consciusmidasA profitable investment for energy suppliers

Midas

Flexibility and control in a changing market

As a consequence of the liberalised energy market that is marked by ever-increasing competition, energy suppliers are being forced to optimise working procedures, to ensure profitability on each sale and to increase their insight into their own business processes in order to boost competitiveness.

As the nature of the energy market continues to evolve, the right answer today may no longer apply tomor-row. Consequently, an efficient and customised business system is essential. Midas has been specifically designed for energy suppliers, and its built-in flexibility enables companies to act promptly in the market, as well as ensuring sufficient control of business and working procedures.

Midas is designed to handle several parallel distribution channels with separate product configurations and types of processes. The flexibility of the system enables the user to carry out actions on a contract after it has been drawn up, e.g. right of cancellation, breach of contract, removal and addition of customer locations, etc. Standardised and digitised sales processes provide total control of business activities, since each sale is based on approved standard contracts.

Midas streamlines business processes through optimised processes and flexible integration platforms. Up-dated data from the market price provider, immediate hedging and integration with CRM and billing systems result in a considerable reduction of the major risks facing the energy trading company. Intelligent reporting facilities increase insight into the company’s own business systems, whilst flexible product handling allows greater mobility in the market. Midas prepares your company for the fierce competition to secure energy customers.

The following pages provide further details of how Midas could refine and develop your business.

For further information, please contact Conscius – phone: +45 70 20 46 63.

Midas develops the company by means of:Streamlining – optimisation of processes, digiti-sation of calculations and flexible integration plat-forms

Profitability – rapid transaction times, reduced volume risk and control of user rights

Greater insight – daily overview and business intelligence

Consolidated market position – competitive pri-ces and strong company profile

Midas combines all relevant data in manageable and intuitive on-screen displays. The sales screen display, for instance, contains a complex price calculator which receives input from the market price provider and grid companies (consumer profiles), as well as ensuring competitive prices and full visibility of the contribution margin before the contract is signed.

Midas creates a surplus in the sales process

Focus on profitability is essential in a market characterised by increasing competition and low contribution margins. In-creased profitability is closely connected to the ability to handle individual products and real-time market data in a secure and efficient manner. Midas provides sales personnel with a clear picture in a single manageable user interface which compiles all necessary data and calculations.

Optimisation of workflow Midas enables the salesperson to complete the entire sales process from A to Z without involving other departments in the company. Just three clicks are sufficient to complete the sales process, which typically takes less than five minutes. Quotes and contracts are generated based on preconfigured templates, ensuring that sales are based on ap-proved products, approved standard contracts and terms of delivery. Due to the flexible handling of contracts in Midas, the user is able to carry out ac-tions on a contract after it has been drawn up, e.g. right of cancellation, breach of contract, removal and addition of customer locations, etc. Midas’ pro-cessing features enable the company to considera-bly increase sales activity simply by utilising existing resources.

Digitisation of calculationsMidas automatically calculates the best price that the salesperson can quote the customer based on consumer profile, market prices and the cho-sen contribution margin. Midas is integrated with respect to the company’s market price provider, and the system acquires data from the customer’s net-

work company in order to provide the best possible forecast of the customer’s consumption. Midas also registers the customer’s actual consumption throug-hout the contract period, such that hedging can be adjusted on an ongoing basis.

Integration with internal systemsFlexible integration platforms enable integration with CRM and billing systems, such that data is automatically compiled and sent to the relevant sy-stems. This enables the company to save significant resources, whilst at the same time minimising the risk of manual errors. It is also possible to integrate the system with a selected debtor register such that approval of a new customer can take place automa-tically.

Example:Experience has shown that it is possible to save up to 10 minutes on man-hours when completing a sale to private customers and between 15 minutes and 2 hours on man-hours when effecting a sale to a business customer with many locations.

Click 1 – Find the customerExisting customers can be found easily and intel-ligently in Midas’ customer database. Contracts that have already been concluded can be seen on the display.

Click 2 – Product and price The salesperson selects the product – for example, ”fixed prices”, ”spot” or another option – and the price calculator quotes the best possible price. It is here that complex calculations, proven algorithms and collocations of data from market price provi-ders, consumer profiles, product types and forward graphs result in value-added product prices.

Click 3 – Signing the contractPreconfigured templates for quotes and contracts that reflect the products concerned mean that the contract can be signed within a specific response time from when the quote is submitted, and the sale can be hedged in the market at the current price. This response time can be regulated. This speed of response enables sales personnel to perform several parallel sales and minimise operational risks at the same time.

Midas ensures profitability on every sale

By using Midas, the company attains better control of product prices, and correlation between sold and hedged amounts is assured. In addition, well-defined working procedures and individual user rights are incorporated. This in turn stan-dardises the sales process and minimises the risk of manual errors.

Rapid transactionsMidas functions with a time factor, whereby the quote expires if the sale is not realised within a given period of time, e.g. 5 min. Within these 5 mi-nutes, the volume of the sale is registered and data is sent for hedging. If the time limit is exceeded before the transaction is completed, the quote auto-matically expires and must then be updated. This minimises the risk of significant fluctuations in the market price whilst the transaction is taking place. This immediate form of hedging means that the company alleviates the risk of losses due to erro-neous processes or as a result of losing sight of the overall picture.

Reduced volume risksNo two customers or their consumer profiles are alike. Some customers use the most power at night – others on the weekend. Midas requests profile data from the grid company and extrapolates an expected consumer profile on the basis of this data. When the contract comes into force, Midas begins to

register the customer’s actual consumption, which is acquired and utilised for continuous adjustment of hedging. This means a significant reduction of vo-lume risks. Midas also displays a constantly updated graph of open positions, and thereby a true and fair view of the overall exposure to risk.

