Agenda Item 4BOROUGH OF POOLE

COUNCIL EFFICIENCY & EFFECTIVENESSOVERVIEW & SCRUTINY REPORT

4 April 2012

REVIEW OF INVESTMENT IN CUSTOMER SERVICEPART OF THE PUBLISHED FORWARD PLAN – YES

1 Purpose

1.1 The purpose of this report is to:

a) Briefly review the history and current position of our investment in an improved customer service infrastructure and service delivery approach, which began 7 years ago with the initiation of the original Customers First XL Project.

b) Explain what is already planned for 2012/13 for further development &/or greater usage of existing capabilities.

c) Seek initial member views on some potential development options for the future.

2 Decisions Required

2.1 It is recommended that Overview and Scrutiny note the content of the report, review and comment on:

Current usage of the corporate infrastructure for customer service delivery Existing plans for further activity / development in 2012/13 Emerging ideas on possible developments for future years, should additional funding and

resource become available in due course

3 Background

3.1 Since 2004, the development of the Borough’s approach to customer service has been largely driven through the Customers First Project (aka ‘Stage 1’) & the subsequent Customers First Programme (aka ‘Stage 2’). Some continued linked project activity has also been carried out since. An overview of key deliverables over the 7 year period is provided in Appendix 1.

3.2 The original XL project (2004 – 2007) was focused on setting up an infrastructure for improved contact management, resulting in procurement of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, sophisticated process design and setting up the Customer Services Centre to manage inbound calls and emails for largely high-volume services.

3.3 By late-2007, over 200 services from 7 Service Units were being supported this way. This led to significant improvements in phone answering in particular and in customer satisfaction with contacting the council, with improvements sustained every year since (see chart in Section 5).

3.4 Informed by an E&E Committee review in first half of 2009, Cabinet then approved a more wide-ranging approach for the subsequent Customers First Programme (2008 - 2011), with greater focus on support for the more vulnerable members of our community & capturing tangible efficiency savings. A dedicated programme team then drove work on 11 projects from

1

mid-2009, delivering a wide range of process and service improvements. Expertise has been built up in effective use of technology & new process review techniques (eg. systems thinking).

3.5 Confirmed financial benefits of £148,000 p.a. were captured, largely from headcount reductions enabled by improved processes and reduction of avoidable contact / ’waste’. Further savings are anticipated from continued work on self service and service review activity. However, these are largely enabling wider cost savings through the MTFP process and ERPs (eg. Street Scene), rather than generating additional cashable savings themselves.

3.6 Unfortunately, the programme had to be closed down in March 2011 due to lack of ongoing funding, although some monies remained from the original allocation. This residual funding allowed a small portfolio of projects to be continued. Under the banner of ‘Customer Service Improvement Projects’, this included completion of several existing projects (eg. Website Transformation), plus some new activity (eg. ‘Tell us Once’). It also helped us to learn more about ‘systems thinking‘ through the Service Review Project and linked Streetscene ERP.

3.7 Although our capacity for driving major changes has been greatly decreased since loss of the Customer First resources, the Customer Services & Communications team has also maintained focus on continuous improvement, using customer data and feedback to inform improvements in processes, communications and systems (see below). This has helped to steadily remove causes for avoidable contact, decreasing overall customer telephone demand year by year.

3.8 Notable progress has also been made over the last year in enhancing our online capabilities. With ever-growing online usage by Poole’s residents (78% were active users of the internet in 2010, including 64% of the over 60s), we have seen huge year on year growth in use of the site and our electronic forms, enhancing availability whilst also reducing telephone traffic.

3.9 Our discretionary resources for 2012/13 are largely focused on key corporate priorities such as Streetscene and some long-planned infrastructure enhancements such as Map-Based Reporting, a likely upgrade to our core Customer Relationship Management System and Loop (Intranet) Replacement. Further details are provided in Section 6.

2

3.10 Additional service improvement activity is carried out direct by most Service Units, for whom support or access to analysis tools is provided on request.

4 Customer Service Infrastructure

4.1The key elements within our corporate infrastructure to support customer service delivery are:

a) Call Management Technology – various systems enabling inbound calls to be routed correctly. Within the Customer Services Centre, this includes a sophisticated system to match available staff with the right skills and experience to a given topic. It also allows calls to be switched between locations at pre-determined times (eg. enabling seamless access to open libraries throughout the week and on Saturdays) and selective use of advisory voice messages or hand-offs to other systems (such as automated payments for Council Tax). We also currently have a separate Switchboard system, which is now due for replacement.

b) Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) – a customer database and workflow management system, used by Customer Services and supported units for management of contacts and service requests. It is also used by most units across the Council for complaints management & by Control Room for reporting ‘out of hours’ contacts.

c) Customer Services Centre – a sophisticated telephone and email / e-form contact management operation, currently supporting 250+ largely high-volume / low-complexity services for 8 Units. They aim to quickly and effectively respond to queries and requests, resolving as many as possible there and then and tasking specialist officers / teams for action. They also manage the corporate switchboard and Civic Centre Reception.

d) Borough of Poole Website – the most actively used channel of all, with 1 in 3 residents now accessing it at least once a month for information on or to report, apply, book or pay for services. This also acts as hub for nearly 50 other online sites, systems or databases (eg. Family Information Directory, Planning Portal, Agenda Reports & Minutes system, etc).

e) Electronic Forms – actively used within the website and fast growing in use – eg. 55% of all Garden Waste applications received to date. These are now ‘intelligent’, adapting to customer inputs and transmitting all the details needed straight into our workflow queues ready for action by specialist officers (subject only to some residual manual customer matching currently). For Garden Waste, we have also recently directly linked the forms to payment systems as well, providing a fully-automated solution.

f) Social Media – a rapidly evolving set of online channels ever-growing in popularity with Poole customers. We currently provide an official presence on Twitter (2,100 formal followers currently, with audiences of up to 50,000 a day), Facebook, Flickr (photo database) and You Tube (video database).

4.2 The above channels and tools are managed, maintained and developed on behalf of the organisation by Customer Services & Communications, supported by ICT. To support effective service delivery, the unit also provides key publications (eg. Poole News & the A-Z Guide of Council Services) plus process design, PR / advertising activity and service / system training.

5 Benefits Delivered

5.1 The key benefits realised to date from our approach to customer service include:

Easier To Deal With - calls are now answered more quickly & more effectively at the first touch. Our website is one of the most actively used in the country, helping to provide easy 24/7 access to self service information and transactions.

3

Choice & Convenience - enhanced availability of many services - e.g. phone access to libraries increased by 42% (now minimum of 50 hours per week). Due to lack of customer demand, Customer Services opening hours returned to ‘normal’ in 2009, with no noticeable impact on performance or satisfaction levels.

Seamless & Consistent Service – we have high-quality staff trained to the same standards & style for all supported services. Many processes are now better integrated (e.g. tree & flooding enquiries, previously spread over 5 different units).

Right First Time – we have driven continually reduced error rates and avoidable contact through a combination of communication & process enhancements, training & regular partnership meetings with Service Units.

Efficiency – the tracking of contact history enables faster handling of follow-up enquiries, with reduced duplication of records. Use of the website within the CRM system helps to enhance usability, design & content for all users. Ever-growing channel shift to the web also helps reduce transaction costs by up to 96% (2011 LGIU benchmarks show call handling averaging £5 and equivalent online transactions just 17p).

Financial Benefits – a wide range of efficiencies have been enabled in many different units, but it is hard to attribute specific cashable savings in all cases. However, as part of its overall targeted benefits, the Customers First Programme (Stage 2) delivered confirmed annual savings of £153k by the end of 2010/11, with subsequent additional savings (eg. a further £15k+ for Web Transformation). Continued reduction in ‘waste’ demand and growing channel shift from phone to web has also reduced avoidable costs.

Overall Customer Satisfaction – customer ratings of contacting and dealing with the Council have improved every year since 2004, across all elements measured. We believe this has contributed greatly to overall customer satisfaction with Council, backed by robust national research findings. This is next due to be assessed in Spring 2012.

Data from Poole Opinion Panel surveys

4

59%

56%

36%

39%

32%

45%

73%

71%

55%

62%

59%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

My queries are dealt withefficiently (agree)

I find it easy to get enquiriessorted to my satisfaction (agree)

My enquiries are resolved at thefirst point of contact (agree)

I get the same level of customerservice no matter which

department I talk to (agree)

I get passed around the Counciland have to repeat my details

several times (disagree)

I have to contact the Councilseveral times to get my enquiry

resolved (disagree)

20042010

59%

5.2 Use of the corporate customer service infrastructure does however demand some compromise by Service Units - eg. forgoing specialist solutions or requiring staff to learn to use additional systems. Some bespoke system integrations have been developed (eg. between Waste Operation’s Flare system and Lagan CRM), but these can be very costly and time consuming developments. ICT are considering some more flexible technology to enable simple exchange of data between systems to help overcome this.

6 Development / Activity Planned For 2012/13

6.1Within our overall business plan for this year are the following key deliverables:

a) Streetscene – our primary customer services focus for this year and next. It will involve major redesign and improved linkages across over 50 services to improve efficiency. The new, integrated service will make active use of our entire infrastructure, and particularly our Customer Services Centre, CRM system, e-forms and website.

b) Map-Based Reporting – providing the ability for customers and officers to report, manage and track location-based problems / service requests. At a cost of £23k, this will significantly enhance the handling of issues not linked to a property (eg. in open spaces) and is a key enabler for Streetscene. It would also support possible future developments such as hand-held workflow devices for officers and maybe smartphone applications for customers.

c) Loop (Intranet) Replacement – our intranet performs a number of roles, being a gateway to web-based applications (eg. Employee First) and various business tools (eg. our phone directory), an information portal and a means to share documents corporately. It is long-overdue replacement, having last been upgraded in 2003, and we have now secured the £60k funds needed. The new system will also reuse the content management platform procured for our website last year, ensuring greater consistency and ease of use.

d) Further e-Form Enhancements – some residual technical work is needed to complete the upgrade of all forms on the website, to automate the matching of customers within our CRM system and to extend the linkages to payment systems already set up for Garden Waste. This will also help to finalise capture of targeted efficiency benefits that had already been assumed in the revised headcount for our unit from April 2011.

e) Selected Web / Digital Enhancements – having implemented a very sophisticated and flexible platform last year, our current concentration is on improving ease of navigation and the quality and consistency of content. Where resources allow, we will also take opportunities to consolidate existing separate websites / applications, using the powerful in-built capabilities of the new system to gradually remove the need for separate, bespoke systems (eg. the consultation portal). In addition, we intend to improve our support for social media, but this is dependent on securing new resource (see next section).

f) Lagan CRM Upgrade – we are currently assessing the costs and benefits of upgrading to latest version of the system (from V7 to V8) during this year. We are contractually obliged to stay within 2 releases of the latest version, so will have to upgrade in due course and have allowed for this in our MTFP. An enhanced ability in the latest version to record task start and finish timings would improve the quality and accuracy of management information, which could prove particularly helpful for high-volume activities like Streetscene.

g) Switchboard Upgrade – our current switchboard system is nearing the end of its useful life and we are currently reviewing potential options with ICT; one of which could involve replacement with automated voice technology (see next section). However, we do not currently have any funding for this purpose and so would need to seek new money.

5

h) Control Room / Out of Hours Services – a review is just starting with Housing & Community and Adult Social Services to identify and potentially pursue options for better integration of accommodation, systems and management of these services. The Control Room (Borough Operations Centre) has also recently started using Lagan CRM to manage service requests received out of normal Council opening hours.

6.2 Simple examples of what these developments could mean for us and our customers are:

If a customer called to report a blocked drain, our advisers would no longer need to work out which of 5 different units / teams would need to handle the request and would be able to follow a much simpler process. This should also help to improve response times by always guaranteeing to get the request direct to the team that will do the work.

When reporting a broken bench in a park, a customer or officer could then easily pinpoint the location on an online map. This would greatly assist contractors / officers in locating the problem. Also (although this would require further development), it would potentially allow us to show other customers visiting the website that the issue is already known and being acted on, so reducing repeat reports and freeing up officer time.

Should a customer complete an online form to report a broken traffic light at 11pm on Friday (we receive requests 24/7), it would immediately appear in the work queue for the relevant team in Transportation, rather than being processed on Monday morning. This could enable the problem to be fixed much sooner and also reduce repeat reports.

