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London Borough of Havering

Your Council, Anytime

Customer Service Strategy

October 2013

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Contents

Foreword 3

1.0 Introduction 4

1.2 Principles of Design 5

2.0 Background 6

2.1 Long Term Vision for Havering 6

2.2 New Operating Model for Customer Services 6

2.3 The Three Tier Model 7

2.4 Target Operating Model 8

3.0 Current Service 11

3.1 Services 11

3.2 Partners 11

3.3 Current Performance 11

3.4 Average Waiting Times 12

3.5 Visitor Volumes 12

3.6 Abandon Rates 12

3.7 Self-Service Rates 12

3.8 Web Forms 13

3.9 Other Service Changes 13

4.0 The Plan 15

4.1 Understanding our Customers 15

4.2 Improving Access 19

4.3 Results Focused 19

4.4 Value for Money 20

4.5 One View of the Customer 23

4.6 Listening to our Customers 23

4.7 Managing Performance 24

5.0 Making it Happen 24

5.1 Moving Services to Front Office 24

5.2 Development of the Web 24

5.3 Channel Migration 24

5.4 Information Technology 24

5.5 Telephony 24

5.6 Payments 25

5.7 Equalities 25

5.8 The Havering Brand 25

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Foreword

Providing excellent customer service has always been a priority at the London Borough of Havering. We need to understand who our customers are and what they need; we must listen to what they want, be flexible to their needs and act upon what they say. We also need to do more to encourage our customers to engage with us and provide opportunities for them to get involved in their community where possible. This will help ensure our services are really customer led. By understanding who our customers are and what they want, we can use new technology to develop more effective and efficient ways of serving them. This will in turn enable us to improve our standards of service - for example enabling customers to self-serve, resolving more queries at the first point of contact and keeping waiting times to a minimum. To do this we need systems and processes in place that work for the customer as well as us - and we need well trained, motivated, staff who are dedicated to making the necessary changes. As well as all this, we will endeavour to provide a high standard of customer care, ensuring all staff are respectful, knowledgeable, and able to respond to our customers’ needs quickly and efficiently. Our services will be delivered in a fair and considerate way that will make our customers feel respected and valued. Customer service has undergone radical change and continues to be a focus for the organisation’s transformation strategy. This document sets out the strategic direction of the Council’s customer service for the future, including what we plan to do in the near future to get to where we want to be - delivering excellent customer-focused services more efficiently and at less cost to council tax payers. Cheryl Coppell Chief Executive .

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Introduction

The purpose of this Customer Services Strategy is to improve the service we provide to our customers and resolve customer demands more efficiently. The outcomes of this Strategy are to deliver a strong Havering service that offers: • a consistent, high quality customer contact service • a shift in customer access channels to reduce costs • a focused approach to delivering services to citizens This is a ‘live’ and evolving strategy that will assist in providing the direction and focus for all involved in the provision of services to our residents in Havering. It reflects the changes to customer expectations and needs; how people are taking more control over what services they want and how they are delivered. It will be refreshed in line with changing demand for, and provision of services. Customer access and service delivery methods are changing. New technology is facilitating access to services 24/7 in easy ways, which promote customer self service. We are seeing this not only in the delivery of Local Government services but in the way we shop. Self-serve checkouts are becoming a normal feature of supermarket operations, requiring customers to scan items and pay automatically without intervention from staff. If a transaction goes wrong, there is a member of staff to assist. However, this worker is serving multiple customers simultaneously, as they cover a number of tills, thus moving away from a one to one transaction as can be seen on the traditional check outs. People’s habits and expectations are changing rapidly. Recent figures released show that over 85% of the UK population has accessed the internet and there are over 25 million Facebook accounts in the United Kingdom. Surrey County Council has reported that their website visits now represent 90% of all customer contacts. This was an increase of 70% over a two year period whist telephone calls had reduced by 17%. In Havering, customer insight data, using Experian’s Mosaic customer profiling tool, tells us that c. two year ago 25% of households have a strong preference for the internet to access services and/or make payments. However, at the same time around 25% have a preference for post and 18% have a preference for branch/face-to-face to access services. In line with trends, this balance is likely to change over the course of time and can be accelerated by ensuring ease of access to and use of the website. The basis of this Strategy is to deliver what customers need, based on the urgency and complexity of the request, to enable demand to be managed as is appropriate to the type of demand.

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We recognise that however the customer engages with the Council, sensitive direction to specialist services may be required and critical cases will still have to be dealt with according to need, which may include a home visit (for example by a social worker). 1.2 Principles of Design The fundamental guiding principles used in developing this Strategy are based on the premise that services will be focused, efficient, flexible and fair. The principles are:

• Understanding our customers: delivering services in accordance with customer insight, around the customer’s needs, now and in the future

• Improving access for customers: encouraging those who can to use self-service and automated services wherever possible but providing more traditional contact for those who are not able to self-serve. This includes providing web services for customers to use 24/7, as well as providing guidance on using and accessing web services

• Results focused: achieving at least an 80% resolution at first contact and

minimising avoidable contact

• Value for money: migrating customers to more cost effective channels and automated services wherever possible

• One view of the customer: providing a joined up approach to customers

requiring multiple service, with a single view of the customer and pointing customers to the appropriate area mindful of prioritising critical cases

• Listening to our customers: through Corporate Complaints and other

mechanisms, we will have a feedback system providing effective response and learning, which helps improve our service delivery

• Managing our performance: ensuring we have the right staff, with the

knowledge and skills to deliver excellent service More details about these principles are set out in section 4.0, The Plan.

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2.0 Background Information 2.1 Long Term Purpose and Values From StreetCare to Social Care, Public Health to Procurement, from the Council’s newest recruit to colleagues with decades of continuous service, we all share a common purpose: We’re here to serve local people and make Havering a place where our residents are proud to live. Although our strategies and services, along with out statutory responsibilities and our funding may change over time, the reason or our existence does not. Our values too – the spirit about which we go about our business – also remain the anchor to our work during times of significant change. Acting as one council, learning from experience, meaning what we say and acting with integrity, showing customers and colleagues they matter, being positive, can-do and fair to all – our values guide the way we think and drive the way we work. So we will continue to do our best to deliver a better quality of life in Havering and be guided by our values over the coming years. 2.2 New Operating Model for Customer Services The Havering Customer Services vision: To enable those customers who can to access services by themselves. For those customers who cannot, we will provide targeted, cost effective, quality services. This vision has informed the way we provide services and how customers access services. The drivers for the operating model were: The internet and self service is increasingly what our customers are used to:

• it is quicker, consistent and more efficient • it provides access at all hours • it is less expensive than other channels • more services will be available for self service

More traditional contact will be available and targeted for those who cannot use the internet:

• we will provide telephony and face to face services (many of these by

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appointment to reduce waiting time for customers) • we will also provide help to those people who might wish to switch to online

transactions but lack the knowledge or confidence to do so 2.3 The 3 Tier Model For more traditional contact, Havering is adopting a 3 Tier model of service delivery.

We will aim to resolve most customer enquiries (80%) at Tier 1- the first point of contact. These are the more common queries/requests and the customer will know what they want. The Customer will be able to self-serve via the website or through Instant Voice Recognition technology on the telephone. If the customer chooses to call the Council, the query will be resolved by a Customer Service Advisor in the Council call centre. A small number of enquiries may be more complex, and these will become Tier 2. This may be where a customer has a problem and does not know how to resolve it. They may require services that cannot be obtained via a self-service option. Most of these queries will be resolved by well-trained customer facing staff. A very small number of enquiries will fall under Tier 3 and require authorised resolution. This is where the customer request requires the Council to consult with others to deliver a decision or requires complex and/or specialist authorities. The

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activity here will range from the physical delivery of services (e.g. collection of waste bins) through to qualified professionals providing expert decision or advice (e.g. social care and health professionals). Customers should be able to access all services in one place through the PASC and one source of client data from the Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) will enable us to use one view of the customer to assist in getting the right outcome at first point of contact. 2.4 Target Operating Model Over time, as the model indicates, web and online services will become dominant. They are accessible 24/7 and will provide an engagement channel which is universal. They are also much more cost effective, which will allow the Council to direct its resources to those customers who need more targeted services. Ultimately, front office direct contact with customers is likely to be greatly reduced as issues are routed straight to the back office for resolution. Our target operating model can be described in the diagram below:

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In order to achieve the above model we will need to take action on a number of issues:

Use of customer insight We will improve the use of customer data to help shape the services we offer. We will target assistance at those who most need it and encourage active engagement with citizens and partners. More details of this are given in section 4, The Plan.

Rationalise access channels We will make it much easier for customers to transact with us through the web and online. Whilst we will maintain traditional channels, we will be encouraging much more self service through an enhanced website. We will also have terminals in our PASC and libraries where customers can be helped to apply, report and pay

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online. There will always be those who need face to face help and this will still be available, as will contact by telephone. We will close off some face to face transactions which are more easily done via the web e.g. Parking Permits. Our authenticated portal, which is due to be implemented in late Summer 2013, will ensure that even transactions which require supporting documentation can be done online. We will offer a greater level of automation on our telephones which will be able to direct incoming calls to a specialist staff member for resolution more quickly

Improved and streamlined processes Processes will be mapped end to end to ensure they are as smooth and efficient as possible, based on ideal pathways. We will remove complexity and unnecessary duplication based on ‘lean’ principles. This means that processes will be faster, betters supported by technology and more cost effective.

Technology ICT will enhance and underpin our customer services and assist in delivering improved performance. We will have integrated systems through front and back office and with partners where possible, facilitating better services.

Our CRM system has been designed in partnership with Waltham Forest and Newham in order to share best practice, resources, skills and costs. Similarly our new web portal has been designed within the same partnership with the addition of City of London and this has clearly delivered efficiencies for all partners.

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3. Current Contact Centre 3.1 Services There are currently 88 staff working in the Contact Centre, which is equivalent to just over 78 fte. There are a broad range of services covered in the Contact Centre, which include:

Switchboard

Council Tax

Housing Benefits

Benefits Overpayments

StreetCare

Parking Services

Registrars

Public Protection

Adult Social Care

Automated Payment Line

Payment Line (staffed service)

Cheque Processing

Blue Badge Administration

Many of these were only introduced in June 2011, at the commencement of the 3 Tier model of operations. In addition, a Web Content Team was introduced into customer services in May 2013 to manage and standardise content, improve the search capability and ensure all content is relevant, up to date and accessible. Further services which are planned to be introduced into the Contact Centre include Business Rates (From October 2013) and Planning & Building Control .

3.2 Partners We work closely with various partners and several are co-located with Council staff in the Contact Centre. These include:

LBH Housing and Homeless Team (PASC)

Citizens Advice Bureau (PASC)

LBH Planning Services Reception Adult social care works closely with Carepoint and we will seek opportunities to extend partnership working across other organisations and internally, for instance with health.

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3.3 Current Performance

The monthly average number of calls between April 2012 and March 2013 was: 6835 which were calls answered automatically through IVR 19505 which were calls answered by an agent from a queue In addition, the switchboard (which is using the Lync technology as per the rest of the Council) received 26532 calls on average per month. The total average monthly number of calls received through both the Contact Centre and switchboard was therefore 52872. 3.4 Average Waiting Times for Phone and PASC

The average Call Centre waiting time was 189 seconds. The revised target for 2013-14 is 80% of calls answered within 30 seconds. The average PASC* waiting time was11:05 minutes. The target is for 75% to be seen in 15 minutes and we are currently meeting this.

