Managing customer interactions across voice, email, and digital channels.
• Account Management: Maintaining customer records and performing account management tasks.
• Billing and Payment Support: Handling customer billing queries, issue resolution, payment processing, Direct Debit setup, and payment plans.
• Debt Management: Active management of early debt.
• Sales Support: Active sales through service.
• Scheduling: Scheduling advisors using agreed processes and systems, including planning and reporting.
• Net Zero Products/Services: Supporting customer enquiries, service, and sales for emerging Net Zero products, including engagement with delivery partners.
• Complaint Resolution: Management and resolution of customer complaints.
• Home Moves: Processing customer move-in and move-out activities.
• General Support: Providing general customer queries and support.
• Testing and Feedback: Supporting testing and pilot activities, analysing outcomes, and providing feedback for system, product, and process improvement.

The OSP must be capable of operating across multiple systems and adapting to changes in processes and customer journeys. Services outside the scope include outbound sales (except for potential SME sales within MDTs), current/closed/legal debt services, IT development, system configuration, platform delivery/ownership, Kraken implementation, and telephony systems provision.

Lot-Specific Requirements:

• Lot 1 (Rapid Mobilisation and Migration Support): Expected from Q1 2027. Requires quick mobilisation, support for early Kraken customer migrations, service stabilisation, and KPI achievement. A key condition is Kraken Accreditation or at least one year of specific Kraken platform experience with MDTs, and a proven ability to mobilise and scale rapidly. Nearshore delivery is permissible if speed, quality, and learning sharing are demonstrated.
• Lot 2 (Customer Care Capacity and Operating Model Build-out): Expected from Q3 2027. Focuses on providing additional MDT capacity after initial migration, supporting the build-out and embedding of the new operating model, and achieving KPIs. A substantial operational presence on the island of Ireland is a condition of award, though nearshore delivery is allowable with maintained service quality and control.

Each customer care team is expected to comprise approximately twelve resources (one Team Lead, eleven Energy Advisors). Electric Ireland anticipates a total requirement of circa twenty-five teams across both lots, transitioning in phases. A small number of Irish-speaking advisors will be required for Lot 2.

3. Background & buyer context

Electric Ireland is undergoing a significant transformation programme to enhance its market position, deliver savings, and improve customer and employee experience. This programme involves implementing new ways of working, updated processes, a new SaaS CRM & Billing platform (Kraken), and a refreshed operating model. The procurement supports this transformation by seeking OSPs to provide customer care capacity during the customer migration to the Kraken platform. This migration will occur in structured waves, with legacy and new operating models running in parallel. The OSPs will partner with Electric Ireland's in-house teams to mobilise and stabilise customer service operations during this transition. The transformation aligns with broader industry trends towards digital transformation and enhanced customer engagement in the energy sector.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered:

• Turnover requirement: A minimum average annual turnover, excluding VAT, of €10 million, calculated over the previous two financial years. The tenderer must also be a going concern.
• Insurance:
• Employer’s Liability Insurance: Minimum indemnity limit of €13 million per claim and in the aggregate.
• Professional Indemnity Insurance: Minimum indemnity limit of €2 million per claim and in the annual aggregate.
• Cyber Liability Insurance: Minimum indemnity limit of €2 million per claim and in the annual aggregate.
• Public/Products Liability Insurance: Minimum indemnity limit of €6.5 million per claim and in the aggregate (mentioned in DO-NOT-USE-AS-BINDING, but standard practice).
• Certifications:
• Quality Management System certified to EN ISO 9001 (or equivalent).
• Information security standard such as ISO 27001 (or equivalent recognised certification) is required for a pass in the Cyber, Security and Technology criterion.
• ISO 14001 (or equivalent) is requested.
• Past experience:
• Lot 1: Kraken Accreditation or at least 1 year of specific experience using the Kraken platform with the Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT) model. Proven ability to mobilise quickly and scale resources. Experience in stabilising service during high-change environments.
• Lot 2: Substantial operational presence on the island of Ireland. Experience operating customer service teams at scale and mobilising additional teams from Qtr 3 2027. Ability to support service continuity across multiple systems/processes during transition.
• Personnel:
• Energy Advisors must have a minimum of six months’ customer service experience.
• Key personnel leading mobilisation and delivery must have relevant experience, qualifications, and roles.
• Geographic / facility constraints:
• Lot 1: Operational presence on the island of Ireland is desirable but not mandatory; nearshore may be proposed.
• Lot 2: A substantial operational presence on the island of Ireland is mandatory.
• On-site working: Personnel must work in-person on site a minimum of two days per week, in line with Electric Ireland's hybrid working model.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The evaluation will follow a MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) approach, with a price/quality split of 40% for commercials and 60% for technical/business requirements.

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria