What is the secret of VIVIenergy’s organic, sustainable and steady growth?

“Since our founding back in 2003, we have believed in the great opportunity offered by deregulation: the idea of growing in a finally deregulated market has been the guiding star that has guided us over time, along a path marked by consistency and transparency toward our stakeholders and clients.

We started out as a utility specializing in supplying gas to households at the local level.
Since then we have come a long way.
Today VIVIenergia is one of the leading independent electricity and natural gas sales operators in Italy.
The territories we serve have grown, coming to cover the whole country, and we have more customers, not only households, but also SMEs, condominiums and large companies: there are more than 350,000 who rely on our services, which are characterized by high flexibility and efficiency.

In addition, with our subsidiary VIVIesco, the Group’s Energy Service Company, we provide services aimed at saving and optimizing consumption.
In fact, we have further expanded our offerings, no longer only gas and electricity, but also energy efficiency products.

This path of growth is constant because it is guided by medium- and long-term goals: we have the courage to invest and we are also increasingly doing so in sustainability, because we believe in it and we notice that it is a theme that is also appreciated by our clients.
This means, for example, that sometimes it is appropriate to set lower, “single-digit” growth targets – in the last year we grew by 5 percent – to allow us to make important investments, or to make courageous choices, as in the case of some acquisitions made in 2011, in a period that was still very complex because of the recent financial crises.

Another feature I really emphasize in our growth model is the constant search for a deep reason, never tactical or impromptu, that leads customers to prefer us.
We want to create a relationship of trust.
For example, in a counter-trend approach to many operators, at the time of market liberalization, we decided to change our brand immediately to make it clear that a change of pace was taking place and that from that moment on the consumer would have a choice: we wanted him to be aware of this new possibility and, having made the appropriate assessments, to hopefully opt for us.

With this in mind, we have recently carried out a new re-branding: VIVIGas energia has become VIVIenergia, a renaming that marks a change of pace to meet the challenge of innovation, energy transition, and getting even closer to its customers.”Is a transparent customer approach about proximity or digital?

“Physical proximity and concrete proximity do not exclude the importance of digital innovation, in fact in our opinion they are complementary: in fact, our strategy is multichannel.
Since the early years, when many operators were closing their outlets, we were opening new ones, and today we count 28, which can ensure a direct relationship and proximity to the real energy needs of households and businesses.

Our in-depth knowledge of the sector makes us able to best interpret the challenges of the market, with the aim of creating genuine and long-term value for all customers, who are thus guided on a tailor-made path through flexible and maximum-efficiency solutions in the wake of energy efficiency.
This consultative capacity represents a genuine competitive lever and translates into ongoing customer support through a distinct multichannel approach, fully integrated between digital and physical.

Today, we support customers not only with the store network, but also through the call center, which is fully operational from Italy, online chat for immediate assistance, and the smartphone App that allows them to check and pay their bills and communicate self-reading even on the move.

The digital channel is challenging and always evolving, but characterizing and has a high capacity to talk to customers; moreover, it proved to be of formidable importance during the periods of closure due to the pandemic.
It was during that time that we became more aware of how digital interaction with people was an unmissable opportunity for dialogue and exchange.
Indeed, we were able to listen to our stakeholders and perceive their changes: now the challenge will be to interpret their changing attitudes correctly and create service offerings that fit that change.”

What does sustainability mean for an energy market participant?

“Sustainability is a value choice to be pursued seriously and consistently.
For VIVIenergia it has many declinations, from corporate social responsibility to attention to people, but the key element for us is the investment in innovation and development of energy efficiency, concretely today amounting to 20 percent of ebitda.

For several years, before sustainability entered the agendas of companies as a mainstream issue, we have been presenting ourselves with an integrated approach to the world of energy; this might seem like a contradiction in terms, but it is not: we are aware of how energy saving-not only in terms of saving money, but also in terms of protecting the environment-is a business lever for our clients, and it is a feel-good issue that increases the sense of belonging of all the people who work in the company.
Lastly, we are aware that if we do not offer these services sooner or later some of our competitors surely will.

With a streamlined and independent approach to technology choices, with our subsidiary VIVIesco we guide clients on a virtuous path to achieving challenging energy-saving and environmental sustainability goals.

Our range of offerings is constantly developing and expanding in the direction of energy transition: we are engaged in the provision of energy efficiency solutions, ranging from the installation of photovoltaic systems, to lighting system upgrading projects, cogeneration plants, e-mobility services for companies in addition to low-impact boilers and air conditioners to support better use of energy resources.
Also not to be overlooked is the demand for sustainability driven by incentives, which leads us to seek and respond with a suitable offer.”