CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY

(1)

CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Introduction

Everything that we do at Newcastle City Council is about providing services to customers. Few organisations provide such a diverse range of services from such a variety of locations, so it is a real challenge to ensure that we provide excellent customer service.

Our Customer Service Strategy was developed in 2000 and provided a firm foundation for the development of Customer Service Centres and other initiatives. However, it is now an appropriate time to review and refresh the Strategy. This document (together with supporting appendices) outlines our strategic approach, progress to date and how we plan to continue the delivery of the Strategy.

1.2 Aims

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.

1.3 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. Please refer to section 7A. This means:

• 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

(3)

• 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. Please refer to section 7C. 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. Please

refer to section 7D. This means:

• 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. Please refer to section 7E. This means:

• Taking a strong community leadership role to join up and promote access to

services.

• 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.

1.4 Principles

Our Customer Service Strategy is underpinned by the following principles and values:

• Being open, honest and communicative

(4)

• Focusing on delivery

• Providing good stewardship

• Valuing diversity

• Being progressive

1.5 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 developed a programme of consultation including:

• Customer Service: A Green Paper (2001)

• Customer Service Centre research and surveys

• Community Focus Groups

• Research into customer expectations of a Contact Centre

Some of the key findings in terms of strategic development have been:

• The majority of non-users of Customer Service Centres (70%) indicated they

would use a Customer Service Centre near to where they live.

• Customers would like to access a range of public services in these centres

• Just under 80% of residents anticipate using a new Contact Centre.

1.6 Overview of our strategy

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.”

(5)

1.7 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.

• 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.

(6)

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.

• 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

(7)

2 Introduction

2.1 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.

2.2 Purpose of this document

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.

(8)

An effective Customer Service Strategy must therefore be underpinned by a 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.

2.2.1 Terminology

This document seeks to provide full definitions throughout. A glossary is also provided in section 9.

One important point of terminology to note is that the term “customer” is used throughout the strategy rather than “citizen” or “client”. We have deliberately not used these words interchangeably because they have different meanings. · “Citizen” implies a resident of the city and someone exercising their statutory civil rights.

· “Client” refers to professional services and a person dependent on the protection of another.

· “Customer” can be defined as a person, company or other entity which obtains goods or services from another person, company or entity.

Our Customer Service Strategy applies to people who live, work, visit or study in Newcastle. It applies to businesses and other agencies. It also covers our

internal customers (e.g. members of staff) in addition to our external customers. This is why we have chosen to use the widest possible definition by using the term “customer”.

Newcastle City Council will seek to apply the same high standards of customer service whether someone has no choice but to use our service (e.g. payment of council tax by citizens) or whether we are encouraging people to use optional services provided by ourselves or a co-provider of services.

(9)

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.

(10)

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. Please refer to section 7A. This means:

• 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. Please refer to section 7B. This means:

• 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. Please refer to section 7C. 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. Please

refer to section 7D. This means:

• Driving out and capturing the anticipated financial benefits.

We will ensure alignment of our customer service strategy with national, local

(11)

• Taking a strong community leadership role to join up and promote access to services.

• Recognising and reinforcing relevant strategies, projects and initiatives.

(12)

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.

• 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

(13)

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. Please refer to Appendix 1 for more information.

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.

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

(14)

• Staff focus groups

• Community focus groups

The Communication and Consultation Framework is attached at Appendix 31.

6.2.1 Customer Service Centre research

We have an ongoing programme of surveys. The Customer Service Centres have provided a very effective way of getting close to our customers and finding out more about what they want and what they think of our services.

Some of the key findings from recent surveys are detailed below:

• Many non-users of the Customer Service Centre indicated a willingness and

likeliness to use a local Customer Service Centre, with a broad swell of opinion that neighbourhood provision was preferable to its city centre equivalent. Almost 70% of respondents indicated that they would use a Customer Service Centre if there was one near to where they live.

• Word of mouth continues to be the most frequent method of finding out about

Customer Service Centres (especially in relation to the East End where almost 70% of users had found out about the facility in this way).

• The percentage of customers who were very or quite satisfied with the overall

service they received at the 3 Customer Service Centres were 94% at the Civic Centre, 95% at the Outer West and 100% at the East End.