7 Possible Future Development Options

7.1 The opportunities listed here are currently feasible for development and delivery in 2013 or beyond, but will require some additional staffing (on at least a temporary contract basis) and most will also require additional investment funding too. For example, and in no particular order:

a) Expand Customer Services Centre – bring more services into the contact Centre, immediately capturing economy of scale cost savings and improving service levels and resilience too. Among the many potential opportunities here are:

o Car Parking (originally in scope for Stage 1) o Expanded Council Tax handling (eg. to include change of circumstances) o Registrars enquirieso Various Helpdeskso Event Booking (eg. Upton House)o Out of Hours Serviceo Support for other Councils / Public Agencies

b) Adopt Voice Response Technology - we are extremely keen to add this technology to our corporate infrastructure, as used by many other Councils and public bodies already (inc. Bournemouth Hospital and Dorset Police soon too). The market leading supplier is based here in Poole & their core infrastructure could be implemented rapidly, enabling many improvements at less than the human-equivalent cost, eg:

o Replacement of our switchboard (adopting for this purpose alone could pay back a £35k investment in full within 2-3 years)

o Adoption of a single contact number for the Council (UK-wide best practice), instead of the 200+ we currently maintain and publicise

o 24/7 phone reporting, adding to our existing ‘all-hours’ digital capability

6

o Supplementing our adviser resources by providing overflow capacity for peak demands (eg. Council Tax billing, Xmas bin arrangements, etc)

o Many other uses, such as real-time satisfaction monitoring for inbound callers, public consultations, leaflet ordering, etc.

c) Smartphone Reporting Application – with half of the UK population now using

smartphones, many Councils are developing apps or are using ‘off the shelf’ solutions (eg. Fix My Street, Your Council, Street Report, etc). Further analysis would be needed to establish costs, timescales and likely take-up / channel shift benefits, and our preference would be to use a tailored portal for our customers to enable ‘straight through processing’.

d) Social Media – over the last year, we have actively used Twitter & Facebook in particular to signpost key news and information and are also starting to generate customer information enquiries / service requests through these channels. The recent ‘Social Poole Day’ helped us to gauge customer & SU interest in an expanded and more active presence. However, We have been very reliant to date on a temporary contact role which is due to expire in June and our options will be very limited if we cannot extend it.

e) Extend Lagan CRM Usage – our customer database / workflow system is incredibly powerful, but also under-utilised. More active commitment across the organisation to adopt it as a default system unless a strong business case exists to the contrary could enable us to improve consistency and efficiency and enable a variety of legacy systems to be switched off, with consequent cashable savings. This is now a key assumption in both the Customer Service Strategy and for Streetscene.

f) Drive for Website Consolidation - this already forms part of the agreed Communications & Marketing ERP and was highlighted as a key action following Website Transformation. A concerted drive to bring the majority of web content ‘in house’ would enable us to reduce the current plethora of separate, inconsistent websites. This would improve how well informed customers feel (a key driver of our reputation) and help generate some modest cost savings.

g) Outsource / Partner Customer Services – in vogue with some Councils currently, but demands high commonality of policies, services and processes and the cost-benefits of outsourcing in particular are very suspect. We are exploring opportunities to share selected services with other local councils / agencies, but no firm options have yet been identified.

8 Equalities, Legal & Risk Implications

8.1 All of our existing and planned developments have actively considered the needs of all equalities groups in Poole and have been designed with those in mind.

8.2 For example, our website supports speech reader software, enables instant text and contrast changes and can be automatically translated into various languages. Our Customer Services Centre uses the Big Word language translations and BT Type Talk (for the hard of hearing), both of which we implemented for use by all other Service Units too. Our key publications (eg. Poole News) are also available in alternate formats, such as audio and searchable PDF.

8.3 The Data Protection Act is a key consideration in making more effective use of our customer

information. This may require us to seek express consent in future for certain uses (eg. to proactively advise selected customers on service changes that may directly affect them). We are also working to meet / exceed the government’s requirements on transparency, with an ever-increasing range of data (eg. all Council spending over £500) now readily available on our website, helping to reduce the time and cost spent on Freedom of Information Requests.

7

8.4 Government restrictions introduced last year on the frequency of publicity have unfortunately made it harder for us now to effectively inform customers on service issues and developments. However, we will continue to make active use of all options available to us; particularly web, social media and radio in lieu of our traditional primary reliance on printed material.

8.5 Our main risks relate to our ability to keep up with growing customer demands for 24/7 service across an ever-wider range of contact channels given our limited resources. We are continuing to mitigate this through targeted focus on what matters most, informed by actual service usage, research and satisfaction data. We are also reinvesting efficiency savings where possible (limited lately due to the urgent need to reduce budgets across the Council). However, some additional investment will clearly be required in future.

9 Conclusion

9.1 Over the last 7 years, our investment in customer service has delivered significant improvements to the customer experience of dealing with the Council and (although only formally measured since 2009) some tangible financial benefits too.

9.2 Our organisation now faces unprecedented pressures to fundamentally review services and processes with a view to substantially reducing costs. However, the allocated investment funding for customer service is almost exhausted. Together with the loss of skilled staff last March, this has substantially reduced our capacity for driving further efficiency improvements beyond the current resourced projects and maintaining existing supported services in 2012/13.

9.3 In addition, whilst our coordinated approach has delivered clear service benefits for our customers, it has not yet been as widely adopted as has been originally anticipated. This has been partly due to a lack of capacity in other units as well to consider fundamental change and the natural tendency to prefer bespoke solutions.

9.4 Changing Times now presents an opportunity to better address this. We feel there are particular opportunities for further efficiency improvements and cost savings by consolidating some of the multiple bespoke systems & processes that still exist. For example, the Comms & Marketing ERP identified at least 45 separate web facilities across the Council, many of which could now potentially be provided through our new website platform.

9.5 The latest draft of the Customer Service Strategy supports this approach and was recently revised and updated (see summary in appendix 2) with widespread input from across the Council. It sets out clear principles for how we should design & deliver services to our customers in future, and is currently being used to underpin the work on Streetscene.

9.6 This involves putting the customer at the heart of what we do in future, demanding a more coordinated approach. Unless there are clearly justifiable reasons not to, it has been agreed in principle that services should be designed based on common processes, consider the full ‘end-end’ customer experience & make appropriate use of common corporate customer service infrastructure to ensure consistency and efficiency.

9.7 Given continued rapid advances in customer requirements and technology, I believe it is vital

for us to continue to selectively pursue further developments in future too. Additional investment is therefore recommended from 2013 onwards, based on a clear assessment of costs and benefits. Member views are therefore sought to help gauge the desirability or otherwise of these options so that we can target our attention accordingly in planning for the future.

8

9.8 However, I also feel it is very important to secure some permanent additional resource right now to support the ever-growing demand for our web and digital channels. A proposal will be produced soon for consideration by the Management Team and Portfolio Holder, referring to the key findings from the recent nationwide SOCIM benchmarking survey of council websites (yet to be analysed in full) and feedback from our own recent ‘Social Poole Day’ and website users.

Chris OwensHead of Customer Services & Communications

9

Appendix 1CUSTOMERS FIRST HISTORY & TIMELINE

1. CUSTOMERS FIRST PROJECT (2004 – 2007) 1.1 This was an ‘XL project’ in the Council’s corporate strategy from 2004 – 2007, with the

business case being approved by Cabinet in April 2005.

1.2 The key driver at the time was to improve customer service and satisfaction. There was also a desire to improve the efficiency with which the Council handled customer enquiries, requests for service and payments, and to embrace the fresh approach being driven through the national e-government programme.

1.3 Key features were a new customer strategy (focused on channel shift) and delivery model involving integration of our website, a new customer service centre using centralised telephony; delivering economies of scale, integrating IT systems to reduce the need for manual handling of paper, reducing costs and improving services. Phone &/or email support was implemented on a phased basis for around 250 services across 7 SUs.

1.4 The resources allocated to capital and transitional costs were £2.274m. The project completed delivery of its objectives in 2007. Actual spend on ICT and accommodation resulted in a £400k saving, with the surplus being carried forward for ‘Stage 2’.

1.5 Various additional developments were implemented too; all delivering cashable or non-cashable efficiencies, including redesign of adult learning enrolments, support for the new Green Bin scheme, Bulky Waste & Trade Waste, remodelled Civic reception, etc.

1.6 Elements of the original plan taken out were local face-face access centres and the transfer to Customer Services of telephone calls for Job Applications and Car Parking (latter replaced by transfer of calls about “concessionary fares” from Transportation Services).

2. CUSTOMERS FIRST PROGRAMME (2008 – 2011) 2.1 Following Cabinet’s review in Sept 2007, detailed R&D was approved to design a business

case for further work (then referred to as “Stage 2”). A scrutiny review in late 2008 / early 2009 also informed this work.

