The GovLoop Guide To Customer Service Excellence

government - tech - customer service - leadership - opengov - gov2.0

The

SEPTEMBER 2011

GovLoop Guide To

Customer Service Excellence

IMPROVE CUSTOMER SERVICE DELIVERY PAGE7

& SOLICIT TIMELY

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK PAGE11

& IMPROVE ONLINE SERVICES PAGE13

BLOGS, FORUMS & OTHER RESOURCES What’s your customer service strategy?

PAGE15

WELCOMECONTENTS

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WELCOME/ CONTENTS Sep 2011

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Customer Service Guide

Improve Online Services

About the GovLoop Guide Series

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E.O. Requirement: Eliminate Redundancies, Update

About Our Sponsor, RightNow

Web Policies and Guidelines

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From the GovLoop Symposium: Ways to Improve

Introduction

13 Improve Customer Service Delivery

7 E.O. Requirement: Publish Your Customer Service

Plan 7 From the GovLoop Symposium: How to Improve

Customer Service Delivery

Online Services

Customer Service Checklist

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9 9

GovLoop Tip: Use Search.usa.gov

Advance Customer Service through Innovative Tech E.O. Requirement: Develop a Signature Initiative From the GovLoop Symposium: Social Media Tips

to Improve Customer Service

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GovLoop Tip: How to Improve Customer Experience

Solicit Timely Customer Feedback 11

E.O. Requirement: Use a Broad Set of Tools for

Active Engagement

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From the GovLoop Symposium: Soliciting

Customer Feedback Tips

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GovLoop Tip: Prioritize the 80/20 Rule

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GovLoop Tip: When Appropriate, Move to Digital

5 Reasons Why Government Should Engage In a CrossChannel Contact Strategy GovLoop Blog Posts Written by Members of the GovLoop Community

Resources 15

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List of Additional Customer Service Resources

Learn from the wisdom of the crowd through insightful blog posts at GovLoop.com

About the

GovLoop Guide Series

GovLoop, in partnership with various companies and organizations has created a set of guides on a variety of subjects to provide managers with the information they need to know.

In partnership with RightNow, GovLoop has been preparing resources to help agencies meet the requirements of President Obama’s Customer Service Executive Order. GovLoop developed the Customer Service Hub that has been the go-to resource for customer service content. GovLoop and RightNow have created over twenty blog posts and discussions on customer service strategies for government. Recently,

GovLoop held a Customer Service Symposium to facilitate a discussion about how federal agencies can improve customer service.

At the symposium, federal workers shared resources and ideas on how they are working to meet the requirements of the Customer Service Executive Order.

In the spirit of GovLoop, we wanted to connect govies who are working on the same challenges, and work towards finding solutions

to improve government.

RightNow helps public and private organizations deliver customer experiences and interactions that are rewarding and beneficial to both parties. RightNow helps to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and increase revenue. Their customers find answers to questions and resolution to their needs quickly, easily and in ways that create a positive

and beneficial relationship.

Since 1997 RightNow has pioneered technological delivery of the mechanisms to deliver those experiences and provided training and insights as to how to achieve them. RightNow is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, employs over 1,000 people and serves 2,000 organizations, both public and private, worldwide. RightNow is listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol RNOW.

govloop

Acknowledgements

Published by GovLoop in partnership with RightNow, 743 15th St. Washington, D.C. 20005

Govloop Team:

Created & Developed by:

STEVE RESSLER- Founder and CEO DOUG MASHKURI- Director of Business Development PAT FIORENZA- Graduate Fellow JEFF RIBEIRA- Creative Director

Contributors: MELISSA HARDT- RightNow Director, Industry & Public Sector Marketing ALL GOVLOOP MEMBERS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS FROM THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SYMPOSIUM

In Partnership with:

GovLoop is the premier social network connecting over 43,000 government innovators from federal, state and local government. The community is a great resource for all people in and around government, whether they are looking to connect with peers, collaborate on projects or discover career-building opportunities. GovLoop is the place to be for today’s government leaders.

PAST GUIDES • • • •

New Hire Handbook Core Project Management Process (For Small Projects) Managing the PMF Application Process Guide to Getting an MPA 2011

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Customer Service

Introduction “With advances in technology and service delivery systems in other sectors, the public’s expectations of the Government have continued to rise.

Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service,” Zients walks you through some steps to make sure your agency complies with the Executive Order. The four overarching categories that Zients identifies are:

1. Improve Customer Service Delivery 2. Advance Customer Service through Innovative Technology 3. Solicit Timely Customer Feedback 4. Improve Online Services

The Government must keep pace with and even exceed those expectations. Government must also address the need to improve its services, not only to individuals, but also to private and Governmental entities to which the agency directly provides significant services. Government managers must Below we have mapped out each area and provided learn from what is working in the private sector and some insights from the GovLoop Community as to how apply these best practices to deliver services better, best meet the requirements of the Executive Order and faster, and at lower cost.” improve your customer service. Be sure to check out On April 27, 2011, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13571. The Executive Order was a renewed vow by President Obama to improving customer service by Federal Agencies. In the Executive Order, President Obama reminds us “the public deserves competent, efficient, and responsive service from the Federal Government.” Government has traditionally been criticized for poor customer service and weak service delivery. With new and emerging technologies, President Obama has issued a challenge to Federal agencies to capitalize on the available technology to improve customer service processes and operations for citizens.

In a memo by Jeffrey Zients, Federal Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management, “Implementing Executive Order 13571 on Streamlining

GovLoop and our Customer Service Hub for even more great resources to improve customer service within your agency.

All data presented in this guide comes from the August 2011 study entitled, “Uncle Sam at Your Service The 2011 Federal Customer Experience Study.” The study was produced by MeriTalk and underwritten by RightNow.

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How satisfied are you with Federal customer service?

TAKE AWAY: Agencies with superior service show others what is possible. Aim high!

Who are considered the “best” agencies?

“Providing real, live customer service reps at the point-ofservice can be costly, but it provides for ap-

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Social Security Administration (SSA)

US Postal Service (USPS)

propriately awesome customer service”

Eric R. Payne Organization Excellence Consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton

Department of Education

Department of State

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TAKE AWAY: There is still a lot of work to be done. It’s time to close that gap!

“Customers (include yourself here) are satisfied when they get what they want, when & how they R. Anne Hull want it.”

President, Hull Strategies, LLC

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Improve Customer Service

Delivery

Due to the current fiscal landscape, all levels of governance have been called to do more with less. With increasing budget constraints agencies need to find new and innovative ways to improve how they interface with their customers.

Executive Order Requirement

From The GovLoop Symposium

Publish Your Customer Service Plan

How to Improve Customer Service Delivery

To fulfill the requirements of the Executive Order, and an easy way to improve customer service, be sure to publish your Customer Service Plan. All customer service plans must be posted within 180 days of the Executive Order.

The plan should be posted to your Open Government website. A template of how to structure your plan can be found in the appendix.

At the GovLoop Symposium, we found that in order to move forward and improve customer service, agencies need to take a hard look at themselves, the services they provide and the mission of the agency. One of challenge we heard at the symposium is for agencies to “untangle the knots� and the ability to quickly solve problems related to customer service. Agencies sometimes struggle identifying the right point of contact and finding the right information to resolve a customers complaint.

Jeffrey Zients recommends that by developing a Customer Service Task Force your agency will be able to easily exchange best practices. Further, OMB will be creating a Customer Service Task Force, which will be comprised of agencies that provide significant services. This task force will meet regularly to discuss their Customer Service Plans and exchange best practices.

If you are an agency that is heavy in customer service, your agency has already nominated a representative to serve on the OPM Customer Service Task Force, which meets regularly to discuss best practices on how to improve customer service.

GOVLOOP TIP: Use Seach.usa.gov Search.usa.gov is a great resource for you to find information across government. Be sure to check out the site and see what other agencies are up to in terms of customer service.

This tool is a great way to make sure you are no recreating the wheel and learning from colleagues in government facing similar challenges.

Some suggestions that emerged from the symposium to improve customer service are to start by identifying your customers. Think critically about what they want to accomplish and what the relationship looks like. Chart out a map that walks you through each contact point and interaction with the customer, at each level, decide how you can improve the customer experience. In doing so, you might see numerous redundancies and ways to streamline the customer experience. In order to best serve your customers, you need to be able to walk a mile in their shoes, understand their frustrations, identify possible solutions and understand the dimensions of being a customer.

Mapping out the experience is critical. You need to know who is doing what, when, why and how - identifying each layer of customer service will allow you get a stronger picture of the entire customer service experience and improve the end process.

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TAKE AWAY: Americans ask agencies to point them in the right direction. Simplify the search and watch for trends!

for example...

Mobile Apps and the American People

“It’s extremely important to have a strong organizational change and transition component to help people adapt to the new environment and expections.”

Wendi Pomerance Brick President, Customer Service Advantage, Inc.

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Advance Customer Service THROUGH

Innovative TEch

There is no doubt that as we witness improvements in service delivery systems, there is an increase in customer’s demands for improved customer service.

Executive Order Requirement

From The GovLoop Symposium

Develop a Signature Initiative

Social Media Tips to Improve Customer Service

Obama’s Executive Order requires that each agency establish a signature initiative to improve customer service.

