Customers

Helping people comes naturally to Danielle Harris, a self-described extrovert with a passion for community service. “I’ve been fortunate to have help throughout my life and my career, and I believe in paying that forward for others,” Danielle explains. When she’s not curating customer-centric experiences for the company, Danielle can often be found volunteering with her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the largest African American women’s association in the world.

A native of the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area, Danielle got her start at Dominion Energy working as an energy advisor, helping customers manage their accounts. “I want to make my family proud,” Danielle says. “They inspire me every day to be my best self, and my best self is best positioned to support our customers.” Over her 16-year career, she’s progressed from engaging with customers one-on-one to leading training and development for customer service. Her current role working directly with the customer experience (CX) team allows her to take an even deeper dive into which changes are most meaningful for customers.

Danielle understands that customers want customer service on their terms when it’s most convenient for them. Regarding the technological upgrades the company has made online and in the automated phone system over the years, Danielle shares: “I really believe customers want to self-serve and be independent. They want to be able to do things for themselves and go about their regular lives. These upgrades have continuously improved those experiences.”

Outside of work hours, Danielle is teaching herself to paint on canvas. Her love of art and music inspires her creativity and helps her imagine new approaches to challenging projects. These days, you’ll find her facilitating customer journey redesign sessions with cross-functional teams. “Journey mapping,” she explains, “is about taking a customer-centered approach to the current customer process, or journey. By mapping how a customer feels about each step of the process, journey mapping provides insights into what areas are the most frustrating for the customer, which then informs us as to where our biggest opportunities for improvement are.”

Danielle uses these insights to find the right solutions to customer pain points. She’s found that when we improve customer experience, we often improve employee experience, too.

“The most rewarding part of my role is seeing how different departments' processes connect."

Ivan Brunson’s love of communication started long before he joined the company in 2011. Raised in Sumter, South Carolina, as a pastor’s kid (PK, for short) and the youngest child of four, Ivan gravitated to the written word. He’s publishing his third novel soon, and he enjoys the challenge of constructing clear and concise communications.

In his own work, and when coaching other employees, Ivan emphasizes how important it is to listen to the customer — and to make doing so as painless as possible. Before joining the company, Ivan worked at a call center for customers with hearing impairments, facilitating communication between voice and text. As the company transitions to more digital-forward customer options, Ivan sees the value: “I’m excited because this company stresses innovation. What can we do, and how can we do it better? We’re going where our customers are going — and our customers are going digital.”

Today, Ivan helps facilitate online customer interactions, from crafting emails to engaging with customers directly using social media chat tools. Each tool is different, Ivan says. “With chat, it’s more casual, like you’re chatting with a friend. With email, it’s more polished.” Taking calls can be especially moving. One memorable call had both him and the customer in tears when Ivan was able to find a solution to an unexpected financial hardship.

Powering our customers every day is more than a tagline — it’s a necessity. Whether they’re working from home, taking care of loved ones with medical needs, or providing for the community in different ways, “customers need their utilities to work so they can work.”

Whatever media he uses to communicate with customers, Ivan stays true this core tenet: “We can make a difference in someone else’s life, not just as a business, but on a personal level.” Ivan doesn’t take that responsibility lightly.