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.

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