5 Questions Facing Government Agencies in Customer Service
In talking with individuals from government agencies, we discovered friction-free citizen experiences when interacting with government is an increasingly important differentiator which contributes to citizen satisfaction. Whether in-person or online at the DMV, for example, responsiveness, speed and accuracy are the expectation.
With an increased emphasis on customer experiences, the Digital Government Institute hosted the 930Gov Conference on August 24, 2016; this conference was a series of government fiscal end-of-year learning sessions with an audience of 1,000 government professionals, contractors, and systems integrators. Over the last 5 years, the event has focused on customer experience and improving government channels to prepare for the digital transformation that is knocking on the door of government.
Kevin Briggs, Director, Microsoft Dynamics – Federal, and Jeff Yoon, Director, Microsoft Dynamics Service Product Marketing, led a panel session and an insight discussion which analyzed the increased visibility and emphasis on customer service. The sessions focused on using effective knowledge and correspondence management strategies and tools to help engage with and serve citizens through self-service channels, and at on empowering employees to be more productive and consistent.
In talking with agencies, we learned that there are still questions on how to best implement self-service systems which can help to provide better service to citizens anytime anywhere, reduce service effort, and improve employee productivity.
5 Questions Facing Government Agencies in Customer Service
- What are the challenges of collecting feedback and using it? The current trend is to use homegrown solutions or manual data collection systems and to review data on a weekly basis. Valuable content can be lost and by not surfacing all of the relevant data, outcomes may be less successful.
- How do you internally communicate and act on customer’s feedback? Agencies struggle to find the information and solutions to escalate or collaborate within their agency or the government community. Knowledge management is critical to initiating a platform for employees to productively respond to citizens.
- Mobile connectivity: How do you market mobile applications? When engaging with a brand or organization for customer service, 65% of 18 – 34-year-olds’ interactions now begin online, 55% across all age groups, and 46% of consumers ages 55+. There is the same expectation when communicating with government. Mobility is one of the largest factors to a successful digital transformation and contributes to the omni-channel movement.
- How do you determine the right channel to engage? Remember that relevancy is determined by the citizens rather than the employee, meaning it is best to allow constituents to initially engage.
- What can we do to embrace social channels? Social media is slow to be adopted in the government space, but the positive praise from agencies who have continue to soar. Citizens enjoy the convenience of engaging on their time and report a higher satisfaction. Social listening is a critical performance measure for agencies to report, track, and analyze feedback.
Customer experience means nothing without the ability to answer these questions. Watch how Microsoft Dynamics has helped Rolls Royce answer these questions and increase customer engagement, and we look forward to engaging with you.
