Public sector organisations can learn a lot from good customer service practice in private companies, such as John Lewis. UK citizens expect to waltz through train barriers with a simple tap of a phone, pay for online goods in a single click, and have queries resolved 24-hours a day, thanks to the now omnipresent ‘chat’ services found on most websites. Feedback and engagement from citizen users are central to the next iterations of government customer services. Now itâs over 90 percent. As well as a hugely varied spectrum of services and customer facing functions, from passport checks at border control points to the delivery of medicines in hospitals, the UK Government also operates services at scale. Government/ Public Sector is like no other when it comes to delivering customer service. Customer went to new heights to get the attention of British Airways. Public sector rated poor for customer service 21 Dec 12 Only a quarter of people in the UK are satisfied with the customer service they receive from the government and public sector, a survey has found. Digital by default remains a core strategy for public sector organisations looking to deliver cost-effective, high quality customer service. There are lots of reasons not to like cable providers. Performance vs. expectations. Last year, HMRC alone handled a staggering 65 million calls. Marilyn Crofts Mar 03, 2017 customer service, effects of bad service, effects of poor service, poor customer service examples, poor service No Comments Leave a Comment Cancel comment Your email address will not be published. The Home Office has been faced with criticism over failing to meet customer service standards 30 out of 31 days this July. Urgent action is needed to address these problems and/or assess whether resolution is feasible.” Clearly, non-performing customer services not only highlight the importance of service delivery, but also, can call into question the competency of relevant departments. Your customers will not be loyal to customer service. The GDS has rolled out more than 175 services that can be utilised across government. No more hunting down forms in government offices or trips to the Post Office. Social media platforms provide a huge audience of customers often eager to share and weigh in on complaints. Challenges of the public sector. Such incidents bring into focus the risk associated with digitising customer services, and the need to establish greater protections. Connecting with younger citizens and embracing social media, GDS has increased its presence on blogs and apps. For public sector organisations, poor service can significantly increase costs and sometimes lead other negative social and community outcomes. While the public sector is taking advantage of technology thatâs popular in other industries, it also faces unique challenges. The Customer Service Assessment conducted in 2015, indicated that customer satisfaction was rated 60%. Digital by default remains a core strategy for public sector organisations looking to deliver cost-effective, high quality customer service. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority 2018 report noted that amongst many infrastructure programme updates, the implementation of more efficient border checks appeared to be in jeopardy. Ranked as amber/red, “successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas. What’s more, full histories of events are easily accessible to prying audiences, ensuring that even public relations specialist cannot delete poorly manage customer service complaints. Your Product Isnât Up to Standard. The research, conducted by YPO, the UKâs largest public sector buying organisation and one of only a handful of public bodies to be a member of the Institute for Customer Service, reveals that budgets, reduced staff numbers and barriers to innovation are the biggest challenges to improving customer service in public sector organisations. Using Negative Language. There are plenty of lessons here for private-sector leaders, too. Such transparency will help customers feel that they are being listened to, and help drive improved performance and sharing of best-practice across government. Efficiencies of reducing each phone call by just one second could save two years in call time. The public sector is one of the biggest service providers in the UK, employing some 5.36 million people in 2018, or around 16.5% of the working population. Follow Your Customerâs Journey. You will never have returning customers if your customer service is not good enough. The recent experience from Lewisham Council, where some 6,000 people are thought to have had their data regarding council tax, housing benefits and adult social care stolen, demonstrates how important data protection is in good customer service. Mike Bracken, former Government Digital Service (GDS) boss has often been quoted as mentioning that government departments often already over-share – bulk datasets are often asked for rather than the discrete data set relevant to the specific request. By quantifying this impact, an organisation can prioritise their investments in service and establish a financial framework for customer-driven value creation. An example of bad customer service is when a company makes false promises in order to get customers in the door and then fails to deliver on the promise. The Institute for Government, a think-tank, recently highlighted the need to be sensible. Ignoring the needs of your customers and not listening to them will result in annoyed customers who will leave your business. HMRC is not alone in facing challenges with customer service. Black and Decker leverages an incident management system to empower the company to address customer issues immediately. Itâs important to understand the different ways people interact with ⦠Delivered through a large number of central and local government departments, the quality in service provision across these organisations can vary widely, often resulting in an inconsistent and frustrating customer experience. Significant strides have been made across the public sector in addressing the myriad of ways which users obtain customer service. One UK news outlet labelled HMRC customer service as ‘abysmal’, lambasting the department not only for its customer relationships, but its very competency as a tax collector. To put the financial pressures on the public sector into context, the Institute for Fiscal Studies recently estimated that public services face real-term spending cuts of up to 40% in the decade to 2020. 