REPORT

OF
CONTEMPORARY ISSUE
ON
TOPIC –CUSTOMER SERVICE
STRATEGY AND CARE ISSUES

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
Miss Tejbir kaur Ashwani Kumar
DEPTT OF LSB Reg No 10810797
L.P.U PHAGWARA ROLL NO- R1811A15

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I feel highly privileged to express my sincere gratitude

to Miss Tejbir Kaur Department of Marketing and

Business Management,of Lovely Professional

University for his able guidance and help in preparing

this project. She never failing patience and much-

needed co-operation proves to be an asset to me in

accomplishing my task. Without his constant

encouragement, generosity and valuable critical

comments, this study may not have reached its

present form. Last but not the least, I pay my

gratitude to my family members and friends for their

continuous encouragement and support.

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INDEX
Page no
1.1 Overview of customer services strategy and care issues
03
1.2 Key message
03
1.3 Introduction
05
1.3.1 Background
05
1.3.2 purpose of the document
05
1.3.3 Aims
06
1.4 Objectives
06
1.5 Principles
07
1.6 What our customers want
08

3
1.6.1 Initial Consultation - Customer Service:
09
1.6.2 Building on the initial consultation
09
1.6.3 Overview of strategy
10
1.6.3.1 Delivery channels
11
1.6.3.2 Use of enabling IT 7B
15
1.6.3.3 Excellent service delivery
18
1.7 Literature review and Analysis
20
1.8 Recommendation 31
1.9 conclusion
33
1.10 References
36

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1.1 CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY AND CARE ISSUES:

At this point in our continuing journey, our overall customer service strategy can be
summarised as follows: “We know (from consultation) that our customers want to contact
us in ways that are convenient to them - using an increasing number of delivery channels.
The only way we can understand and efficiently address our customers’ requirements is by
continuing to use enabling IT and applying it across all delivery channels to provide a high
quality joined-up service. It is vital that we continue to translate this into excellent service
delivery by consulting with customers, creating a customer service culture, and training and
developing our staff. At the same time, we must ensure that we prioritize and manage our
investments, assets and revenues to deliver cost effective services which provide value for
money. We can continue to maximise opportunities and realise synergies by ensuring
alignment of our customer service strategy with relevant national, local and council
strategies, projects and initiatives.”

1.2 Key messages

We need a co-ordinated and joined up approach across the council and with partner
organisations if we are to benefit from efficient resource utilisation and deliver real benefits
to our customers in the form of improved service delivery.

• This requires that we move to a model where services are built around customer needs and
not organisational structures.

• We need to work within the council and with partner organisations to establish the most
appropriate and cost effective configuration of locations and means of service delivery. We
will need a mix of delivery channels into the medium term.

• Research shows that customers place importance on accessing local government services
in a number of different ways.

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• The channel mix will change over time with increased acceptance of electronic “self
service” channels and it is important to anticipate future tactical shifts. The major elements
of the council’s user-led customer service strategy are the Customer Service Centres and the
Contact Centre

. • Co-located services in convenient locations can be expected to result in a significant up-

take of services (for example, increased footfall in a library co-located with a Primary
Customer Service Centre).

• The Contact Centre will reflect on and build upon the council’s experience to date with
call centres. It will consolidate services and use enabling technology to ensure a corporate
and consistent high quality approach to handling customer contacts. Enabling technologies
can provide us with the capability to understand customers and deliver high quality, joined
up and accessible services across multiple delivery channels.

• It is important that customer requirements drive IT developments rather than IT

developments determining how services are delivered to customers. We must ensure that
we have the underpinning principles, people and processes in place to enable us to follow
through and provide excellent service delivery.

• We need to understand who our customers are and what services they need and want. We
need to know how and when they want to access these services.

• If we understand our customers, we can work within the council and with partner
organisations to put together “bundles” or “clusters” of services that a customer is likely to
seek at the same time.

• A culture of excellent customer service is required throughout the organisation. • Staff are
our most important and valuable asset. We must continually train, develop and support
staff. We can provide community leadership in service delivery, working in partnership to
provide customers with joined up and integrated services. Our locations (especially the
Primary Customer Service Centres) and activities can become focal points for regeneration
and creation of community networks. We need to take a comprehensive and consistent
business case based approach to our investments.

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• The primary driver for investment in customer services has been to improve the quality
and accessibility of services we provide to customers. Economies of scale and efficiencies
will follow as the entire council becomes more customer-focused and directorates
reconfigure themselves accordingly. Finally, it is important to recognise throughout
delivery of the Strategy that the council has wider social responsibilities and our
developments need to embrace issues such as social inclusion and equalities

1.3 Introduction

1.3.1 Background

Every local authority should have a living Customer Service Strategy at the centre of the
organisation. An effective Customer Service Strategy should not sit on a shelf until its next
review. Its purpose is to: · Recognise and support political and management objectives; ·
Respond to the changing needs of customers · Set out a clear vision for the development
and delivery of services to customers · Aid decision making · Deliver real benefits to
customers, and · Incorporate mechanisms for implementation and review. Newcastle City
Council’s Customer Service Strategy was developed in 2000 and has provided a firm
foundation for much of the work since then (particularly in relation to the development of
Customer Service Centres). However, it is now an appropriate time to review and refresh
the Strategy for a number of reasons: · We have made a good start on the journey and need
to assess our experience to date. · We know more about how our customers are using our
current services and this can help to inform our future decisions. · We have built a modern
customer service infrastructure in terms of people, buildings, technology and knowledge,
and we need to ensure that we maximise the delivery of benefits from these assets. · There
has been a change in political leadership and the Customer Service Strategy must help to
deliver political objectives. · There have been a number of national, local and council
developments with which the customer service strategy must remain aligned.

1.3.2 Purpose of this document

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This document reviews the high level aims and objectives of the Customer Service
Strategy. It details the overriding principles which govern how we will develop and deliver
services. This is followed by an evaluation of what we now know our customers want.
Improving access without the ability to deliver an effective response (‘building a motorway
to a dirt-track’) is a recipe for disappointment for customers and staff.
realistic assessment of the delivery capabilities, skills and finance available. The section
entitled “Overview of Our Strategy” outlines the elements which we must proactively
manage to ensure that Newcastle City Council is successful in delivering excellent and
efficient customer service. A significant amount of progress has already been made. The
journey to date is briefly reviewed and recommendations for the way forward are
documented. The main body of the document contains key messages with supporting
information contained in appendices. The strategy concludes with an action plan which sets
out how we will implement the strategy and achieve our vision An effective Customer
Service Strategy must therefore be underpinned by realistic assessment of the delivery
capabilities, skills and finance available.

1.3.3 Aims

The high level aims of the Customer Service Strategy remain largely unchanged. We will
continue to provide community leadership in the provision of: • Responsive services that
meet peoples’ needs and demonstrate that we have understood their demands. • Quality
services which are efficient, cost effective and delivered through a highly trained and
skilled workforce. • Accessible services that provide people with a choice about how and
when to access services. The ongoing achievement of these aims will make Newcastle upon
Tyne one of the most satisfying and attractive places in which to live work, study and visit.

1.4 Objectives
The objectives of the customer service strategy describe the main ways in which we will
achieve the overall aims of the Strategy. We will use a selection of delivery channels so that
people have more choice in how and where they access services.. This means:

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• Delivering a citywide network of Customer Service Centres providing a range of public
services as close as possible to where people live.

• Developing contact centre technology to respond to the demand to contact the council by
telephone.

• Making effective use of appropriate new delivery channels to encourage all sectors of the
community to access our services. We will make use of relevant enabling IT technology to
deliver joined up services.

• Using IT systems which help us to understand our customers and meet their requirements
(customer relationship management system).

• Designing and implementing systems which help us to provide better quality, joined up
and accessible services to our customers. We will ensure that our service delivery is
excellent.. This means:

• Understanding the nature of demand and what matters to customers. • Consulting with
our customers to ensure we understand their individual needs and preferences in order to
give them a good experience.

• Creating a culture of customer service within the organisation.

• Delivering a comprehensive customer service training and development programme. This

will include staff dealing with both external and internal customers.

• Changing the way we deliver services and redesigning our processes to deliver continual
improvement in our performance and customer service. We will deliver cost effective
services which provide value for money.

• Effectively managing and prioritising our investment, assets and revenue. • Establishing
effective performance management.

• Driving out and capturing the anticipated financial benefits. We will ensure alignment of
our customer service strategy with national, local and council initiatives.. This means:
services.

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• Recognising and reinforcing relevant strategies, projects and initiatives. It is equally
important that we seek to achieve the right balance in terms of effort, timing and
presentation. For example, offering a wide range of methods by which customers can access
our services is of little value if our staff have not all been trained to deliver excellent
customer service and access is not presented to the customer in a logical way.

1.5 Principles

Our customer service strategy is underpinned by the following principles and values which
govern how we set about meeting our objectives. Being open, honest and communicative

• We will be open and honest with our customers and staff. We will recognise and reward
success and will tackle problems in a constructive ‘no blame’ manner.

• We will keep our customers and staff advised of developments and initiatives and give
them opportunities to provide feedback. Working in a collaborative way • Service users will
be involved in identifying, shaping and monitoring the Customer Service Strategy and
service delivery.

• We will maximise opportunities to work in partnership with other organisations and

agencies to deliver cost effective and joined up services. Focusing on delivery

• Wherever possible, customers should have their needs met at the first point of contact.

• Services will empower rather than devalue individuals and give them the maximum
possible control. Providing good stewardship

• Services will be designed to achieve environmental, economic and social sustainability.

• The council will comply with all relevant legislation and best practice.

• Highest standards will be followed in managing authentication, security, privacy,

confidentiality, and the use of ownership of information.

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• Everything we do should contribute to building trust in the competence, propriety and
authority of Newcastle City Council. Valuing diversity

• Services will be designed and delivered to provide equal access to all sectors of the
community. They will respect cultural and community diversity and be anti-discriminatory.
Being progressive • Where appropriate, services will be personalised and built around an
understanding of the customer and their “life events” (e.g. moving to Newcastle).

• We will be innovative in how we continue to exploit new technology and new ways of
working to enable us to deliver improved services.

1.6 What our customers want

One of the main reasons we are reviewing our Customer Service Strategy is that we now
know more about how customers are using our current services and what their views are.
We have consulted widely with customers over the past four years. Some of the important
activities and findings are summarised in this section. .

1.6.1 Initial Consultation - Customer Service: A Green Paper A Green Paper was
published in 2001 in order to communicate and consult on the Council’s customer service
strategy. This is attached at Appendix 25. The overall aim was to assess customer
satisfaction with services currently provided and to obtain views to inform future service
development. Some of the key findings from this research were:

• Phone is the most common method of contact with the council, and is expected to remain
so in the future.

• People wanted more Customer Service Centres provided locally in council buildings such
as libraries and leisure centres as well as shopping centres.

• It was felt that the council should provide other services at Customer Service Centres
such as banking, utilities, information on welfare benefits and health.

• Respondents also reported an increase in the use of new technologies such as digital TV
and the Internet.

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1.6.2 Building on the initial consultation The Green Paper provided us with the
foundation to establish an ongoing programme of consultation. It is essential to engage with
non-customers to find out what they perceive to be barriers to accessing our services. We
have used a number of methods of consulting with customers and non-customers including:

• Customer research

• Comment cards – corporate and service specific

• Elected Members’ workshops

• Road shows/open days

• Mystery customers

• Switchboard survey

• Customer Service website

• Union consultation

• Residents’ newsletters

• Area Committees
• Community focus groups

• Staff focus groups

1.6.3Overview of strategy

We need to manage five distinct components as key objectives of the Strategy if we are to
achieve our aim of delivering excellent and efficient customer service. We must continue
our development and management of:

• Delivery channels

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• Use of enabling IT •

Excellent service delivery

• Value for money

• Ensuring alignment

It is equally important that we seek to achieve the right balance in terms of effort, timing
and presentation. For example, offering a wide range of methods by which customers can
access our services is of little value if our staff have not all been trained to deliver excellent
customer service and access is not presented to the customer in a logical way.

At this point in our continuing journey, our overall customer service strategy can be
summarised as follows: “We know (from consultation) that our customers want to contact
us in ways that are convenient to them - using an increasing number of delivery channels.
The only way we can understand and efficiently address our customers’ requirements is by
continuing to use enabling IT and applying it across all delivery channels to provide a high
quality joined-up service. It is vital that we continue to translate this into excellent service
delivery by consulting with customers, creating a customer service culture, and training and
developing our staff.

At the same time, we must ensure that we prioritise and manage our investments, assets and
revenues to deliver cost effective services which provide value for money. We can continue
to maximise opportunities and realise synergies by ensuring alignment of our customer
service strategy with relevant national, local and council strategies, projects and initiatives.”

These five components are illustrated in the diagram on the next page. By taking this
approach, we will ensure that we “build the right thing once and use it many times” rather
than “building more or less the same thing (or conflicting things) many times”.

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1.6.3.1 Delivery channels

Overview A delivery channel can be defined as a method by which customers can access
our services. The main delivery channels which we have in place (or plan to develop) are
categorised below: • Face to face (the customer coming to a council location to access
services) o Primary Customer Service Centres o Satellite Customer Service Centres •
Remote mediated (the customer dealing with a person but not face to face) o Contact Centre
o Freephone o Video conferencing • Self Service (the customer accessing services by
themselves) o Internet / intranet o Digital TV o Kiosks • Mobile Services (face to face but
with the service taken to the customer)

Our approach We need a co-ordinated and joined up approach for the development and
use of delivery channels if we are to deliver real benefits to our customers in the form of
improved service delivery and efficient use of resources. Otherwise there is a risk of a
multitude of different services being delivered in an inconsistent way and to varying levels

14
of quality. • This requires that we move to a model where services are built around
customer needs and not organisational structures. • It means that we need to look at the end-
to-end costs of delivering services to customers across multiple channels rather than take a
“silo” snapshot view based on outdated and unrepresentative costs. • A joined-up approach
adds value for the customer and the council and delivers savings. For example, sharing a
Customer Service Centre also means sharing the costs of building maintenance and upkeep,
compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and health and safety legislation,
security and facilities management and IT and telecommunications networks and
equipment. It also develops a culture where behaviour is focused on the customer. A joined-
up approach can also assist with issues such as fraud prevention, data protection and social
inclusion. The move to join up services and seamless service delivery leads us to expect
that intermediaries will play an increasingly important role. An “intermediary” can be
defined as a third party service delivery provider (or even a different directorate). For
example, a council may provide services on behalf of a voluntary sector organisation, or
one directorate may provide services on behalf of another. • The question to be addressed in
each case is whether an intermediary can provide improved customer service and value for
money for the services being delivered, based on an understanding of the customers’ needs.
It should be noted that customers place importance on accessing local government services
via a mix of delivery channels. • This is supported by a survey by a leading industry
consultancy (Gartner May 2001) which found that 73% of respondents attached great
importance to the ability to access services through a variety of channels. The majority of
respondents also indicated that they would be likely to use different channels for the same
transaction, for example initial information via the internet, further details from a Contact
Centre, and completion of the transaction in a Customer Service Centre. • Experience from
the private sector has shown that customers still want to use traditional delivery channels
(e.g. face to face) to support them in using

A portfolio of delivery channels will therefore be required into the medium term. • The
channel mix will change over time with increased acceptance of electronic channels and it
is important to anticipate future tactical shifts within the Customer Service Strategy to

15
reflect this. • The role of providing strong community leadership can be effectively
enhanced in a face to face environment such as a local Primary Customer Service Centre.
We need to understand our customers’ requirements, preferences and abilities. • An
important part of this is identifying our different customer segments and how we need to
respond to (or indeed can influence) their changing preferences in terms of the channels
they use. • We need to recognise that it is necessary to spend time building customers’
confidence and trust in using new delivery channels. This can mean publicity, reassurances
about privacy and security, and access to sources of assistance. • The council should have a
common “look and feel” to help the customer access services as well as the same high
standard of quality service across all the delivery channels. Finally, the council needs to
lead the drive to social inclusion. This means ensuring that services are available through
delivery channels where lack of skills or confidence and cost are not impediments to their
use. automated channels and for more complex transactions.

Delivering the strategy

Primary Customer Service Centres A major element of the council’s Customer

Service Strategy is the user-led development of a citywide network of six Primary
Customer Service Centres. More information on the vision, progress to date and way
forward can be found in Appendix 2. The aim of Primary Customer Service Centres is to
provide communities across the city with a face-to-face facility that can provide a high
quality, seamless and consistent approach to the delivery of council and other public
services. We will make best use of staff and information technology to ensure that the
majority of enquiries are resolved at first point of contact for the convenience of our
customers. By November 2003 we had three Primary Customer Service Centres: • Civic
Centre (opened July 2000) • East End – interim centre (opened August 2003)

We will deliver four further Primary Customer Service Centres through the Newcastle and
North Tyneside LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) initiative: • Phase 1 – Kenton
(summer 2005) • Phase 2 – Benwell, Gosforth and Shields Road (replacing the interim
centre) – by 2007

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Satellite Customer Service Centres Supporting the Council’s network of Primary
Customer Service Centres is the development of Satellite Customer Service Centres. These
will make best use of existing council and partner facilities which are accessible and in key
neighbourhood centres across the city including libraries and Your Homes Newcastle
offices. More information on the vision, progress to date and way forward can be found in
Appendix 3. We currently have plans to open four Satellite Customer Service Centres: •
Walker (co-located with health care services, welfare rights and Your Homes Newcastle) –
mid 2005 • High Heaton, Fenham and Fawdon (within refurbished branch libraries) – from
2006/07 We are taking a co-ordinated and joined-up approach to developing these and
further Satellite Customer Service Centres. Where we identify that there is a requirement
for customer services at an existing location, we will review the requirements to understand
if it should be staffed by customer service officers or whether access to services should be
provided by technology such as freephones, video conferencing and the Internet. We will
also undertake an analysis to understand the impact on the network of Primary and Satellite
Customer Service Centres. • Outer West (opened November 2003)

Contact Centre

The purpose of a contact centre is to handle many different types of customer contact
(unlike a call centre which is limited to telephone calls). A contact centre will potentially
handle telephone calls, fax, e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, digital television,
video conferencing and textphone (Minicom). More information on the vision, progress to
date and way forward can be found in Appendix 4. The development of the Contact Centre
will reflect on and build upon the council’s experience to date with call centres. It will
consolidate services and use enabling technology to ensure a corporate and consistent high
quality approach

A significant amount of planning and preparatory work has been completed. We are
currently addressing accommodation and funding issues. The Contact Centre will initially
focus on Revenues and Benefits but will quickly expand to offer a wide range of services
for internal and external customers. It will ultimately mirror the range of services offered in

17
the Customer Service Centres, our aim being to ensure equal access to services via all
channels.