This signature initiative must use technology to improve the customer experience, clearly articulate how agencies will interact with customers using new technology, show efficiency gains and improve current customer service systems. The signature initiative should be placed in the customer service plan that your agency publishes.

At the GovLoop symposium, we looked at various technologies that could be used to improve customer service.

Using social media tools was brought up as one potential solution. Participants stated that with social media platforms it is important to have a dedicated person looking up comments and complaints, keeping a database of what people are asking, and having a system to manage comments. Numerous participants also mentioned the concept of having a multiple channel customer service approach. At your agency, customers have access to numerous engagement channels and there must be a consistent message across all channels. Regardless if a customer is calling you on the phone, chatting online, or submitting questions on your website, information must be consistent and accurate across all channels.

Various examples of potential signature initiatives are programs that enable customers to: • • • • •

Reserve an office appointment online Reducing time spent waiting in line Complete an entire transaction independently online, limiting the need for calls or office visits Track the status of a service online, allowing access to updates via a mobile device Set up mobile text alerts for notifications on a range of topics, including emergency announcements

GOVLOOP TIP: How To Improve Customer Experience •

Provide Options for Self-service

•

Automate the process through the phone and on the web to help people find the information they want quickly

•

Ask the right questions, develop the right FAQ’s

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Use video as a way to engage with customers

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Understand Customer Connections

TAKE AWAY: Most Americans report connecting with the government online.

Embrace a multichannel approach!

“Customer service is much like anything in life in that a small percentage of items (the 20%) represent 80% of overall calls�

Steve Ressler Founder- Govloop.com

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Solicit Timely Customer

Feedback

Agencies should think of new ways to gather customer feedback and improve how they manage comments, respond to complaints in a timely manner, and develop methods on how to turn customer suggestions into action to improve service within the agency.

Executive Order Requirement

From The GovLoop Symposium

Use Broad Set of Tools For Active Engagement

Soliciting Customer Feedback Tips

President Obama’s Executive Order expands the definition of customer and encourages agencies to use a broader set of tools to solicit comments, respond promptly, capture insights, and identify early warning signals.

Providing timely feedback to your customers is critical.

A lesson learned from the GovLoop Symposium is that developing a new method or using a new platform is not necessarily an indication that you have improved customer service. If comments or concerns lay idle on your new channels of communication, you are simply providing a new, innovative way to provide bad customer service. You need to be invested in the new technologies to capitalize with the new tools. Be sure to set up a strategy and properly staff your agency to capatilize the potential of the new tools you are using.

GOVLOOP TIP: Prioritize for the 80/20 Rule

“Customer service is much like anything in life in that a small percentage of items (the 20%) represent 80% of overall calls. In customer service, out of the 10,000 calls or emails you get a day, I’m sure about 80% are the same.

Excerpt from GovLoop Founder and President, When I was in NYC with their 311 call center, their magic item Steve Ressler’s Blog, 3 Ways to Improve Cuswas alternate-site parking (where people have to move their cars tomer Service from one side of the street to the other on certain days). That was a large large percentage of the calls. So they prioritized that to one of the 1st things you hear when you call 311, so they can funnel those 80% calls away and get to the more urgent issues.”

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TAKE AWAY:

Support for Continued Change

Optimize Customer Data

39% of Americans are willing to share some personal information (such as their address and contact information) for the Federal government to store in a “customer profile” if it means improved customer service.

Use cautious optimism. Americans believe agencies can continue to improve.

91% of Americans want to tell their story only once. So, if they are on a service call and are transferred to another person, they already have the background to their question.

“In 2011, citizens want immediate changes (new password now) and I think they want all things digital” Steve Ressler Founder- Govloop.com

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Improve Online

Services As more and more Americans turn to the web for information, agencies should be sure that websites post information that is easy to find, accessible, and timely for citizens. Make sure your website is up to date, and is providing the content that your customers demand. Also be sure that you are providing a consistent message across all your channels of communication.

Executive Order Requirement

From The GovLoop Symposium

Eliminate Redundancies, Update Web Policies and Guidelines

Ways to Improve Online Services

Jeffery Zients identifies that more than half of all Americans accessed a Federal website in 2010. Many services are now provided online and citizens are expecting more services to be available to them. Many agencies have already adapted their websites to improve service delivery.

Some websites still remain hard to navigate, outdated, or poorly maintained.

In a post by Candi Harrison, Eliminating Websites, Consolidating Others = Better Customer Service!, Candi expresses the power of consolidating websites and the enormous impact on customer service. By consolidating websites, information is easier to find by users, decrease the time spent looking for information and increase user satisfaction on the website.

GOVLOOP TIP: When Appropriate, Move to Digital An excerpt from President and Founder of GovLoop, Steve Ressler’s blog, 10 Ideas on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service:

There are numerous other ways too that customer service can be improved by improving online services. The GovLoop community has provided other solutions to improve web practices for customer service.