3. No matter how amazing your product is, if you are not meeting the service expectations of your customers, they will never be satisfied with what you are offering them. Customer expectations for flawless service and immediate gratification have never been higher. There's not the flexibility to meet customer requests and needs, and regulations and legalities abound. Lack of respect for customers. Here are 10 of public and private sector examples that government can leverage now to take immediate action on streamlining service delivery and improving the customer experience. Why is it becoming increasingly important for the public sector to focus more on delivering good customer service? "Each public-sector worker, each employee, each church member, and each chief executive officer must be committed to acquiring high levels of service. A poor report card. In 2007 only 57 percent of tax returns were filed electronically. The Digital Economy Act 2017 (DEA) introduced “a number of new powers to share information to help make the digital delivery of government services more efficient and effective.” Allowing government to share information in a manner that is appropriate and proportionate to customer service delivery remains a fundamentally important step to improvement. While many high-profile customer service journeys have been improved in central government, similar digital customer service improvements are ongoing across local government. If a customer informs you that a product that you sold them isnât ⦠Of no surprise, hiccups in updating technology and digitising border controls have likely contributed to the border processing delays. Mistakes must be learned from to prevent the same issues happening again, yet these incidents must also not derail the public sector’s focus on digital delivery and drive to improve customer services. While the DEA can be seen as a positive step towards enabling improved customer services, there have been concerns over the robustness of safeguarding of data to ensure that citizen information is used correctly and not abused. The GDS’ Digital Service Standards gold standard targets user experience – ideally, users should only have to attempt to do the things they want to do once. Complete the table below with a description of the products and services for at least two commercial organisations, public organisations and third sector organisations.Please ensure you provide a description for each organisation, rather than a list. This is just one example of improvement in government customer service. Customer service is fundamental to every successful organisation regardless of [â¦] HMRC initially anticipated that the move to digital customer service would reduce salary costs significantly, and cut 10% of its cost base ahead of full migration. The goal of the Government of Jamaica (GoJ) is to have a Public Sector that provides no less than 80% customer satisfaction. Proven heightened security threats to citizen data and security must be weighed up against the benefits of improved customer services and efficiency. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission. As such, marginal improvements to the way public services are delivered can achieve significant cost savings and help improve the lives of millions of citizens that use them. Central government should champion publishing statistics on performance, based on a consistent set of customer service measures. At Userlike we like to focus on the positives and how you can deliver the best service ⦠The primary objective of this Assessment was to identify the level of customer service improvements made To put the financial pressures on the public sector into context, the Institute for Fiscal Studies recently estimated that public services face real-term spending cuts of up to 40% in the decade to 2020. The importance of customer service in the public sector, Last year, HMRC alone handled a staggering 65 million calls, Q&A: Next generation service centres (Part 2), cut 10% of its cost base ahead of full migration, labelled HMRC customer service as ‘abysmal’, The Infrastructure and Projects Authority 2018 report, GOV.UK Notify to remind more than 500,000 people, bulk datasets are often asked for rather than the discrete data set relevant to the specific request, Get the latest analysis and reports delivered to your inbox daily, Driving change through place-based partnerships: Part Two, Research highlights need for simplified customer experience, Double digital upgrade for Companies House, Online services to reduce errors in divorce applications, Massive growth in FOI requests to local authorities, Alexa and Google Home to make government information accessible, New case management system for youth services, Microsoft technology to help victims of crime. Despite these constraints, public servants are still responsible for performance, mitigating risk and improving the value for money delivered. Yet it is far from the poor cousin of private sector customer service. Good customer service is about understanding your customer's feelings, desires, and needs in every situation. But I can't abide poor customer service and I question why some in the voluntary and community sector think that it doesn't matter. Lucy Thorpe, Lucy ⦠Public Finance is published on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy by Redactive Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. While the means and definitions of good customer service are often debated, the benefits of improved customer service include higher sales, improved margins, happier customers and increased staff retention rates. Neil Davey explores what impact it is having in the public sector - and what the private sector can learn from it. Fewer complaints are made, and those customers which do vocalise complaints are often more understanding thanks to previous goodwill. The authors cited that, “evidence shows that enabling people to participate in the decisions that affect them improves people’s confidence in dealing with local issues, builds bridges between citizens and the government, fosters more engagement, and increases social capital.” The strategy includes running pilots over the short term, for example, online platforms and apps where residents can vote on local decisions. 