Provision of mediated delivery channels – freephone and video conferencing

Many customers will access Contact Centre services from their own phones. However, we
recognise that not everyone has a phone or can afford to make calls, and these people may
also not be able to travel to Primary Customer Service Centres to access our full range of
services. The drive towards social inclusion and equitable access requires us to provide the
means for customers to access our services in a convenient way. We already use freephones
and video conferencing and will continue to deploy these as appropriate in council and
partner locations to provide customers with convenient ways to access our services.

Mobile Services Mobile or outreach services can be defined as those which are taken out
to customers who are unable or unwilling to access our services at Customer Service
Centres. Mobile services may be provided in peoples’ homes or in a van or in a local
community location. More information on the vision, progress to date and way forward can
be found in Appendix 7. The council and partner organisations currently offer a number of
mobile or outreach services which have tended to be developed in isolation. Going forward,
we will seek to identify customers unable to access our services and consult with them in
order to understand the range of services they need to access. We can then work as a
council and with other organisations to provide appropriate “bundles” of services.

1.6.3.2 Use of enabling IT 7B.

Overview The previous section discussed the delivery channels which we have
established and/or plan to develop. However, delivery channels are of little use if an
organisation lacks the technologies which provide the capability for it to understand
customers and deliver high quality, joined-up and accessible services across these channels.
Another way of viewing this is to see delivery channels as the building blocks and the
enabling IT technologies as the tools we use to help deliver services to customers. We can
identify a range of “enabling IT” tools which can help us across all of the delivery channels.

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Some of the key components are: • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) • Corporate
knowledge management / knowledge engine • Core line of business systems • Middleware •
Payment engine • Document Management System (DMS)

• Content management • Portal development • Smartcards

Our approach It is important that customer requirements drive IT developments rather

than IT developments determining how services are delivered to customers. • This requires
IT to be customer-focused and develop close relationships with departments dealing
directly with customers. City Service brings IT and Customer Services together and this
enables more effective demand-led IT development. See Appendix 0 for an outline of the
functions within City Service. • In addition, the restructure of IT to include a team of
business consultants (or account managers) reflects an increased focus on aligning
technology to customer requirements. We need to provide a consistent quality of service
regardless of what delivery channel a customer chooses to use. • This means that integration
of enabling technologies and applications is key. • Geographical Information System (GIS)

Delivering the strategy

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system A Customer Relationship

Management (CRM) System helps us to understand our customers and provide high quality,
joined up and consistent services across a range of delivery channels. Staff are helped by
scripting within the system to resolve a wide range of straightforward transactions at “first
point of contact”. We have implemented the Lagan Frontline CRM system in our Primary
Customer Service Centres. In the future we will further expand the number of services
offered through the CRM system in addition to developing the system for use in the Contact
Centre and through other delivery channels.

Corporate knowledge management / knowledge engine An organisation’s ability

to function efficiently and effectively depends on its ability to gather, manage and share

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information and its knowledge base. Technology is an important enabler and can provide
mechanisms to harness and utilise information and experience through creation of a
“knowledge engine”. A project has been established and work is underway to create a
corporate knowledge engine which joins up information from various sources. This will be
supported by a corporate knowledge management framework comprising policies and
procedures for accessing and maintaining data and information.

Core line of business systems Core systems are those that provide key business
functionality – e.g. Council Tax. In the past, many core systems have been developed
around “silo” functionality rather than based on customer-focused requirements. The
council’s established vision is to move to a modern and efficient information and
communications technology environment. We are buying new “best of breed” software
packages off the shelf and implementing them with minimal customization

Middleware Middleware is a general term for software that connects (or serves as the
glue between) two or more otherwise separate applications. Introducing middleware into
our technical architecture will enable us to manage integration much more efficiently on an
ongoing basis.

Payment engine A payment engine can be defined as the technology and processes which
enable customers to pay for services using different types of payment and across delivery
channels. It also enables more efficient back-office processing and reconciliation of
payments. We have established a project to modernise our ability to take and process
payments from customers..

Document Management System (DMS) A Document Management System is a

system which manages the documentation received and handled by an organisation.
Documents are scanned, indexed and stored electronically. The system incorporates a
workflow function so that transactions and the relevant documents are directed to the
appropriate member of staff and dealt with quickly and consistently. We are implementing
a new Document Management System in Revenues & Benefits and Planning initially.

20
However, we have procured a solution which can be grown to provide a solution across the
council. This will contribute greatly to providing integrated and joined up services

Geographical Information System (GIS) A Geographical Information System (GIS)

enables the storage, retrieval, mapping, and analysis of geographic data. It can help answer
fundamental policy and service delivery questions relating to land, property, people and
services. Future priorities will be driven out of the Corporate Knowledge Engine project.

Content management Content management covers the creation, management,

distribution and publishing of information, potentially across a range of delivery channels. .
The council currently uses Lotus Notes for content management on the internet and intranet
sites. The user interface is being improved and future content management system
requirements will be considered in due course.

Portal development A portal provides a single, centralised point of access for all content
and services relevant to the audience. A portal may be accessed across multiple delivery
channels (e.g. internet, kiosk and digital television). The council is involved in a number of
portal projects. • The council is participating in the development of the Tyne & Wear
Community Service Portal which provides content to the on-street kiosks and digital TV
service. • The council is also partnering to develop the “newcastle.com” Digital City portal.
This is focused on small and medium sized enterprises. • The E-Government Phase 2
project “Building a world class portal” is focused on improving the quality of and access to
electronic services. Portals will be developed for customers, staff and specialised sub-
groups within these larger groups. For example, a schools extranet will be created for
school staff and community portals will be created for specific wards or communities of
interest

Smartcards A smartcard can hold multiple value added applications, and can provide
convenient and secure access to electronic services over multiple delivery
channels.Newcastle City Council is the lead authority in the North East Regional Smartcard
Consortium (NERSC). NERSC has implemented a number of smartcard pilots in schools

21
and leisure. The current focus for NERSC is obtaining funding for the development of a
regional platform of trusted services, needed to operate any identity management scheme,
known as the Trusted Services Network (TSN

1.6.3.3 Excellent service delivery

Overview The two previous sections discussed the delivery channels and the enabling
technologies that wecan use to help us deliver joined up and accessible services. However,
there is little value in having these components in place if we do not have the underpinning
principles, people and processes in place and cannot follow through to provide excellent
service delivery. There are a number of factors which contribute to excellent service
delivery:

• Understanding customer demand, requirements and expectations o Customer

segmentation o Managing demand – life events, cyclical, latent o Managing expectations

• Culture

• Staff training, development and support

• Communications • Consultation

• Performance management, change management and continual improvement

• Community leadership and social contribution

Our approach Our starting point is understanding who our customers are and what
services they need and want. We need to know when and how they want to access these
services. • We can use this information to put together “bundles” or “clusters” of services
that we know are likely to be sought at the same time. This means we need to work together
across the council and with partner organisations. For example, a high proportion of Your
Homes Newcastle customers are entitled to claim Housing Benefit. • The culture should
22
reflect our desired behaviours and principles (please refer to section 5). Staff are our most
important and valuable asset. We must continually train, develop and support staff to ensure
they have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver quality services and meet the
expectations of our customers. We need to make sure that customers and staff are aware of
the full range of our services. Targeted and effective external and internal communications
is vital. An ongoing encompassing programme of consultation provides us with essential
information and feedback. We need clear targets and a performance management
framework to lead us into a cycle of ongoing change management and continual
improvement. We can provide community leadership in service delivery, working in
partnership to provide customers with joined-up and integrated services. Our locations and
activities can become focal centres for regeneration and creation of community networks
Delivering the strategy

Understanding customer demand, requirements and expectations This section

outlines what we need to do to understand and manage customer demand, requirements and
expectations. Customer segmentation means analysing our customers and identifying
groups • Customers benefit from accessing all the services they want at one convenient
point. Previously they would have had to “travel” – physically between locations, or by
having their queries redirected. • Understanding our customers helps us anticipate and
manage the demand for our services. A culture of excellent customer service is required
throughout the organisation. • Everyone needs to recognise that they have customers
(whether they are internal or external customers). planning. We also need to take account of
any “latent” demand which might be unlocked when we offer a new service. The proactive
management of customer expectations is important if we are to satisfy customers. We must
clearly convey what is to be delivered and when.

Culture We can provide staff with the tools, skills and experience to provide excellent
customer service but this is not enough. We need to create a culture of customer service
throughout the council. In particular, everyone needs to recognise that they have customers

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(whether they are internal or external customers). We have produced a number of tools
which are helping us to develop a culture of customer service excellence.

. Staff training, development and support Staff are the organisation's most important
and valuable asset. The Council, in striving for continuous improvement in customer
service, recognises and values the contribution that its staff makes in delivering quality
services. Ensuring staff are well motivated and equipped with the right skills and
knowledge is therefore an integral element of the Council’s Customer Service Strategy. In
1998/99 it was recognised that as part of the Council’s commitment to improving customer
service there was a need to invest in a comprehensive training programme, which would not
only provide a corporate approach to of individuals with similar requirements, preferences
or competencies. We need to understand the “bundles” or “clusters” of services that
customers will frequently want to access together. These can be driven by “life events” such
as having a baby or moving home. We need to work across the council and in partnership
with other organisations to meet the full range of requirements of our mutual customers
Understanding the cyclical nature of demand helps us to anticipate the level of customer
requirements over time and undertake the necessary capacity customer service but respond
to the different needs of staff delivering services Within the Council’s Corporate Training
and Development budget an allocation is provided to assist Directorates annually to
specifically deliver their Customer Service Training programmes. A corporate target for
Customer Service Training has now been established as part of the portfolio balanced
scorecard; our target being “20% of appropriate council staff to be trained in customer
service annually”. From 2004/05 each Directorate is required to develop an annual
Customer Service Training plan which documents the number of staff to be trained, the
courses required and it will identify the mandatory and optional training in customer service
for specific staff. This will allow for better forward planning and cost projections on
Customer Service Training in the future. It is important to maintain the momentum on
Customer Service Training. It can be further embedded in the Council by including
Customer Service Training in Service Plans and Personal Development Appraisals, and
specifying training/qualifications in job specifications for key front line posts.

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Communications We need to tell customers about how they can access our services. It is
important to be socially inclusive and so we need to identify “hard to reach” groups and
communicate appropriately. Staff also need to be kept up to date with our services and
facilities so they can provide the best possible customer service. By having a good
understanding of our customers, and working across the council and with partner
organisations, we can target our communications to be appropriately focused and efficient.
A customer services communication and consultation framework and action plan across the
organisation. A number of programmes were developed which have been continually
reviewed and built upon in the last 3 or 4 years to now provide a comprehensive “Customer
Service Pathway” programme for staff at all levels of the organisation A corporate
Customer Service Training Programme is now developed and delivered annually across all
Directorates and monitored by the Council’s Corporate Customer.

1.7 Literature review:

1. SINGAPORE AIRLINES-MOST PROFITABLE AIRLINES IN WORLD

WASHINGTON--Nearly half of American air travelers would fly more if it were easier, and
more than one-fourth said they skipped at least one air trip in the past 12 months because of
the hassles involved, according to an industry survey.
The Travel Industry Association, which commissioned the survey released Thursday,
estimated that the 41 million forgone trips cost the travel industry $18.1 billion -- including
$9.4 billion to airlines, $5.6 billion to hotels and $3.1 billion -- and it cost federal, state and
local authorities $4.2 billion in taxes in the past 12 months.
When 28% of air travelers avoided an average of 1.3 trips each, that resulted in 29 million
leisure trips and 12 million business trips not being taken, the researchers estimated.

ANALYSIS:

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People who flew more than five times in the past 12 months were more likely to describe air
travel as frustrating, at 52%, compared with 33 % of infrequent travelers, defined as people
who flew one or two round trips in 12 months, according to the survey.
More than half of respondents said either efficiency or reliability is getting worse, 60% said
the system is deteriorating, and 56% said flying is the "bad" or "worst" part of travel -- though
62% said air travel security is improving.

2. Poor customer service, not price, driving most customer churn, study says

By Barney Beal, News Director

11 Dec 2008 | SearchCRM.com

The notion that customer service is imperative in a recession got a major boost from a recent
study by Accenture.

The New York-based consulting and services firm surveyed more than 4,100 consumers over
the summer and found that service -- more than price -- is a clear differentiator.

According to the online survey, 67% of respondents reported switching companies because of
poor customer service, compared with 59% last year. U.S. respondents were even more
service sensitive, with 73% reporting that they switched companies owing to poor customer
service, compared with 47% switching over lower prices. All indications are that the
importance of customer service is only growing. Four years ago, when Accenture first began
conducting the annual study, only 48% of respondents said they were switching businesses
because of customer service.

ANALYSIS: Based on the results of the survey, Wollan offers three pieces of advice for
organizations seeking to improve customer service initiatives.

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First, organizations should look for insight into the data they already have around customer
behavior, which can be quite robust.

From there, they need to apply that to the customer lifecycle.

"It's not just a spot in time, it's looking for a trend to anticipate change and looking deeply at
the channel preference among that mix of customers," Wollan said.

Finally, organizations need to establish their customer service baseline and the diversity of
their customer base

3. CRM sustainability in a post-recession economy

By Denis Pombriant, Founder and managing principal, Beagle Research Group, LLC

17 Dec 2009 |

Sustainability is the next big issue for CRM. Coming out of a self-induced recession caused by
overleveraging and other forms of overconsumption, we can expect people and companies to
be more cautious about their spending. We really have no choice -- liquidity, or credit
availability, is low, and those who have cash are inclined to hoard it.

But even assuming easy credit, there are other drivers, such as the escalating cost of energy,
which will serve to keep the economic brakes on. In this revised landscape, economic drivers
will cause business to rethink some processes, with the result that demand for new software
should be just around the corner.

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None of this is bad news, and it smacks of economic opportunity. The trick, as always, is to
discover the drivers and the processes early enough to position ourselves and our companies to
take advantage.

ANALYSIS: The economic drivers that I see include tight and expensive energy supplies, a
cautious economy, satiated customers and a demographic shift. People of a certain age -- think
of them as post-tuition-paying baby-boomers -- are less interested in new things than in new
experiences
4. Northeast Delta Dental - A Customer Service Role Model

In his role at Delta Dental of Massachusetts, in March of 1990 Tom Raffio helped introduce a
comprehensive customer satisfaction guarantee program that guaranteed seven service areas
that had been identified as critical to its group dental insurance customers. Delta Dental of
Massachusetts was doing business in an extremely competitive environment, and its service
guarantees helped move them from a 10% market share to 50%. In 1995, Tom became
President of Northeast Delta Dental, which markets dental insurance in Maine, New
Hampshire, and Vermont, and introduced the concept of service guarantees. During that year,
in response to feedback from its customers, and formulated by a crossfunctional team of
employees representing every department, it launched its Guarantee Of Service Excellencesm
Program (GOSE). This comprehensive program covers three main production/delivery
processes--enrollment, claims processing, and customer service—with eight guarantees.

ANALYSIS:

NO COMPETITOR HAS THE GUTS TO COPY THEM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

They have never given up or got off track. Dell, Wal-Mart all built their business around
customer service but then lost their focus and market share.
Last year it cost them only $11,230.09 Would you be willing to spend the same
amount of money to CRUSH THE COMPETITION.

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They only guaranteed areas that were really important to customers.
Instead of promising dreams they GUARANTEE MONEY when this miss their
Guarantee

5.Big TV is facing customer care problems

Big TV DTH service achieved 5 lakh subscriber mark in just 5 months after its launch in
South India. But Reliance DTH provider is facing many service complaints from subscribers.
LIKE POOR TRANSMISSION, new channel transmission.

ANALYSIS: Many People are asking me for complaints for the benefit of new people who
want to take Big TV DTH. They simply fed up with customer care people of Big TV. If Big
TV fails to improve customer care se rvice, they are doomed for failure in this highly
competitive sector

6. Seven Golden Rules of Customer Service

• Never give excuses; focus on resolving the problem. Use this phrase: “What I can do is ....”.
• Always be pleasant with customers, even if they are not pleasant to you. Focus on resolving
the problem, not on adjusting the customer’s attitude.
• Customers are not interruptions of our work, they are the reason for it. Customer relations is
an integral part of your job, not an extension of it. Our business is developing relationships
through respect and trustworthiness, coupled with appropriate technical expertise. People
don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care
• Always Be Responsive to Customers. Return phone calls and e-mail in a timely manner –
within one business day. Never have a full voice mailbox.
• Honor your service and support commitments. Every customer has the right to expect a
commitment to an appointment time for scheduled services. Every customer has the right to

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expect our rapid response to a crisis disruption of service. If a commitment can’t be met,
inform the customer immediately.
• Take ownership of problems. If it’s not your problem to resolve, involve the appropriate
party, and ensure that ownership of the problem is transferred with the customer’s knowledge.
• Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.

“Hospitality and Customer Service in Hotel Enterprises

It is generally recognized, that tourism constitutes a considerable economic activity for an area
or a country. The need for effective customer services in modern hotell enterprises becomes
top priority by the businessmen.

The hotel managers, study and analyse continuously in every detail running tendencies of their
sector, in order to provide to their customers, high quality services and hospitable installations
with all modern comforts.

Main objective and mission of hotel enterprises is the most excellent customer services, the
greatest satisfaction of their expectations through the process of continuous improvement and
upgrade of the offered services.

Analysis: We summarize that hospitality enterprises by practicing service quality methods

both maximize socio-cultural benefits for their customers, and lead to economic and
sustainable growth.
In conclusion, the most advisable criteria for the quality evaluation of provided services in
hotel enterprises, about customer retention in hotel enterprises, 3) to demonstrate the benefits

30
that are obtained in a hotel enterprise from the growth of an effective system of customer
services. The strategic planning and the application of service quality provide customer
satisfaction and retention. Its efficient management enhances the hospitality industry,
enhances the effects of tourism development in socio-cultural issues and provides economic
growth

7. Customer service strategy more important in emerging markets

By Barney Beal, News Director

01 Dec 2009 | SearchCRM.com

Hoping to turn to emerging markets to turn around your business in the recession? Better
make sure you have a sound customer service strategy in place.

Customers in emerging markets can be more sensitive to customer service than their
counterparts in mature markets, according to the results of a recent survey by Accenture.

The survey, conducted over the summer, found that 87% of consumers in emerging markets
switched providers in at least one industry sector because of poor service in the past year.
That's 18% more than the global average. And, the survey suggests, they're not hesitant to tell
others about their experiences -- 69% tell their acquaintances about bad experiences and 25%
use social media to spread the word. In emerging markets, 40% of consumers said they use
blogs and other online media to tell others about their negative experiences.

ANALYSIS: The survey results also found that:

• 52% of emerging market consumers use the Internet to search for help vs. 44% of
mature market consumers.
• 49% of emerging market consumers surf corporate websites vs. 40% of mature market
consumers.
• 35% of emerging market consumers engage in online chats vs. 15% of mature market

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 consumers.
• 14% of emerging market consumers use text messaging to seek assistance vs. 3% of
mature market consumers.

8. Expert CRM predictions for 2010

28 Dec 2009 | SearchCRM.com

Wondering what 2010 has in store for CRM? SearchCRM.com gathered the prognostications
of experts William Band, Paul Greenberg, John Ragsdale and Donna Fluss. They predict big
things for 2010, including developments in social CRM, customer management and sales
performance management, and a greater role for customer service and the contact center.

William Band, vice president and principal analyst, Forrester Research

Companies return to investing in their most important asset – customers

My most recent research shows that both B2B and B2C enterprises spotlight improved
customer loyalty as their top goal. But B2B companies are also intent on capturing new
customers, while B2C companies obsess about improving the customer experience.

9. Customer service moves back into the spotlight

We see a rising number of inquiries from clients about how to improve their customer service
capabilities. How does customer service affect the bottom line? The higher the customer
experience index, regardless of the industry, the more customers buy and the more loyal they
are. Contact center customer support needs to evolve to better serve customers who no longer

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rely on one venue for receiving information but instead engage multiple source

. ANALYSIS:In addition to checking a company's website and its brochures, many customers
research information on products and services from social networking sources such as blogs
and online user ratings. With customers now requiring more real-time support, it's essential to
keep pace with their expectations and to respond to them in new ways.

10.Gartner offers five low-cost CRM strategies

By Barney Beal, News Director

The current economy is wreaking havoc with application budgets while forcing companies to
wrest more value from their current CRM software implementations.

Against that backdrop, Scott Nelson, managing vice president at Gartner, offered a series of
five low-cost CRM strategies.

"Part of this was to dispel the notion that all you can do with CRM is buy software," Nelson
said. "And just because you have no approval to purchase doesn't mean you have to grind to a
halt."

In fact, surveys of clients by analysts with the Stamford, Conn.-based research firm have
found that the lessons of the last economic downturn have stayed with many companies.

Approximately 40% of them say they will use the economic downturn to generate post-
recovery growth via effective CRM strategies.

Those figures vary widely across industries, of course.

ANALYSIS:Financial services, for example, are reining in costs, while government

organizations are investing heavily. Software vendors like software to track federal stimulus
money. Most organizations have little to spend on things like software, but there are some

33
exceptions, according to Nelson

11.Poor customer service, not price, driving most customer churn, study
says

By Barney Beal, News Director

11 Dec 2008 | SearchCRM.com

The notion that customer service is imperative in a recession got a major boost from a recent
study by Accenture.

The New York-based consulting and services firm surveyed more than 4,100 consumers over
the summer and found that service -- more than price -- is a clear differentiator.

According to the online survey, 67% of respondents reported switching companies because of
poor customer service, compared with 59% last year. U.S. respondents were even more
service sensitive, with 73% reporting that they switched companies owing to poor customer
service, compared with 47% switching over lower prices. All indications are that the
importance of customer service is only growing. Four years ago, when Accenture first began
conducting the annual study, only 48% of respondents said they were switching businesses
because of customer service.

"That's a material jump in just one year and from 48% to 67% over four years," said Robert
Wollan, global managing director of Accenture's CRM transformation service. "Those are
monstrous leaps and trends

ANALYSIS: Meanwhile, consumers are becoming more and more demanding.

"All three indicators are vying for the lead vote on why people are moving -- execution of
service, rising expectations, or is it an underlying cultural shift," Wollan said. "What we've
isolated is that pricing is not necessarily the differentiator. Experience was more important

34
than price as a factor in switching."

Solving Customer Care Issues with Effective Language Translation Tools

Submitted by liza on Friday Mar 27, 2009

Some of the issues surrounding online content translation are

1. Increasing amounts of information are now found online.

2. Limitations and costs related to having multilingual speakers in every call center.
3. Translator failing to understand the meaning of the original context

ANALYSIS: These problems are rarely addressed by language translation software.

These issues have brought out the need to develop online language translation tools that will
be able provide ideal customer care features to website visitors of many languages, which
include:

1. Empowering every organization to provide all of their customers with the same depth
of information for self-service, regardless of the language they speak.
2. Providing cost effective solutions that allow the organizations to translate everything in
near real-time.
3. Matching the local vernacular of any organization, and provide meaningful translations
in customer care.

When using tools with all these features, customer reach and market scope broadens for the
organization.
With a better understanding of customer needs and a precise focus on improving sales deals,
content translation will not seem as tedious as it looks now.
Recommendation

Seven Ways to Resolve Customer Service Issues

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Of course, even with a wonderfully positive and effective perspective, there will still be trying
instances throughout your day, especially when you’re dealing with a misunderstanding
between yourself and a customer. Instead of thinking of this as a trial, consider it to be an
opportunity to achieve just one more success during your workday, and use the 7 Ways to
Resolve Customer Service Issues between you and your customers as a guideline.