*Applies to Romford Main PASC and excludes services that we are not currently fully responsible for (Housing, Planning Reception and CAB)

3.5 Current Visitor Volumes

Average monthly visitor numbers for 2012-13 in the Romford PASC were 4,826. The following relates to demand breakdown at Romford PASC and why visitors come:

Benefits 24% Ctax 8% Parking 14% StreetCare 2% Payments 4% Casual Caller 48% - dealt with by Reception staff

One of the tasks of the team manager newly assigned to the PASC is to ensure staff accurately categorise customer demand in this last area, to understand what kind of resource and knowledge is required. Customer Services also runs the Visitor Centre in South Street, Romford. Visitor numbers are roughly between 600 and 700 per month. Often visitors have more than one query and therefore we answer between 700 and 800 queries per month. There are a wide range of enquiry types which cover directions, leaflets, maps and local information to queries about retail, businesses and transport.

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3.6 Abandon Rates - Call Centre Between April 2012 and March 2013, the ‘abandon call rate’ across all services was 19%, against a target of 18%. Since making operational changes, the abandon call rate has reduced to 10% or below. This also reflected the huge amount of change that was taking place within the service. We will aim to reduce call abandon rates to 10% (or below) consistently through better resource targeting, supportive processes and improved technology.

3.7 Current Self Service Rates

The Telephone/ IVR rate was17.83% for the same period. Currently we are building reports for integrated CRM Service Requests from the Web and we will monitor this data to inform our communication to customers and to optimise our web performance.

3.8 Forms on the Web There are currently 56 forms online listed under the Apply/Pay/Report pages, although there are many more that are linked to content pages which are PDFs or Word forms. The aim is to get as much as we can on the web so customers can report/apply and pay for all key services at www.havering.gov.uk Proactive review of web content and liaison with internal departments will be a priority for the Web Content Team in relation to channel shift and 24/7 access to services. We will ensure that web content and forms are up to date, relevant and easy to find for customers. Although our IVR and Web Forms have not yet been advertised, there has been very encouraging take-up from customers, which proves that even without publicity the web is a very popular and easy channel through which to transact with the Council. 3.9 Other Changes to Current Service There is currently a major Customer Services Improvement Plan underway and this has already seen a re-grouping of service streams. This means more staff can work across multiple services and be flexible to the demands of customers. As of 1 July, we introduced a change and harmonisation of opening hours to 9am – 5pm, for all services within the Contact Centre. We will be closely monitoring the impact of this change on both performance and customers.

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Many legislative changes impact on our service delivery. The new Benefit Reform changes being implemented in August will all require associated staff training which impacts both on performance, as staff are taken out to be trained, and on training requirements outside of benefits.

CRM has not yet been optimised due to some outstanding technical requirements. These are being addressed but it is an ongoing process and we will seek to make improvements as part of a continuous improvement plan.

We are currently reviewing the impact of resourcing the satellite PASCs, which are located in some libraries. Work already undertaken shows there is only a small take up, chiefly around benefits, which could be consolidated and better serviced in the main PASC. We will however, be looking at widening out access to technology and the Council website, through assisted help in libraries. This will mean that more people can be helped to transact and engage with the Council without having to wait. We will evolve our customer service delivery to meet changes in legislation, for instance with adult social care customers in light of the Dilnot proposals. We will also continue to seek opportunities to integrate other council services where appropriate into the existing customer services front office function and, in addition to housing, may look at how we can work more closely with children’s services and the MASH.

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4. The Plan 4.1 Understanding our Customers: delivering services in accordance with customer insight and around customer needs 4.1.1 Customer Insight The Council uses data from a wide variety of sources such as demographic data, census data and consultation findings to understand as much as possible about our customers, their needs and expectations. To enable a more in-depth understanding of our customers, the Council commissioned Experian to develop a bespoke customer segmentation model for the Borough, which combines Experian’s own national data with key data sets from across the Council. Using Mosaic Classification, this resulted in the identification of 12 discrete population segments (listed below) and a number of associated tools that we can use to profile our population, with the aim of better targeting communications and services at those who need them.