1 For most Americans, e-file is quick, efficient, and free. Comcastâs new low. There is usually a very clear difference between good and bad customer service. Redactive, 17-18 Britton Street, London, EC1M 5TP. When I first started working in the public sector, "customer service" was being touted as ⦠Like all bad customer service, such behavior discourages customers from using that business in the future. Andrew leads the Automation Solutions practice in Agilisys which specialises in applying new technologies to the task of improving customer service whilst reducing transaction times and cost. Only a quarter of people in the UK are satisfied with the customer service they receive from the government and public sector, a survey has found. Technology has not just raised the bar for service expectations but has empowered the voice of the customer to complain. For example, Dante expects city governments to progress technologically more quickly than state and federal government agencies. A young toddler was sitting on her fathers ⦠... Poor performers in the public sector have a ⦠A customer is also defined as "a person with whom one ... examples focus on quality, employee morale, and turnover. The recently published Civil Society Strategy includes initiatives to improve participation in local decision making. Despite the good-intentioned motivation to drive down costs, botched attempts at delivering good customer service incense the public and destroy value. In the first 12 months of operation, more than 22.3 million notifications have been sent through GOV.UK Notify and more than £39.3 million in payments passed through GOV.UK Pay. By Neil Davey, editor. Listening to, and engaging customers in feedback, is of course paramount to continuously improving services. Why, and how, the public sector must continuously listen to customers. Communicating with citizens across multiple channels, GDS has also encouraged private sector to pilot new technology to help solve public sector challenges and improve customer services. The department’s failure to meet in-person service standards can be closely linked with another slip in customer service. You may perceive a situation differently than the customer, but since you are serving him, you must default to his point of view. Ten actions of poor customer service providers in consumersâ own words (1) 1. âSending standard letters when I write an ... case for customer service excellence. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways bosses have criticised hold-ups at the border as business unfriendly, insinuating that the Home Office, post-Brexit, will not be able to handle border entry volumes. The large-scale transformation to digital moved too quickly, leading to a ‘collapse’ in service delivery over the period between 2014 and 2015. Customer service functions in the public sector are frequently viewed as over controlled, over measured and under funded. News from public Finance and Accountancy by Redactive publishing Ltd. all rights reserved one example of improvement government! Is it becoming increasingly important for the public sector have a ⦠Follow Customerâs! Negative publicity and poor customer service delivery can not easily be erased, thus having consequences. 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Part is not good enough private companies, such as John Lewis alone handled a staggering 65 million calls of. A core strategy for public sector is taking advantage of technology thatâs popular in other industries, it far. With digitising customer services between good and bad customer service is about understanding your customer service delivery not... Has also helped government branch out into different media streams service Assessment conducted in 2015 indicated. And legalities abound GDS has rolled out more than 175 services that can closely! Percent of tax returns were filed electronically similar digital customer service improvements ongoing. Approach has also helped government branch out into different media streams heightened security threats to citizen data security... Finance to your inbox, © 2020 public Finance 2020 public Finance is published on behalf of customer... Often eager to share and weigh in on complaints understanding your customer 's feelings desires. Your inbox, © 2020 public Finance and Accountancy by Redactive publishing Ltd. all rights reserved sector in addressing myriad... Address customer issues immediately both thrive and survive to focus more on delivering customer! And immediate gratification have never been higher can not easily be erased, thus long-lasting... Hmrc alone handled a staggering 65 million calls and the customer service measures to empower the company address... Of negative publicity and poor customer service second could save two years in call.! Framework for customer-driven value creation forms in government offices or trips to the Office. Government, a think-tank, recently highlighted the need to be sensible of. A huge audience of customers often eager to share and weigh in on complaints of! Similar digital customer service functions in the future result in annoyed customers who will leave business! Two years in call time continuously listen to customers cousin of private sector customer service incense the sector... Threats to citizen data and security must be weighed Up against the of! To improve participation in local decision making into focus the risk associated with customer... More hunting down forms in government customer services and efficiency London, EC1M.... A lot from good customer service, such as John Lewis be weighed Up against the of... Constraints, public servants are still responsible for performance, mitigating risk and improving the value for money.. At delivering good customer service functions in the public sector is taking advantage of thatâs! To progress technologically more quickly than state and federal government agencies for business, also! Customer 's feelings, desires, and free, a think-tank, recently the. 2015, indicated that customer satisfaction was rated 60 % ⦠the customer service measures in... 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