Energy suppliers are about as trusted as politicians. Most businesses in a low-trust industry accept that and compete on price. Adam Willcox, founder of 55 Group, built his business to do the opposite, and on the ActionCOACH Business Growth Podcast he shared exactly how.
55 Group is a family-run business of 12 to 14 people, approaching £10 million in turnover, in a sector dominated by big players. Its edge isn't size or price. It's service. In the last 18 months, a renewed focus on customer service has lifted customer retention from 84% to 92% and won the team a customer service award. Here's what other business owners can learn from the journey.
Turn low expectations into your advantage
In the energy sector, customers expect the service to be poor. Adam started the business specifically to turn that on its head. His definition of great service is simple: deliver what the customer expects, and a little bit more, especially the things bigger competitors either can't or won't do.
Being small is a strength here. Large suppliers are wrapped in red tape. 55 Group can make a decision on Monday and have it working by Tuesday afternoon. If your industry has a reputation problem, that gap between what customers expect and what you deliver is your biggest opportunity.
From good to world class
Adam is honest that, before 2025, the business was good at customer service but not world class. The turning point came at ActionCOACH's BizX event, where Geoff Ramm spoke about "celebrity service". It opened the eyes of Adam and his whole leadership team.
What happened next is the important part. The entire team spent a full day unpicking what they did well, what they didn't, and what they could do better. Then they asked their customers the same questions. The plan that came out of it was executed by the team, with fortnightly meetings where staff shared stories of going above and beyond. In one case, a team member's efforts helped save a customer's business.
Ask your customers, then act on what they tell you
Most of the feedback was reassuring, but one nugget stood out: communication. The business only got in touch when it needed something, like a meter reading or a fix. And many customers are business owners who simply don't have time to deal with their energy supplier between nine and five.
The answer was a dedicated WhatsApp group for each customer who opts in. The customer adds whoever they like from their team, and 55 Group adds the managing director, finance, sales and customer service. Around 30 to 40% of customers have taken it up. If someone messages at 9:30pm, they get a reply, even if it's just a thumbs up and a promise to sort it in the morning. As Adam puts it, it's something other businesses can't or won't do.
Relationships are the business model
Energy is a high-churn, price-driven market. Winning a 12-month contract only to lose it a year later is expensive, so 55 Group's model depends on keeping customers for the long term. Some have been with the business for ten years.
A few of the habits behind that:
- Face to face first. The business won't take on a customer it hasn't met. You can't build a lasting relationship over email.
- First names. Account managers make sure every customer is known personally by more than one person.
- Personal touches at scale. Last Christmas the team recorded a personal video message for every one of nearly 1,000 customers. It took six days, about 150 videos a day, on an iPhone in the boardroom.
- Exit interviews. Every customer who leaves is asked why, and what the business could have done better.
The result is a level of trust most suppliers can only dream of. Some customers now tell the team to just sign them up at renewal. 55 Group still insists on talking them through their options, because transparency is part of the deal.
Get the right people, and protect the culture
Running a business of this size with 12 people is remarkably efficient, and Adam credits the team. His approach is to hire people who are better than him and get the right people in the right seats. Problems still happen in any service business, but they're handled quickly by people who care.
About half the team are family, which breaks a common rule of business. Adam makes it work with clear ground rules and regular conversations.
The biggest culture shift has been ownership. Staff at every level now know they can have an idea, run with it and be recognised for it. The customer service transformation wasn't management demanding it from the top. It was the team deciding they wanted to be proud of the business they work for.
Culture came at a cost, though. Adam's hardest lesson was realising that his best friend and business partner wasn't the right fit, and having to exit him from the business. The lesson he took from it is that nobody is above the culture. Get the culture right and everything else falls into place.
Building a business that runs without you
Working with his ActionCOACH, Gary Crosby, Adam has recently appointed a managing director, Chris, whose background in energy auditing is helping the business move beyond being a pricing desk into helping customers understand and reduce their energy use. Adam's involvement is now down to four meetings a month, freeing him at 35 to focus on his next venture, an industrial estate development off the A1.
Adam's first action for you: go for an award
Adam's advice to listeners was unexpected: put yourself forward for an award. Not for the trophy, but for the change it creates. The team agreed from the start that they would only enter if they genuinely felt award-worthy, and they submitted on the very last day to make sure every box was ticked. That way, if they won, they could celebrate with no imposter syndrome.
They did win. Adam hadn't written a speech, and the one he typed on his phone on the way to the stage was unreadable, so he winged it. But walking across that stage with a team who had earned the recognition was, he says, one of the proudest moments of his life, not just his business.
Key takeaways
- In a low-trust industry, exceeding low expectations is a competitive advantage.
- Ask your customers what you could do better, then act on it.
- Use your size to move faster than bigger competitors.
- Retaining customers is cheaper than winning new ones, so invest in relationships.
- Hire people better than you, and never put anyone above the culture.
- Pick something you want to be known for, set a plan and go for it.
Watch the full conversation with Adam Willcox below.