6.2.2 Community Focus Groups

Community focus groups were established in the early stages of development for the Outer West and East End Customer Service Centres to ensure that the development of the new centres was customer-led and reflected community priorities. They have also provided a valuable channel of communication back to the wider community. The intention is to follow this same model for future

Customer Service Centres.

6.2.3 Research into Contact Centre expectations

Research into public expectations of a new Contact Centre was undertaken in May 2004. Some of the key findings from this recent research are:

• Two-thirds of residents (65%) usually contact the council by phone, while 33%

contact us in person and 2% by letter.

(15)

reasons for not using a new Contact Centre were ‘no need to contact council’ (31%), preferring face to face (21%) and using a Customer Service Centre (17%).

The research also investigated customer preferences in terms of the times they would use a Contact Centre, call routing options, acceptable waiting times, listening preferences and so on.

(16)

7 Overview of our 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

• Use of enabling IT

• Excellent service delivery

• Value for money

• Ensuring alignment

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

(17)

7A Delivery channels

7A.1 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

(18)

7A.2 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 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

(19)

automated channels and for more complex transactions.

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 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.

7A.3 Delivering the strategy

7A.3.1 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)

(20)

• Outer West (opened November 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

7A.3.2 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.

7A.3.3 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

(21)

to handling customer contacts. A roadmap is shown on the next page.

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

7A.3.4 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. More information on the vision, progress to date and way forward can be found in Appendix 5.

(22)

7A.3.5 Self Service delivery channels

The council has developed a number of “self service” delivery channels. These can be defined as ways for customers to access information and services by themselves without dealing directly with a member of staff. These complement, rather than replace, traditional methods. More information on the vision, progress to date and way forward can be found in Appendix 6.

Our range of self service delivery channels currently comprises:

• Computers (Internet and intranet)

• Digital TV

• Kiosks

• Video Conferencing

A project (E-government Phase 2) is underway to improve the quality and accessibility of our internet and intranet services. The council is also working to provide access to the internet through the provision of computers in Customer Service Centres and initiatives such as the People’s Network (computers in libraries).

(23)

We have been working with the other Tyne and Wear councils to develop a digital TV service which is now available over Telewest, NTL and Sky. We have also worked together to establish a network of forty on-street information kiosks across Tyne and Wear.

7A.3.6 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.

7B Use of enabling IT

7B.1 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. Some of the key components are:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Corporate knowledge management / knowledge engine

• Core line of business systems

• Middleware

• Payment engine

(24)

• Geographical Information System (GIS) • Content management • Portal development • Smartcards

7B.2 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.

7B.3 Delivering the strategy

7B.3.1 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.

More information on the vision, progress to date and way forward can be found in Appendix 8.

(25)

7B.3.2 Corporate knowledge management / knowledge engine

An organisation’s ability to function efficiently and effectively depends on its ability to gather, manage and share 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.

7B.3.3 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

customisation.

7B.3.4 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. We are establishing a project to procure and implement the appropriate solution.

(26)

7B.3.5 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.

7B.3.6 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. 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.

7B.3.7 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. More information on the vision, progress to date and way forward can be found in Appendix 14.

(27)

7B.3.8 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.

7B.3.9 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. (Please refer to section 67A.3.5).

• 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. More information on the vision, progress to date and way forward can be found in Appendix 16.

7B.3.10 Smartcards

A smartcard can hold multiple value added applications, and can provide convenient and secure access to electronic services over multiple delivery channels.

(28)

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 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).

7C Excellent service delivery

7C.1 Overview

The two previous sections discussed the delivery channels and the enabling technologies that we can 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

7C.2 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

(29)

• 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).

• The culture should 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.

7C.3 Delivering the strategy

7C.3.1 Understanding customer demand, requirements and

expectations

This section outlines what we need to do to understand and manage customer demand, requirements and expectations. More information can be found in Appendix 18.

(30)

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

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.

7C.3.2 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 (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. These include the Customer Service Charter, Staff Charter and Customer Service Handbook for Staff.

More information can be found in Appendix 19.

7C.3.3 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 customer service but respond to the different needs of staff delivering services

(31)

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 (see Appendix 29).

A corporate Customer Service Training Programme is now developed and delivered annually across all Directorates and monitored by the Council’s

Corporate Customer Service and Training and Development Teams on a regular basis.