2.2 This led to definition of a more wide-ranging transformation of customer service within the Council’s overall Business Transformation Programme. Key drivers were:

To improve the quality and consistency of our customers’ experience, wherever and whenever they dealt with the Council; extending the improvements and benefits seen in Stage 1 to all services, with focus on the more vulnerable members of the Community.

To improve the efficiency & value for money achieved by the Council, using the existing infrastructure and experience from Stage 1. This would help the Council cope with increasing public demands and changes to services, as cost effectively as possible.

2.3 Following approval of the Business Case in June 2009, the new Programme involved delivery of 12 projects over the next 2 years. These were:

Enhance & Expand - restructuring of the Customer Services Centre and its operations ASC Information & Advice – leading to implementation of the Source Directory. The

originally envisaged ‘Modernisation of Helpdesk’ remains outstanding Housing & Community Services – detailed process reviews leading to improved telephony

performance and a shared reception with Benefits 10

Blue Badges – transfer of customer applications from Social Services to the CSC Benefits & Revenues - process reviews leading to improved customer service Families Information Service – developing a Welcome area in the Dolphin Centre, the new

Family Information Directory and transfer of calls to Customer Services Lagan CRM Upgrade – major upgrade to this core customer database and workflow

system, now used by all Service Units. Self Service – making online services more convenient, accessible and efficient, including

the implementation of ‘intelligent’ e-forms and wider online payments Stage 1 Service Review (now Service Review) – ongoing work to review and redesign

high-volume processes end-end, using ‘systems thinking’ Text Relay & Big Word – implemented new corporate support facilities for hard of hearing /

deaf customers and a mediated language translation service Website Transformation – leading to a new website & content management system Feedback Transformation – development of a common and consistent way of dealing with

compliments, comments and complaints.

2.4All objectives were met by when the programme closed in April 2011, with ‘Improving the quality and consistency of our customers’ experience’ and ‘improving the efficiency and value for money achieved by the council, utilising the existing infrastructure and experience gained from our previous investment in stage 1’ highlighted as particular successes.

2.5 Financially, implementation was delivered within the £985,000 budget and a final balance of £218,000 was transferred to support future service improvement projects. Annual cashable savings from 2011/12 were £148,000 pa (£10,500 ahead of those targeted). Future savings were also anticipated through the Self Service and Web Transformation projects.

2.6 During the Programme’s life time a number of strategies, documents and tools were also produced. These have been developed into a Service Development Methodology and Programme Delivery Toolkit for the organisation as a whole to benefit from.

3. CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS (2011 On )3.1 Following closure of the programme and disbanding the dedicated team, a small portfolio of

projects was continued using the remaining funds.

3.2 This included completion of several items from the programme, plus some new projects:

Website Transformation – new, internally-hosted website delivered Sept 2011 Service Review – continued review / redesign of targeted processes across the Council Self Service – follow-up work, including automation of links to our CRM system Tell Us Once – a national scheme implemented in Oct 2011, better joining up service with

key partners (eg. DWP) for managing advices of births & deaths Beach Hut Bookings – an integrated solution for automated self service bookings &

payments. Recently tested & currently awaiting implementation for this summer Map Based Reporting – to add maps to self service reporting to help pinpoint locations.

Currently in initiation and linked to the internal GIS mapping system (IMAP).

3.3 The Borough’s Customer Service Strategy, last updated in 2005, was also reviewed and refreshed and the key principles were approved by Management Team in summer 2011 (see appendix 2). They now form a key building block for the Changing Times Programme.

3.4 At the time of writing, sufficient funding remains to support completion of the remaining projects listed above, plus Loop (Intranet) Replacement, a further upgrade to Lagan CRM (deferred from 2011/12) and possible further systems integration work, which is still being investigated with ICT. Any future developments / upgrades will therefore require new funding.