Segment Key Characteristics % Households

Segment 1 Affluent older middle aged/retired couples 6.6%

Segment 2 Older middle-aged couples with children, high incomes 13.2%

Segment 3 Comfortably off middle-aged couples with children 14.5%

Segment 4 Middle aged, extended families, varied incomes with some deprivation and benefit take up

4.1%

Segment 5 Young/middle aged, singles and couples, high incomes 5.6%

Segment 6 Young/early middle aged, moderate incomes, singles and cohabiting couples

6.2%

Segment 7 Young/middle aged families, very low incomes, some deprivation 8.5%

Segment 8 Middle aged couples/families, low incomes, some deprivation 13.2%

Segment 9 Young singles and cohabiting couples, house sharers, low incomes

6.6%

Segment 10 Young to early middle aged singles, very low incomes, deprivation

3.8%

Segment 11 Retired couples, modest incomes, some savings 11.8%

Segment 12 Elderly singles, very low incomes, some deprivation 5.8%

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As the table above illustrates, half of the households (52,000) in Havering fall into four segments (2, 3, 8 and 11). Segments 2 and 3 represent comfortably-off or more affluent older middle-aged couples with children who live in primarily semi-detached owner occupied homes in the suburbs. In addition the people that make up Segment 2 are likely to have average educational attainment, some savings and invest in shares and lead generally healthy lifestyles. Segment 3 has an under-representation of those going on to higher education, although some will have stayed on at school to complete their A Levels. Whilst they are generally in good health, some may not eat as healthily as those in segment 2. Service usage is considered ‘very low’ for both segments 2 and 3. Segment 8 consists of middle aged couples and families, but this group are more likely to live in older terraced housing and be employed in low income routine occupations. There is low educational attainment in this segment and general health also is fairly poor, with heavy smoking and regular alcohol consumption being common. Crime is relatively low in these areas although there is also a negative opinion of police. Service usage is considered ‘average’ for this segment. Segment 11 is made up of retired couples living on owner-occupied estates in the suburbs. Residents in Segment 11 tend to have modest incomes, although throughout their working lives they are likely to have made sufficient provisions for their retirement in the form of ISAs and private pension funds. Relatively few people in this segment will have been to university but this will not have hindered them in their careers and they will be able to enjoy a comfortable retirement. This segment tends to be in poor health, although this is more a consequence of their age rather than an unhealthy lifestyle. Service usage is considered ‘low’ for this segment. Segments where service usage is considered ‘very high’ include 7, 10 and 12, making up 18,034 households. Residents in these segments are considered more vulnerable, with low incomes, high deprivation and high rates of unemployment. Residents in these segments are also more likely to live in council housing and require more support from the State.

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One of the tools provided through Mosaic is the Communication Framework, which lists each segments preference to Communication Channels for various indicators e.g. accessing services/purchasing channels, receiving information, learning about products etc. The table below lists communication preferences, for each segment, in respect of accessing services/purchasing channels: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Email Neutral Weak Neutral Strong Strong Strong Neutral

Negative Neutral

Negative Strong Neutral

Neutral Negative

Weak

Internet Strong Strong Neutral Positive

Neutral Negative

Strong Neutral Positive

Neutral Negative

Neutral Negative

Neutral Positive

Weak Weak Weak

Telephone Strong Neutral Positive

Neutral Positive

Neutral Negative

Strong Neutral Positive

Neutral Negative

Neutral Negative

Neutral Weak Weak Weak

Mobile Phone

Neutral Positive

Neutral Positive

Neutral Positive

Neutral Negative

Strong Strong Weak Neutral

Negative Neutral Positive

Weak Weak Weak

Post Strong Strong Neutral Neutral

Negative Strong

Neutral Negative

Weak Weak Neutral Weak Neutral Positive

Weak

Branch/ Face-to-Face

Neutral Negative

Neutral Negative

Neutral Neutral

Negative Weak

Neutral Negative

Neutral Positive

Neutral Positive

Neutral Negative

Neutral Positive

Strong Strong

As can be seen from the table, some segments have a strong preference for just one communication channel to access services. For example, segments 11 and 12 (which are primarily elderly retired residents) prefer branch/face to face, whereas some segments prefer various communication channels. In a previous Council survey, over 76% of respondents said they preferred email as a communication channel and nearly 40% wanted to receive information via the website. Electronic communication as a preferred channel is increasing and we are responding to this customer choice. Online communication is also the greatly favoured channel for younger people and our increased web capability will assist in ‘future proofing’ preferred customer channels. Using this information, combined with other Mosaic tools and Council data, we can understand more about our customers and how best to communicate with them. This will allow us to support and encourage behaviour change where appropriate, whilst still providing the services that are needed. 4.1.2 Businesses as customers We are extending the resident approach to businesses as they too are customers. We will provide more targeted information for business through our portal which ensures that key information is tailored to the activities of businesses. We will capture more information about our business customers and solicit their input into designing services and information for them specifically.