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.

7C.3.4 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 has been produced and a variety of activities have been carried out or are in hand.

(32)

More information can be found in Appendices 21 and 31.

7C.3.5 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.

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.

We will continue to use and develop the consultation framework outlined in section 6. More information can be found in Appendix 22 and 31.

7C.3.6 Performance management, change management and

continual improvemen

t

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.

(33)

7C.3.7 Community leadership and social contribution

We need to take on a strong community leadership role if we are to achieve the best possible outcomes for the city. We are already playing a key role in bringing together and co-ordinating joined-up and integrated service delivery. For

example, in addition to council services, the Outer West Primary Customer

Service Centre provides a wide range of facilities and drop-in services including a library (with ICT room and reading group), swimming pool, sauna, pool

community rooms, street wardens, New Pathways, North East Pensioners’ 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. More information can be found in Appendix 24.

7D Value for money

7D.1 Overview

The council is committed to providing efficient services which give value for money. This means:

• Driving out and capturing the anticipated financial benefits. Efficiency can be defined in a number of ways:

• Maintaining current levels of service provision but with fewer resources.

• Obtaining the resources needed to provide services more cheaply.

• Achieving improved service provision with the same amount of resources.

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

(34)

and efficiencies will follow as the entire council becomes more customer-focused and directorates reconfigure themselves accordingly.

The following sections outline some general principles for management of:

• Investment

• Assets

• Revenue

Finally, this section briefly outlines the framework and mechanisms which need to be in place to provide an appropriate focus on customer service and drive out efficiencies to ensure value for money is delivered.

7D.2 Investment

• We need to identify and access appropriate potential sources of investment (i.e.

grants, funding).

• Wherever appropriate we should work within the council or with partner

organisations to pool investments, share risks and reduce costs.

• There must be clarity on what the investment will deliver for the council and customers.

• We must prioritise investment to meet the needs of specific areas.

• The investment should be “future proofed” as far as possible. Analysis of future demand must be undertaken, and necessary capacity to deliver on the

investment must be in place or planned.

• We must identify ongoing revenue implications and confirm how this will be

funded on an ongoing basis.

• Our investment decisions need to be challenged on the basis of:

• Environmental sustainability.

• Social contribution.

• Legal issues.

• Associated risks (including reputation).

• Anticipated delivery of benefits (and degree of confidence that benefits will be delivered – i.e. sensitivity analysis)

• Wider implications on the council

• In summary, we need to take a comprehensive and consistent business case

based approach to investment.

7D.3 Assets

(35)

knowledge are valuable and need to be proactively managed. Sections 7C.3.4 and 7B.3.2 dealt with communications and corporate knowledge management respectively. However, this section will focus on efficient and effective

management of tangible assets. Our tangible assets are our buildings, equipment, systems and people.

There are some general principles we should apply to obtain maximum value from our assets:

• We should identify opportunities to use the assets for other purposes to realise synergies and share costs. For example sharing a location means sharing the costs of building maintenance and upkeep, ensuring compliance with the

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and health and safety legislation, security and facilities management and IT and telecommunications networks and equipment. A joined-up approach can also assist with issues such as fraud prevention, data protection and social inclusion.

• Sharing common assets can also lead to “cross fertilisation” between services.

The main barriers for customers accessing our services are lack of information and inconvenience. Co-located services in convenient locations can therefore be expected to result in a significant up-take of services.

• We should consider if it is appropriate to use, or act as, an intermediary. The move to joined 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 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.

• We should consider how our assets can help us deliver corporate priorities

such as strong community leadership and regeneration.

• We need to recognise that many assets require ongoing funding, development

and support. Otherwise they can turn from an asset into a liability.

7D.4 Revenue

All investment should have associated revenue implications clearly documented and understood to enable effective revenue management by all parties.

(36)

A recharge model is required to ensure that the ongoing revenue costs are fairly and transparently allocated to the appropriate services. All parties must have a clear understanding of what is being delivered. When all factors are taken into consideration, the economies of scale and synergies from working together to provide a joined up integrated service will clearly outweigh the alternatives of continuing “silo” provision.

However, it should be noted that there may be a time-lag between additional costs being incurred and the accrual of benefits. For example, a directorate may not be able to fully reconfigure the way they provide services until the network of Primary Customer Service Centres is in place.