11

CUSTOMERS FIRST TIMELINE

Sept ‘05 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system procured, senior staff recruited & Service Unit created

Dec ‘05 CRM installed, business process reengineering (BPR) completed for Phase A and accommodation fitted out in the Civic Centre

Jan ‘06 First Customer Service Advisers recruited & training started

Apr ‘06 ‘Phase A’ services launched in Customer Services Centre (ECPS, Leisure, Transportation & Libraries)

Nov ’06 Phase B launched (Council Tax & Non-Domestic Rates)

Jun ’07 Phase C completed (Planning & Design Control, Building Consultancy & Adult Learning)

Sep ’07 Cabinet approve Customers First Project delivery (‘Stage 1’) & authorise Stage 2

Jul ’07 Additional support for Concessionary Fares for Transportation Services

Mch ’08 Initiation of CF Stage 2 / Customer First Programme

Jan ’09 Big Word language translation service introduced across Council

Jun ’09 Cabinet review & approval to commence Programme implementation

Jul ’09 RNID Text Relay service introduced across Council

Sep ’09 E&E Committee Report on ‘Stage 1’ of Customers First

Sep ‘09 Blue Badges supported by Customer Services Centre

Feb ’10 Major upgrade to Lagan CRM (V7)

Apr ’10 Self Service e-forms infrastructure introduced for use by all services

Jun ’10 Telephony improvements in Benefits team

Sep ’10 Family Information Service (FIS) Welcome Centre opened

Dec ’10 Corporate Feedback process introduced

Feb ’11 FIS call supported by Customer Services Centre

Apr ’11 CF Programme closure & Customer Services team restructured

Sep ’11 New Borough of Poole website launched

Oct ‘11 ‘Tell Us Once’ service implemented (Registrars & Benefits focus)

Feb ’12 ‘Social Poole Day’ – social media experiment

12

Appendix 2

CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGY - EXTRACT

1. Our customer commitment – we will:

1.1 Put our customers’ needs at the centre of the way we organise our services and their delivery.

1.2 Treat people with respect and dignity at all times and expect this to be reciprocated.

1.3 Provide our customers with the clear, consistent and accurate information that is necessary for

them to make informed choices about their individual circumstances.

1.4 Ensure our customers have an equal right of access to information and services to which they

are entitled, and proactively support those customers who may find access more difficult.

1.5 Make it as easy as possible for our customers to make contact with us and, when they do,

enable them to carry out as much of their business as possible within a single transaction.

1.6 Where people have complex or multiple needs we will identify them and help them understand

where to go for the information, advice and support they need – whether this be from Council

services, contractors or partners.

2. Our business environment – we will:

2.1 Encourage our customers – and properly authorised representatives acting on their behalf – to

carry out their business, where appropriate, with the council online.

2.2 Always aim to fully resolve an enquiry during the first transaction – “do it once, do it right – in

the minimum possible time.

2.3Collectively own the relationship with our customers and any associated information and data.

Working within the boundaries of proper data confidentiality and protocols that protect

customers interests, our staff will work together across internal boundaries to resolve each

customer’s needs, ensuring that our customers don’t have to understand the ‘structure of

Government’ to get the help they require.

2.4 Set our customers’ expectations about when or if we will respond to them, and keep them fully

informed of progress, in the event that we cannot complete their enquiry right away. We deliver

on the expectations we have set and do not make promises we know we are unable to keep.

2.5 Continually improve our performance and responsiveness to customers through our regular

analysis of demand, customer feedback and service delivery performance.

13

3. We will deliver the principles in practice by:

3.1 Ensuring all the work we do supports our overall purpose

3.2 Being clear about who our customers are and recognising that they have different needs which

we must understand

3.3 Providing a consistent and strategic approach to the development of our customer contact

channels

3.4 Developing services based on common processes, ensuring consistency in our approach

across the organisation

3.5 Redesigning services based on customer demand, reducing failure and maximising value in

line with our purpose

3.6 Providing a clear corporate approach to the co-ordination of customer and service-related

information, recognising its value to the organisation

3.7 Delivering a common corporate customer service infrastructure, and using it in a consistent

manner across the organisation to improve our efficiency and value for money. This includes

the Customer Relationship Management System, Customer Services Centre and Contact

Centre telephony as well as technology connections with our partners and other delivery

providers.

3.8 Identifying the key corporate technology components needed to support customer service

delivery, facilitating the efficient flow of information around the organisation

3.9 Measuring ‘end to end’ customer experience and using the results to support further

improvements in customer service. This includes using customer feedback obtained and

measured through a common corporate feedback process1 to identify areas for improvement

3.10Ensuring staff recognise the role they play in delivering services to our customers and

providing them with the skills and tools they need to deliver excellent customer service

3.11Providing corporate support to enable delivery of the Strategy.

1 Recognising that Adult and Children’s Services have their own statutory feedback processes14