Role and rights managementMidas has built-in roles which are applicable to good governance in an energy company. The roles are segregated to such an extent that, for instance, basic pricing and management of statutory additio-nal charges take place in a separate function, and the salesperson is thus only able to make changes to those price elements that are related to the sales function. Such features are appreciated by auditors. Midas monitors and logs all transactions, and, as an extra security measure, the salesperson is alerted if he or she is about to complete an unfavourable transaction.

Example:A 10 GWh sale to end-users at a fixed price which is hedged too late and where the market price has risen by 0,01 eurocent/kWh since the sale was ef-fected will entail a loss of 100.000 EUR.

Various reporting facilities are integrated into Midas, which enables the company to monitor performance – e.g. the number of contracts and creation of value with respect to different sales channels, campaigns, product groups and sales personnel.

Midas provides new knowledge and insight into your business

Day-to-day overview of value creationWith Midas it is possible to see at any time whether any particular sales activity – a sales channel, cam-paign, product group or salesperson – generates enough value to provide an acceptable return seen in relation to the derived process costs. This is due to the fact that the creation of value is automatically calculated on each sale: Gross future earnings on the end-customer sale. Value creation is adjusted in the event of any amendment to the contract from the time of sale to the point at which the contract is due to expire or is terminated.Value creation is a crucial parameter that must be taken into account when profitability and the poten-tial for profitable growth are to be calculated.

Business IntelligenceThe large volume of data that is saved in Midas can later be used for analysis and evaluation of speci-fic product types, earnings in terms of particular customer segments, the effect of campaigns, etc. Midas provides a clear overview of customer growth and how much is sold in a particular period – and by whom – measured in terms of contracts, volumes, value and subscription revenue. This extra insight enables the company to devise and implement cor-rective measures which, for example, enable the sales channel to get back on track. The difference between corrective action and passivity can make a considerable difference to the bottom line.

Midas compiles sales information in interactive graphs which provide a good overall picture of sales and customer growth in specified periods. It is possible to sort data based on, for instance, specific periods, cam-paigns and with respect to the individual salesperson.

Midas consolidates the company’s market position

Midas makes it safe and simple for the salesperson to quote competitive and profitable prices. At the same time, the company’s mobility in the market is enhanced so that it is easier to react when the market changes character. This en-hances the company’s profile in the minds of its customers and thus boosts competitiveness.

Competitive pricesMidas calculates the best price that the salesperson can quote for each customer without running the risk of compromising profits. The price is calculated on the basis of consumer profile, market data and contribution margin, and is automatically recalculated if one or more of the sales parameters changes. The system also calculates the total contribution margin on an ongoing basis, so that the salesperson can easily see whether a particular sale is of benefit to the company. At the end of the day, Midas considerably reduces the risk of losing money on a sale, while the prices that are quoted to the customer remain competitive.

Stærk virksomhedsprofilIn a market that is characterised by increasingly fierce competition it is essential that energy suppliers are able to react quickly to its customers’ wishes. In Midas, new products and sales channels with related func-tionality and document templates can be implemented as soon as they are requested by consumers. Reac-tion time is considerably reduced and it is thus easier to react to developments in the market. The system is also designed to handle a large number of parallel sales channels, each with its own product configuration and process variants, and it is therefore easy to manage a varied range of products that correspond to the customers’ preferences. This boosts the company’s profile in the minds of the consumers and thereby conso-lidates the competitive position of the company.

With competitive prices and a powerful company profile there is great potential to expand the customer base – and thereby earnings.

Midas develops the company by means of:Streamlining – optimisation of processes, digitisa-tion of calculations and flexible integration platforms

Profitability – rapid transaction times, reduced volume risk and control of user rights

Greater insight – daily overview and business intelligence

Consolidated market position – competitive pri-ces and strong company profile

Conscius

Because we know your world

The energy market is in a constant state of flux. Rather than simply following market trends, Conscius leads the way in the development of visionary products and solutions that create added value for our customers. Our aim is to create a more intelligent, user-friendly and productive system support of your business. Technology is simply a tool.

At Conscius, we believe that something extra is required if the objective is to maintain a strong position in the competitive market for energy customers, and we know how important it is to think ahead at all times. IT solutions from Conscius should not be seen as an expense, but as an investment in better performance and employee welfare – also in the long term.

Our experience as a provider of products and solutions stretches back almost 15 years. Throughout this time we have focused on developing and implementing our products in collaboration with each and every customer. We therefore have considerable competence in project management, individual adaptation and the development of business critical solutions – and we make sure that we are there every step of the way from initial concept, development and implementation to after-sales support and further development.

Deep insight in the energy trading sectorIt is not possible to know everything about everything. For this reason, Conscius has chosen to specialise in the energy and financial sectors, where common denominators include the need for secure and user-friendly handling and processing of internal and external data.

Both sectors compete on the basis of many of the same parameters, and we derive synergy effects and develop good ideas as a result of inspiration across these disciplines. We keep a close eye on development in the two sectors, and our insight into both challenges and potentials makes us a valuable sparring partner when a solution over and above that of a simple IT solution is required.

Conscius a/sSince 1999, close dialogue, comprehensive know-ledge of the industry and a flair for combining busi-ness, people and technology have formed the basis of Conscius’ success with products which today are used by around 150 customers throughout Scandi-navia.

Conscius a/s - Lindholm Brygge 31 - DK-9400 Noerresundby - Phone +45 70 20 46 63 - info@conscius.com - conscius.com