7D.5 Framework for delivering value for money

A framework and mechanisms must be in place to drive out efficiencies and ensure that value for money is delivered.

Some of the key components are:

• Strong customer-focused leadership and governance – to identify synergies,

priorities, opportunities and drive out efficiencies.

• Effective programme and project management – to ensure that progress is

made and interdependencies are managed.

• Cost and benefits management – to control costs and ensure that benefits are

delivered.

• Risk and issues management – to anticipate and manage risks and quickly

resolve issues.

• Quality management – to ensure that quality is not compromised.

7E Ensuring alignment

We must ensure our Customer Service Strategy supports national, local and council initiatives. There are a number of ways in which we can ensure alignment:

• Recognising strategies, project and initiatives which have some relevance to

our customer service strategy.

• Identifying whether there are some potential synergies or opportunities and

taking appropriate action to maximise mutual benefits.

• Providing input from a customer service perspective if this is lacking.

(37)

This will be a continual ongoing analysis. Please refer to the table on the next page for an example list. This is not an exhaustive list.

Strategy / project / initiative Alignment / synergies / opportunities Nonalignment / inconsistencies / conflicts

Newcastle Plan Partnership working and

consultation consistent with customer service approach.

• Transport & access

Citywide network of Primary and Satellite Customer Service Centres reduces need to travel and congestion.

Locations selected with

consideration to parking and traffic flows.

Contact Centre removes need to travel to access services.

• Children & young people

Partnership working with libraries, Connexions etc.

• Community

safety & crime

Customer Service Centres designed to provide safe

environments for customers and staff.

• Creativity & culture

Inclusion of arts within Customer Service Centres.

Joint working with libraries.

• Environment Customer Service Centres

designed to support environmental sustainability, and neighbourhood locations reduce pollution from travel.

• Health & social care

Partnership working with health authorities to provide joined up services.

• Homes Partnership working with Your

Homes Newcastle to provide joined up services.

• Learning Partnership working with learning

providers.

• Prosperity Partnership working with Job

Centre Plus.

(38)

through Customer Service Centres to become a focal point for regeneration.

Social inclusion Wide ranging consultation

strategy.

Delivery channels and enabling technology designed to maximise opportunities for access for all customers.

Freedom of Information

Corporate knowledge engine will facilitate enquiries.

Consistent approach to dealing with enquiries required.

Data Protection Act Consistent approach to dealing

with enquiries required. Disability

Discrimination Act

Customer Service Centres and other services designed to comply with DDA and best practice standards.

Workstyles project New delivery channels and

technology (e.g. Contact Centre, DMS) enable a wider range of workstyles.

Need to balance customer service requirements with new workstyles.

E-government Priority Services & Transformation Outcomes

Customer Service Strategy relevant to many items – e.g. contact centre, portal, customer satisfaction targets, payments, multiple delivery channels etc. Government

Gateway

Same focus on joined up integrated services. Neighbourhood

initiatives

Satellite Customer Service Centres provide services where customers need them, and make best use of council assets and investments.

Joined up approach to debt

management

Partnership working in place (e.g. with Citizens Advice Bureau at Outer West Primary CSC). Reinforces requirement for joined up services, especially with Your Homes Newcastle.

Joined up approach to maximising

Partnership working in place (e.g. with Inland Revenue, Age

(39)

entitlements Concern).

Reinforces requirement for joined up services, especially with Your Homes Newcastle.

Community Consultation

Building on current framework and providing examples of best practice.

(40)

8 Action plan

Significant progress has been made since the Customer Service Strategy was first produced in 2000, and a considerable amount of work is in hand.

The action plan on the next page extracts the key actions and provides details of who is responsible for progress and the timescales.

8.1 Annual review of Customer Service Strategy

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

Ref. Item Action Outcomes / timescales Responsibility 1. Delivery channels Take a co-ordinated joined up approach to developing delivery channels built around customer needs. Synergies, savings, integrated joined up services, best use of new and existing investments and assets. All 1A. Primary Customer Service Centres

Develop four Primary Customer Service Centres to create a citywide network of six – as per vision.

Kenton – summer 2005 Phasing to be confirmed: Benwell, Gosforth, Shields Road – 2006/07 Customer Services + partners

CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY