Southern Water
Revolutionising customer contact to drive positive CMeX
Southern Water were at a crossroads - negative customer perceptions, hostile media coverage and a long hot summer led to usage restrictions.
On top of that, their website Umbraco version was soon to become unsupported, which necessitated a re-platform of their main website.
This provided a once in a decade opportunity to double down on delivering a great customer experience.
A key goal from the outset of the project was to reduce customer care calls by enabling self serve on a brand new highly usable and most importantly useful website
We think
We kicked off the project with a deep dive into insight and strategy.
Southern Water wanted to position itself as a leader in water conservation while strengthening their relationships with customers and stakeholders.
The old website wasn’t cutting it, limited self-service tools and a clunky user experience left customers frustrated.
Our planning centred on three things; knowing the audience inside out, analysing the existing platform to identify what wasn’t working, and setting clear goals for a new site that’s easy to use, rich in self-service options, and a true reflection of the brand ambition.
With Southern Water’s complex stakeholder network and strict regulatory environment, we knew the approach had to be robust.
The result? A user-friendly platform designed to put customers first and showcase the company’s commitment to water conservation.
We do
The build phase began in March 2023, with the brand-new 800+ page site going live in April 2024. From the start, it was a team effort.
We ran workshops with Southern Water IT, UX, UI, product, and content teams to nail down requirements and solve problems together.
The design process focused on re-mapping user journeys, prototyping new interaction flows, and delivering a responsive design that works seamlessly across devices.
On the tech side, we rolled out a powerful Umbraco CMS, integrated core systems for account management and customer service, and set up advanced analytics to track performance.
Content got a full overhaul too, with fresh copy, engaging visuals, and multimedia all aligned to Southern Water’s brand ambition - built to be both accessible and fully compliant.
Before launch, we put the site through rigorous testing and QA to make sure everything ran smoothly and delivered the best possible user experience.
We Measure
Launched in April 2024, the new site delivered measurable impact within months.
Southern Water achieved a 20% reduction in unnecessary customer service centre calls, significantly increasing operational efficiency.
Site traffic, user engagement and adoption of self-service tools rose sharply, SEO visibility improved, and the sites enhanced accessibility and sustainability credentials strengthened the company’s brand position as an advocate for water conservation.
Call reduction
20%
Reduction in unnecessary calls
Organic traffic
194%
Increase in organic traffic
