Project Snapshot
Industry: Energy supply, Germany
Headquarters: Berlin
Business area: Gas and electricity supply, basic utility provider
Collaboration with coeo: Collection as a Service in the DACH region
Task & Challenge
Energy suppliers are under dual pressure in receivables management: rising energy prices are increasing payment defaults, while their status as a basic utility provider requires particular care in dealing with debtors. Anyone supplying electricity and gas is not supplying luxury goods. They are supplying essentials for everyday life. This places unique demands on every reminder message and every step of the debt collection process.
GASAG brought something to this partnership that is far from commonplace: extensive in-house expertise in receivables management and external debt collection. Accordingly, expectations of a partner were very clear.
Our Approach.
- A partner with proven industry experience in the energy sector, not merely generic debt collection expertise
- Cost reduction without loss of quality, daily payment remittances with full transparency up to monthly billing
- Technical flexibility and individually controllable processes that respond to creditworthiness and economic viability
- Customer orientation as a fundamental attitude, not a promise made in a tender process
The energy industry is unlike any other sector. Collecting debts here means dealing with heterogeneous data structures and customer records, regulatory particularities and debtor groups with very different socio-economic backgrounds. A rigid standard model fails precisely because of this complexity.
For GASAG, this meant three things in particular:
- Industry-specific process logic instead of a one-size-fits-all solution. We aligned our management logic with the requirements of the energy sector: regulatory frameworks, supply-block indicators and subsequent invoice corrections. All of this is incorporated into case processing – not as special treatment, but as standard practice.
- Automation that scales. High case volumes are part of everyday business in the energy sector. Our processes are designed so that automation forms the standard, without compromising quality or individuality. Daily payment remittances, structured processing strategies and clear reporting logic.
- AI where it makes a difference. cAI, our AI platform, ensures that debtor communication is not carried out as mass messaging. Tone of voice, channel and timing are controlled individually. For a basic utility provider that deals every day with people in difficult life situations, this is not a nice-to-have.
What we built jointly.
Collection of overdue, final-billed claims arising from gas and electricity supply. As a trust-based debt collection partner, we handle structured, legally compliant processing. Clearly defined interfaces, a daily remittance logic and full transparency in monthly billing.
Individual management logic. Instead of a uniform process, we use differentiated, case-specific processing that responds to the available data, case type and debtor behaviour. Our case handlers are trained not only in processes, but also in customer-oriented communication and debtor typologies. This creates an operational quality that can be felt.
As part of a trainee programme, we also brought one of our operational managers together with the GASAG team for two days. This exchange achieved even more than the regular meetings and created communication on equal terms, without reservations and with a transparent view of the underlying processes.
Regulatory integration. The energy sector operates within a complex regulatory framework. We ensured that industry-specific requirements—whether supply-block mechanisms, documentation obligations or legal derivations—are consistently integrated into the debt collection process.
cAI: AI-supported debtor communication. GASAG already uses its own AI-supported processes. Our systems are aligned procedurally so that information is considered consistently throughout the entire receivables process. The result is a seamless, coordinated approach from the first reminder through to final processing.
Jasmin Jäger, Client & Project Manager Energy, coeo
Results.
Improved recovery rates and measurably stronger liquidity. Processes now run in a scalable manner, while the operational workload within the GASAG team has decreased. Thanks to automation and clear interfaces, day-to-day business runs more smoothly, while billing transparency increases planning reliability.
At the same time, the collaboration has produced something that cannot be captured in a KPI: a deep mutual understanding of the requirements of the energy sector. This knowledge flows into every process step.
Customer satisfaction within the debt collection process is not a self-evident result in receivables management. For GASAG, it is one of the key success criteria. For us as well.
What Partnership Truly Means to Us.
This collaboration has evolved over time. What began as an operational cooperation has become a partnership built on trust. Communication is close, processes are well established and mutual understanding continues to grow.
What GASAG gains from us: A partner that does not treat debt collection as a cost factor, but as a question of quality. One that sees industry-specific requirements not as exceptional cases, but as the foundation. And one that does not fall back on standard processes even when data situations are difficult and cases are complex.
What we gain from GASAG: A client with genuine professional expertise that challenges us, helps us develop further and works with us as an equal. That is exactly what makes partnership better.
Gabi Bieber, Head of Receivables Management Service Division, GASAG
Daniela Schütze, Head of Customer Service Team Receivables Management, GASAG
Anja Kanter, Head of Transformation Receivables Management, GASAG
