Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing challenging times. Running a small business in itself is a challenge with rising inflation in Europe, and energy prices have added another element of complexity. This is where MET Group can help and reduce at least one of the risks – managing power and gas supplies, and offering value-added services such as EV charging and energy efficiency solutions.
Famous Italian winery Casa Paladin was one of the first SME customers of MET Italia. The relationship proved to be a success: after signing a contract in the Veneto region, home of the well-known Prosecco, the company chose MET as its energy provider in the other two wine regions where they operate (Lombardy and Tuscany).
There was another first. MET Italia installed its first charging station for electric vehicles in the Annone Veneto site of Casa Paladin. In addition, it now also supplies green electricity to the winery.
Green energy attracts many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as more and more companies want to promote becoming sustainable. Instead of charging stations, smaller businesses may opt for a wallbox – a charging point with a lower installed capacity, to be used for fewer cars.
MET Group’s Hungarian subsidiary, MET Hungary also aims to support SMEs in their business endeavours. When one of their clients, a construction company, decided to develop a new production site, they started to consume larger volumes of natural gas, so their energy contract had to be renegotiated. The result was a new contract offering benefits to both sides.
Indexed contracts replace fixed price products
2022 was a very difficult year for all companies. Due to the energy crisis, MET Hungary modified and developed its product portfolio, allowing businesses to choose the solution best serving their interests. Just like MET Italia, MET Hungary stopped selling fixed price energy products and introduced indexed contracts for SMEs – the prices being indexed to the European gas and power exchanges.
In this very volatile market environment, many companies in Hungary did not even obtain an offer from other energy providers. MET was often the only energy firm giving an offer to SMEs in the most difficult times.
The Spanish subsidiary also has wine producers among its clients. Trying to help SME customers to cope with the current market volatility, MET Energía España offers them the option to fix (gas or power) quantities on a monthly basis. Unlike other suppliers, MET España does not request a minimum quantity, so companies may ask for a very small amount of energy, even for a month.
Of course it takes a lot of time to process all this data in the online system, but the Spanish colleagues don’t mind. They really aim to accompany SMEs all the way along, explaining to them what is happening in the energy markets and helping to make informed decisions. This is particularly useful for smaller businesses that do not have energy experts – MET España is the energy provider of bakeries, ceramics companies, hotels, a pet food manufacturer, and even a convent for nuns.
Even grandchildren help MET’s clients
Customer service is a priority for all MET subsidiaries. MET Hungary offers an online platform where SMEs can manage their consumption, and this site has become truly popular amongst its partners. However, not everyone is an IT expert, so it happened that the grandchildren of one company manager were involved in a call with MET customer service, helping to solve an issue that arose.
The quality of customer care is a priority for MET Italia too. Their online customer portal allows to check consumption and invoices, as well as to make payments. Their motto: whatever request arrives from a client, it must be answered very fast.