Archive for September, 2011
Moving the Needle on Government Customer Service – Part 2
In Part 1 of Moving the Needle on Government Customer Service I talked about the state of customer service in government and that businesses consistently do a better job in customer service than government. Why do businesses as a whole outscore government in customer service? The reasons are many but before we get to them you should put aside any bias you have about the dedication and earnestness of government employees compared to employees in the private sector. Government employees want to do a good job but leadership has failed to provide the training, infrastructure and environment for good customer service. .
Government has been slow setting up contact centers.
A receptionist who answers the phone and routes calls is not a contact center. Businesses know intuitively that product and service go hand in hand, A good product backed by poor customer service will have the same effect over time as a bad product. To businesses customer service is part of the product life cycle. To government managers customer service is an add-on, a necessary evil that is often relegated to the dark corners of the room. The person you talk to for support spends most of the day doing the work of the unit. The phone rings and it’s you with a problem. To help you with your problem the employee has to stop what they are doing (a high value activity to management) to engage in an activity that is of low value to management. The caller is an interruption not a customer.
No CommentsMoving the Needle on Government Customer Service
The is part 1 of a 3 part post on moving the needle on customer service in government.
You cannot talk about efficiency in government without talking about customer service. You cannot do customer service well without the tools, strategy and training needed to manage relationships with your customer. Customer service means managing your interactions with recipients of your services. We have all heard a fair number of horror stories about government customer service and have probably contributed a few ouirselves. Bashing government customer service is almost a national pastime. The public’s perception is that the customer service you get from government is not as good as the service you get from the private sector. Generally this is true but not because government employees are not as dedicated or hard working as employees in the private sector.
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