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Opportunities for engaging in business activities with the Council will be made easier through clearer web signposting. 4.2 Improving Access for Customers Customer Services is the only service area in the Council where customer contact, unnecessary contact and performance has been recorded and monitored. In Havering, we want to have a high quality, consistent Customer Contact Service which provides a focused approach to delivering services to residents. Too many enquiries are being transferred to other service areas for resolution rather than being resolved at the front end. This not only adds unnecessary steps to the customer journey but also adds to costs as “specialist officers” deal with routine general enquiries and not on those cases that require more detailed investigation and analysis. First point of contact resolution is to be the heart of our approach. Whilst continuously improving our call answering speed and the overall professionalism of staff, our customers want a quick, simple resolution to their service request at first point of contact. This is a key driver of customer satisfaction and the major influence on other performance indicators. The most effective way to increase resolution by the Council will be to migrate all appropriate customer facing services into Customer Services to create a Corporate Customer Facing Front Office with a focused approach to deliver services for residents. This will provide the consistency that residents will recognise as the “Havering” Brand with regard to advice and services received, speed of service, “opening times” for face to face and telephone access and the facility for having multiple enquiries dealt with at first point of contact. 4.3 Results Focused: achieving at least an 80% resolution at first contact and minimising unnecessary contact The renewed focus on first contact resolution will necessitate a review of services offered in Customer Services and to see what actions can be implemented to allow more decisions to be taken during the first contact with customers. This may include automating some elements of processes and self service through IVR. This will require us to capture the necessary data throughout each element of the process, followed by the potential redesign of processes between the front and back offices in line with “Lean Principles” and a framework of continuous improvement. CRM may, on that basis, also require some modifications or enhancements to ensure we have the optimum efficiency in both process and technology. Additional training for staff may also be required if there are changes to the process and protocols.

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This is an evolutionary process and priority will be given to the changes which carry the biggest business impact and improvement. 4.3.1 Unnecessary (Avoidable) Contact This can be defined as customers who make contact with the Council, where the contact is avoidable because it does not add value. Contact does not add value due to one or more of the following reasons: • Customer is unable to get through, does not get an answer or is treated in an

unprofessional manner which results in that customer having to make further contact

• Customer has raised a new query with the Council which has not been resolved by the advisor and results in the customer having to make further contact

• Contact results from failure to deliver a service as expected or promised • Contact has been made to chase the progress of a previous service request; • Contact is to follow-up on a previous contact, because the customer did not gain

the relevant information the first time around (e.g. having to phone the Council because the website did not provide the required information)

• Customer is required to repeat information already given in previous conversations (e.g. following mid-call transfers)

• Contact is as a result of the online service being unavailable temporarily or from not being able to access information online

• Contact results as a result of Council communications material which is poorly worded, incomplete, out of date, unhelpful or inaccurate

The importance of unnecessary contact is that it increases customer contacts, costs and clearly implies that resolution at first point of contact is not successful. It therefore adds duplication into the system. With the migration of services into Customer Services we will record why our customers are contacting us, where we need to improve service levels and where information can be provided that will negate the need for our customers to contact us. 4.4 Value for Money Such is the financial austerity under which local authorities now operate, it is incumbent on us that we achieve value for money in all that we do. Channel shift is prompted not only by customer choice and convenience but also the desire to deliver efficiencies and focus our resources in critical areas. 4.4.1 Channel Migration Based on research, Customer Insight and type of service requests, our Strategy remains currently to keep open all existing access channels. However, we recognise

