Leading the customer experience at DCC Energy

DCC’s Head of Customer Experience, Monica Christiansen, shares her vision for her role at DCC. And discusses how DCC's customer experience (CX) community is a “movement” driven by people just as much as metrics.

As a business with an international presence, consistency is key when it comes to how we interact with our customers. 

No one knows that better than Monica Christiansen, our Head of Customer Experience. Stepping into this newly created role in September 2025, Monica’s journey began in 2020 when she joined DCC Energi in Denmark as a customer experience manager. After transitioning into the role of Head of Customer Insights and CRM, Monica describes moving into the DCC plc team as a step that felt right, shaped by her growing passion for connecting customer insight with business impact across markets.

“I’ve had the chance to work closely with some fantastic colleagues, and to witness firsthand how our people bring passion and curiosity to everything they do. That’s what motivates me,” Monica recalls. “Each market has its own unique challenges and opportunities, but we also share many common themes across the group. What connects us is a collective drive to make things easier and more valuable for customers. We have a great opportunity to connect our 30+ businesses, to build on what’s already working, and to create stronger links between customer experience, sales, and marketing.”

“My vision is that CX becomes the lens through which we make decisions”

With a wealth of experience in this area, Monica has a clear outlook on how she can support local CX leads and strengthen the role customer experience plays in the overall growth and success of DCC Energy: “My vision is that CX becomes the lens through which we make decisions, the way we shape growth, design new services, and create everyday value for customers, not a separate initiative. Whether we are designing new services, improving processes, or talking about growth, the key question is always the same: How does this create value for the customer?”

Having seen this goal become a reality at DCC Energi, who are redesigning their customer journey and removing complexities based on the customer’s perspective, Monica is confident that it improves operations and wins new business. And she’s seen this in action at other DCC subsidiaries, notably Certa Ireland.

“The team explored how to make it easier for customers to track their heating oil deliveries,” she shares. “They discovered that 25% of all customer calls were simply about delivery times and updates. So, they introduced a pilot of automated SMS notifications to keep customers informed at every step of their delivery journey. It sounds simple, but it made a huge difference both for the customers and the business.”

In fact, the pilot reduced calls by 7% and complaints by 5%. Certa anticipates it could reduce calls by up to 50% if scaled, saving money, time and effort for both teams and end customers. Moreover, customers felt more informed and in control, so trust with Certa Ireland was strengthened.

Another inspiring initiative was brought to life recently at Qstar in Sweden, who launched its AI chatbot, Kurt, to support customers with simple questions and provide assistance even outside regular opening hours.

“Our vision can only become reality through our customers”

DCC runs a decentralised business model: each business remains close to its customers and maintains a personal touch. Monica’s role is to empower them, making it easier for teams to share what works, scale great ideas, and bring customer insight confidently into everyday decisions. What’s most important is creating a culture in which all employees, no matter their position, understand the crucial role they play in making an impact - a mindset Monica hopes will naturally cascade through the company.

Longer term, her ambition is to build an environment where customers feel DCC gives more than it takes, strengthening trust and loyalty while reducing churn.

“I’m confident it will be great, because we have exceptional people to drive it forward,” she says. “I believe in celebrating progress, not just perfection, and in learning from every step we take. For me, leadership in CX is about inspiring people to act with courage and curiosity. When that happens, culture shifts, teams grow stronger, and the customer feels the difference.

“Our vision of being the best customer company in the energy sector can only become reality if we support our customers in a way that feels personal, simple, and valuable.”