• Develop a Live Chat Feature for Customer Ser vice • Provide Automated, Personal Reminders • Create Internal/External FAQ and make it search friendly • Don’t forget about the Plain Language Act President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 on October 13, 2010. Agencies are required to use “clear Government communication that the public can understand and use.”

“I’m not sure if it’s still the case but TSP used to mail me a new password when I wanted it reset. Really? In 2011, citizens want immediate changes (new password now) and I think they want all things digital (I don’t know what to do w/ my print TSP statements they keep sending me - I’d love to store them online). If you think about it, most banks, 401k style companies have transitioned most of the interactions to digital.”

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5 Reasons WHy

Government Should Engage in a Cross-Channel Contact Strategy

GovLoop member and RightNow employee Melissa Hardt identifies 5 reasons why Government should be engaging in a cross-channel contact strategy.

RESAON #1

Significantly Reduced Communication Workload Cross channel contact centers resolve problems more quickly and are better able to provide the right information the first time.

It promotes self-service by

ensuring that the information available is the same as what an agency subjectmatter expert would provide over the phone.

RESAON #2

Consistant, Accurate, and Up-to-date Answers We’ve all had an experience where we have received bad information. However, in many cases, when a government agency provides a wrong answer it significantly

impacts the ability to get quality healthcare, or the consequence could negatively impact the environment or national security.

As a result, it is critical for agencies to manage and deliver knowledge effectively across all channels.

Customer Service

CHECKLIST

REASON #3

Rising Constituent Expectations As consumers of private sector products and services, citizens are accustomed to real time responses. As a result, citizens struggle to understand why these experiences can’t be replicated by a government agency. To keep pace with the private sector, government agencies must raise service levels across all channels. The impact of not doing so is poor performance, low staff morale and frustrated citizens.

Publish Customer Service Plan Establish a Customer Service Task Force Establish Your Agencies Signature Initiative Create a “Fast Track” Review Process Provide Guidance on Customer Feedback Options Freeze Establishment of New Federal Executive Branch Domains Update .Gov Domain Policy and Guidelines Eliminate Duplicative and Outdated Websites

REASON #4

Better Insight Into Emerging Issues Agencies that implement multi-channel contact centers know more about the people they serve than those that don’t. They can consistently track what people are asking by phone, email, the web, and chat. They can respond to that information with better policies and processes. They can also use that information to improve website content, and thereby deliver better

service at less cost.

REASON #5

It’s Very Do-able Multi-channel communication management requires new thinking about how inquiries are managed and how knowledge can be effectively leveraged.

However, it does not require major investments in technology infrastructure and may not even require the involvement of IT at all.

That’s because todays on demand citizen experience

solutions are available via the internet. Instead of deploying a complex CRM application in your own data center, you can get multi-channel case man-

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agement and knowledge base management capabilities delivered to your PCs using nothing more than your web browser. Under this hosted delivery model, the service provider manages all the software and underlying server infrastructure.

Technology is available and citizens expect to leverage

new and improved channels to communicate with government. Government is adept to these changes and continuously looking to accommodate new communication channels. Now it is time to advance from offering a multi channel strategy to an integrated cross channel strategy.

GovLoop Blog Posts

RESOURCES

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Implementing E.O. 13571

•

Presidential Executive Order -- Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service

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RightNow for Gov Group

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Customer Service in Government Group

•

Citizen Engagement and Customer Service Group

•

10 Examples of Shockingly-Excellent Customer Service

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Why Zappos Pays New Employees to Quit -And You Should Too

•

Citizen Engagement Training Webinar

•

HowTo.gov Website

Customer Service Hub on GovLoop 10 Ideas on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service A Time for a Change?

22 Ideas to Improve Customer Service Service Where You Serve It’s All About Knowledge

This Guide Created & Developed by:

3 Ways to Improve Customer Service Too Many Websites, Too Little Time Does Customer Service Matter for Gov’t? 5 Examples for Change 10 Ideas on Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service

In Partnership with:

Executive Order - Improving Service Eliminating Websites, Consolidating Others = Better Customer Service!

Stop Complaining About Your Local DMV! How Would You Improve It? The New USAJobs - Great Customer Service!

What Do You Think About New Executive Order on Customer Satisfaction?

What Is the Best Customer Experience You’ve Had? Challenges in Customer Service & Measurement?

WANT TO COLLABORATE WITH US ON A GUIDE? We love making guides! Here at GovLoop we’re all about telling the stories of public servants. Whether it be customer service, leadership best practices, or the latest and greatest piece of tech, we’d love to work with you to create one of these amazing resources for the government community.

Email: founder@govloop.com