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there is an increasing demand and capability to grow the use of our website and electronic forms, as a channel for doing business with the Council. In addition to responding to our residents in this way it will also reduce costs as shown in the table below. Table showing ‘cost to transact’ obtained from six local authorities (esd-toolkit CPP participants):

Email Electronic

form (web)

Web Direct

Debit

Other

Electronic

Source

District

Council

London

Authority

London

Authority

District

Council

London

Authority

District

Council

London

Authority

London &

District

Borough

Council

Cost per

transaction (£) 2.80 3.39 6.63 0.08 0.03 6.49 10.56 0.02 0.75

Face to faceTelephone

The ratio between cost of telephone contact and personal visits is estimated to be 3:1; the ratio between cost of personal visits and web site transactions is estimated to be 287:1 4.4.2 Access Channels and Provision Services and information will be available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day through our website, www.havering.gov.uk, with similar availability for critical and emergency telephone requests. Face-to-face access will be available, where this is necessary, to meet customer need, particularly for our most vulnerable citizens and where statutory obligations must be met.

4.4.3 Web The development of Havering’s transactional website, combined with important, accurate, up to date and useful Council information and its promotion to our customers is at the heart of the wider channel strategy. Other Local Authorities have demonstrated, if the website is useful, secure and accurate in the presentation of information, people will be encouraged to use it for a large number of the transactions for which they currently use traditional channels, such as telephone and face to face. We have already begun to load integrated forms onto the website and, without any prompting, customers are finding and using them. Once the authenticated portal is implemented and all forms are online, we will actively market and communicate the benefits of using the website. The Web Pages will be redesigned to make it easy for self service by creating the right platform, making processes better, simpler, cheaper and “personal”. The pages

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will be designed around a much clearer search engine so what customers want is easier to find.

The Web Pages will also enable customers to undertake transactions based on: • Report e.g. a pothole, missed bin collection • Apply e.g. housing benefits, Parking Permits • Pay e.g. Council Tax, green bins

4.4.4 Telephone We will review our telephone numbering strategy ensuring it does not present a barrier to our customers in finding the right service. We will reduce the existing multiple telephone numbers presently in place . We will aim ultimately to have one main number from which customers are routed to precise services (via IVR technology) in order to have their calls dealt with more quickly and accurately. There will also be automated telephone information and the ability to take automatic payments via the telephone. We will also introduce technology that allows customer access through SMS and text messages subject to an appropriate business case 4.4.5 E-mail We will rationalise the number of customer email addresses. 4.4.6 SMS Text This channel will be used for outbound contact only, for example to confirm Bookings. 4.4.7 Social Media We will build a relationship with our customers and give them the chance to shape Havering for the better. Social media offers a range of online tools that can very effectively support the objectives of services through engagement with customers at a time, place and method that they have chosen to use. This is highlighted with the number of Facebook accounts in the UK that now total in excess of 25 million. The Council will therefore look to make full use of this and other social media as an access channel for customers and include it as part of our channel shift. 4.4.8 Post and Paper The cost of both postage and processing letters is making this channel increasingly expensive for both residents and Havering Council. Whilst this traditional channel will

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continue, we will encourage alternative access channels. There will be one main address and individual service addresses. Members will continue to have dialogue with their constituents and act upon their concerns. 4.4.9 Face-to-Face Whilst alternative access to services will be encouraged, for those residents where “face- to-face” contact is needed, it will be provided at our PASC in Romford. We will phase out the mini face to face PASCs within libraries and endeavour to make appointments for those people requiring face to face contact in order to reduce waiting times. Staff will also be able to show customers how to access the services they need using the website so that they have the option of contacting us through a potentially more convenient channel. 4.5 One View of the Customer The introduction of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a customer contact management system within Customer Services, will provide a single view of the customer utilising the services of Housing, Council Tax Benefits and Adult Social Care. This could be further enhanced by the implementation of additional service technology e.g. Children’s Services and the centralisation of all elements of customer services within the Council. This will however, require the necessary Business Case and approval. 4.6 Listening to our Customers Service standards and service availability will, as part of improving Customer Services, be standard across Havering, publicised, monitored and reported upon. The opening hours for all services in the contact centre have recently been standardised to 9am – 5pm, following consultation with staff and based on a review of when customers actually use our services. The collection of data relating to customer contact is improving constantly as we upgrade our technology and introduce the single view of the customer to ensure we can do more at the first point of contact. 4.6.1 Customer Surveys We will continue to ask customers how we can improve and to feed their comments back into our service improvement. 4.6.2 Corporate Complaints System

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An analysis of the highest performing Councils reveals that they record the highest levels of complaints. Their excellence is founded upon the systems they use to capture them and the manner in which they address them. Complaints, and compliments tell us a great deal about the quality of the services we provide and highlight potential underperforming services where urgent remedial action may be required. Consequently the detail of the complaints needs to be reported and collated together, with all the other Management Information relating to each service area, for the necessary diagnostics to be undertaken. 4.7 Managing Our Performance The Council has an effective performance management system, which encourages dialogue between managers and staff to improve performance. We will also be looking at the role of continuous improvement within the Service to ensure that we optimize our skills, processes and technology to enhance the customer experience. We have already undertaken a realignment of teams to cover a variety of services to ensure that resources can be moved around to cover busy areas. We continue to train up our staff to ensure they have a wide breadth of knowledge across various services so that we can direct resource to where it is most needed.

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5. Making it happen 5.1 Moving Services to the Front Office Where appropriate, the three Tier model will be applied to services with part of their service being delivered from the Contact Centre. Each service will be defined with each service managers in line with “Lean Principles”, a business case developed and agreed, and a project plan initiated for the migration of the service to Customer Services. 5.2 Development of the Web Havering’s website has been refreshed and continues to be improved through better content. A Web Author Team is now in place to ensure that content is relevant, easy to find, all aspects of the transactional web are optimized, easy to use and quick to find. In addition, Havering’s website will incorporate responsive design, which ensures it is optimised on mobile devices, including smart phones and tablets, making it easier still to engage with the Council. 5.3 Channel Migration We will endeavor to guide and educate customers to use web services where possible. Report/Apply/Pay will offer the opportunity to transact at any time with the Council and to ensure fast results. We will devise a communication campaign around the new customer portal, which will introduce authorised transactions and market the online forms. We will seek to reduce or close channels which are not cost effective but continue to ensure that customers with particular requirements are still offered more traditional channels. 5.4 Information Technology In order to support this Customer Service Strategy, it is necessary to have the right technology platform. This requires the support of CRM, by Business Systems as part of BAU and the ongoing review of systems, to ensure technology is optimised and supports new ways of working with customers. We will also be reviewing new technology and what part it may play in the future of Customer Services. This could include digital TV and the greater use of mobile technology. 5.5 Telephony

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Lync telephony has already been rolled out to the Switchboard, although the Contact Centre uses Avaya technology as it is able to generate a myriad of reports for analysis and business improvement. Any service migrating into Customer Services will be migrated accordingly. 5.6 Payments We will continue to encourage the making of payments to the Council through the most cost effective channel. This could be either Direct Debit for recurring debts such as Council Tax, payments through the web channels or telephone payments for one off payments. We will aim to stop the taking of cash payments which is not an effective or safe channel for the Council and move to more direct payment methods. We will also aim to minimise billing and get customers to pay for services upfront, in the same way as they would when ordering from any other website. 5.7 Equalities Equality Impact Assessments will be undertaken on individual projects, in line with the Council’s established policies. Any staff migrating will be required to comply with the terms and conditions of existing staff in Customer Services with regard to hours of work and location. This is to ensure that resources are available for peak demand. Any changes to employee terms and conditions will only be made following the usual consultation process with the aim of securing consent for those changes wherever possible. 5.8 Supporting the Havering Brand In delivering this Customer Services Strategy we will be enhancing Havering’s reputation as an organisation that delivers a consistent, high quality, customer service. Alongside promotion of our services and achievements, our staff will deliver a standard of service that is appreciated and trusted by our customers.