1. Take preventative action against misunderstandings by putting all of the critical

information concerning your interactions into writing. By doing this, everything will
be laid out for both of you to see, and there won’t be any false expectations or
misunderstanding of intentions.
2. Work with the customer to offer a solution. Instead of relying only on policies and
procedures, work with your customers to come up with the best way to resolve the
situation in a way that will be mutually beneficial.
3. Even if it’s not your fault, you can still apologize without accepting blame. An
apology will start your resolution off on the right foot, and show that you have the best
intentions.
4. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Try to understand the issue from the customer’s
point of view, and you’ll have a clearer comprehension of why he or she is behaving
that way, or expecting a particular outcome.
5. Be responsive if there truly is a problem. If the misunderstanding has lead to an actual
problem, act logically and quickly to offer and implement a solution.
6. Keep your promises about reliability and service. These are almost as – if not more –
important than any product that you sell. Keeping promises and offering superior
service are what puts you that step above everyone else, and what keeps your
customers coming back to you.

7. Think of complaints as lessons for improvement. When a customer complains, it isn’t

necessarily a positive situation in itself, but it is one with a great deal of potential for
later improvement.

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 Conclusion It is also important to pass feedback from customers to staff at all levels.
This will remind people that we are customer focused and need to constantly be thinking about
and anticipating customer requirements. We need to consult with all parties involved in the
provision of service. Particular attention needs to be given to consulting with “hard to reach”
groups to ensure that we are socially inclusive. It is vital that we complete the feedback loop
and demonstrate that it is a learning process and we have taken account of the outcome of
consultation exercises. We can either publicise “you said … now we’ve done” or can explain
why it’s not possible. This reassures people that it is worth participating in consultation
activities. An effective organisation has clear targets which enable it to recognise and build on
success and address opportunities for improvements. A performance management framework
leads into a cycle of change management and continual improvement. Our performance
management is built around the portfolio balanced scorecard. The Modernisation, E-
Government and Regulation Porfolio contains key customer service targets. We need to analyse
our performance and identify the changes we need to make. This will lead us to an ongoing
cycle of continual improvement. This is about “getting better all the time” through a series of

incremental changes. Consultation If we do not know what customers want, we cannot hope
to meet their expectations. However, consultation is of little value unless we use it to inform our
decision making, policies, procedures and service delivery.

Association, Essential Skills Tutors, MoneyWise (a credit union), Citizens Advice Bureau, Age
Concern, Shaw Trust Employment, Jobcentre Plus, Inland Revenue, Connexions Tyne and
Wear, Workfinder, Northumbria Police Community Beat Manager and Child Contact Centre.
The joining up of council and other services is likely to lead to increased uptake of services as
people become aware of services they did not know about and/or find it more convenient to
access services. For example, the library at the Outer West Primary Customer Service Centre
has seen a 115% increase in footfall compared to the old library. Primary and Satellite
Customer Service Centres can become focal centres for regeneration and creation of community
networks. This can contribute to the empowerment of local people and foster civic culture and
citizenship.

Annual review of Customer Service Strategy

37
We are also proposing that this Customer Service Strategy will be reviewed annually. A brief
report will be produced summarising:

• Our performance

• Significant achievements

• Areas to address

• Dynamic analysis

• Changes (e.g. in policies, customer preferences, technology)

• New opportunities

• Revised strategy recommendations

• Updated action plan

Critical Success Factors

To become a leading customer-centric organization and achieve the goals in this Customer
Service Strategy, there are five key success factors that are necessary:
1. Senior Management & Political Support ~ cultural change is required to have a
customercentric
organization and this requires complete support from the senior management team to
and the Mayor and Council.
2. Adequate Resources ~ in order for customer service initiatives to be successful, the
commitment of adequate human resources and funding must be provided.
3. Staff Buy-In and Communication ~ transitioning to a new customer service delivery
model
requires staff to have a good understanding of the program and should be active participants
in
the process. If change is to be embraced, then it must be communicated to staff and the
unions.
38
4. Clear Vision ~ the organization needs to know what the transformed organization would
look
and work like. This is a critical step and would serve as a guide for decisions that would be
made
in the future.
5. Enabling Technology ~ to evolve to a customer-centric organization would require
information and technology support to be effective and efficient.
This customer service strategy would help the City focus on one of its core competencies –
service delivery. Responding to client needs promptly and adapting quickly to changes in a
cost effective way is crucial for success, especially when faced with the fast-paced
municipal environment.
The development of a Customer Service Strategy is a good foundation upon which to build
excellence in customer service, which is supported by Council, senior management and
staff. The interviews revealed that 75% of staff thought that a Customer Service Strategy
was essential for the organization. A Customer Service Strategy would help focus customer
service excellence and make it part of the day to- day corporate culture. Interviewees and
Council rated the customer service provided by the organization to the public as good,
achieving a seven on a scale of 10. The implementation of the recommended customer
service goals, with the related objectives, strategies and actions, would create a customer-
centric corporation that looks at service delivery from the customer’s perspective. This
means that all processes are designed with the customer in mind. A culture of customer
service excellence ensures everyone in the organization, from the top down, believes they
work for the customer. Empowering employees to make customer service decisions and
look beyond the branch to the success of the entire organization is key to customer-centric
government. Customer service excellence requires an investment in people and leverages
technology to manage customer-oriented processes. Employees are given the right tools,
training and development to ensure the customer feels important and satisfied with the
service received by the City. Customer service expectations are clearly established and
communicated to all staff to ensure consistency in service delivery. Establishing a
centralized and integrated service delivery model enables the City to be more responsive,

39
accountable and provide ease of access to City services. The value for centralized service
delivery is improved access to government services, better information to proactively
manage customer-oriented decision making and greater efficiencies for the corporation.

REFERENCES:

1. Berry, L.L., Parasuraman A., V. A. Zeithaml (1985). Quality counts in services too,.
Business Horizons.
2. Cronin J. J. and S. A. Taylor (1992). Measuring service quality: A re-examination and
extension, Journal of Marketing, 56, 55-68.
3. Getty J.M. and Thomson K.N. (1994). The relationship between quality, satisfaction and
recommending behaviour in lodging decisions. Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing,
2(3): 3-22.
4. Grönroos, C. (1982). Strategic Management and Marketing in the Service Section, Research
No 8 of the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsingfors.
5. Grönroos, C. (1988). Service Quality: The six criteria of good perceived service quality.
Review of Business, 9(3): 10-13
6. www.findarticles.\Big TV DTH Big TV is facing customer care problems.htm
7. www.newsletter@servicequality.com
8. www.customer-service.com/ Expert review2010.htm

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