Local authorities are under increasing pressure to improve customer satisfaction while reducing the cost of providing services. While this may appear to be an impossible task, Socitm research suggests there is scope for councils to improve both the quality and efficiency of their customer enquiry handling.
Local authorities that subscribe to the Customer Access Improvement Service can use it to access easy-to-assimilate information about customer satisfaction with their different access channels, and benchmark this against other, similar authorities.
In addition, they will be able to manage cost-to-serve information for each channel, for their own authority, and in comparison with other councils.
Through regular CAIS reports and networking events, they will be able to access and exchange best practice and the latest innovations in customer access, customer insight and service improvement.
Consultancy services are also available for those requiring individual support in building improvement plans.
The Customer Access Improvement Service enables councils to collect valuable data and use it:
- as evidence for customer service best value schemes
- to compare customer satisfaction with the access provided to different services (eg planning, schools, waste etc)
- to compare customers’ relative satisfaction with different access channels ( web, phone, and face to-face)
- to benchmark performance in specific areas against other similar councils
- to identify opportunities to reduce ‘avoidable contact’ with customers
- to identify priorities for improvement
- to demonstrate return on investment in improving access to services through evidence of increased customer satisfaction
- to ensure that web, phone ad face-to-face channels are fully ‘joined-up’ in support of an overall customer access strategy
- to prevent ‘channel silos’ developing between phone, web, and face-to-face channels