Putting Our Customers First

Doncaster Council Customer Service

Strategy

1.0 Introduction

At the heart of the fresh start for Doncaster is the fact that Doncaster Council must better serve all of its residents by putting them first and delighting them with the service they receive and the value for money we give them by adopting the following values:

1. Putting customers at the centre of everything we do. (Every councillor and employee must understand that the organisation exists to make a positive difference to our customers.)

2. Delivering value for money.

(We will deliver the highest quality services at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayer.)

3. Working in partnership. (What is important is the service the customer receives, not who delivers it.)

4. Having a passionate, “can do,” open and “one council” attitude. (Where every employee sees themselves as working for the council and is passionate for constant improvement in the way customers are served and are open to learning and positive challenge.)

This is supported by the Mayor’s Priorities, in particular Mayoral Priority 10 – Make sure that local people get value for money from Council services and the outcome - People receive a value for money ‘right-first-time’ service and gaps in outcomes for different groups narrowed. This work is also a key strand of the Council’s change agenda. How, when and where our customers access and receive our services obviously greatly contributes to these values and priorities and this strategy presents the principles and corresponding projects required to improve and answers the following fundamental questions: � Where are we now? � Where do we want to go? � How are we going to get there? � How much will it cost? � What benefits will be realised? A model that captures the content of this strategy is available at appendix 1, and examples of current and future customer journeys are available at appendix 2.

2.0 Where Are We Now?

2.1 Access Channels

The current points of access available for customers to contact the Council are too numerous to mention however, the following are promoted as the main contact points:

� The Council’s website – www.doncaster.gov.uk; � Corporate Contact Centre Tel: 736000; � 13 Customer Service Centres (Colonnades and 12 Libraries); � Email general.enquiries@doncaster.gov.uk; and � The Corporate Alarm Monitoring Centre (24/7 for service emergency

calls). All points of access have evolved over time without there being a corporate access strategy for the Council as a whole and research has identified the following issues:

� Customers get passed around; � Much contact is not recorded or performance managed; � Inconsistent procedures and availability of information; � Channels are not fully developed with expected functionality; � The required technology is not in place; � They are not value for money; � There is limited joining up with partners; and � Many staff answer enquiries for their own service only.

The outcome of this means the following:

� Our customers are often confused about who they need to contact or where they need to visit;

� The Council Is not using it’s resources efficiently trying to deliver a high standard of customer service across so many points of access; and finally but most importantly

� When surveyed, our customers express poor satisfaction with the way in which they are dealt with by the Council as a whole.

2.2 Customer Satisfaction

A specific national measure for customer satisfaction alone no longer exists however; the last Best Value Performance Indicator 3 Survey completed in 2006/07 for the percentage of citizens satisfied with the overall service provided by Doncaster Council had an outcome of 45% which was a reduction from 48% in 2003/04. This is obviously not good. 2.3 Processes Most of the Council’s business processes have evolved over time principally informed by legislation, shaped to suit specific service areas and meet national and local targets with not always enough thought of what is experienced by the customer. Although progress is being made, many areas still work in silos when planning how to deliver their services. A process may only provide part of a service to be delivered to a customer, however retaining ownership of an enquiry across different services with comprehensive performance management is not always in place.

This means that front-line staff can only make promises to customers for the delivery of some services. There are no guarantees or information for when others may be delivered or in lots of cases that a service has been delivered. Within some areas of the Council, front-line staff use procedures to retain ownership of an enquiry by chasing it up directly with the service staff involved and calling the customer back. However, this is not a practice used right across the organisation and varies greatly across different service areas.

2.4 Staff Many of the Council’s staff have not been recruited with customer service skills therefore the quality of response to customers varies between service areas. A training course has been developed and is being rolled out to assist in addressing this with content around what we should be doing to ensure our customers are happy with their experience ranging from how to speak, what to say, body language, taking responsibility and how to exceed the customers expectation. However, if we are to improve customer satisfaction, this is only one part of a full programme of training required to change the current culture of staff, other aspects need to include:

� How the Council is organised and functions; � The role staff need to play in achieving a right-first-time service and

why; � Empowerment and the use of common sense decisions when things go

wrong or an outcome is unknown; and � How to use all the tools and information available.

2.5 Systems The Council’s ability to resolve enquiries and transact services is extremely restricted by the lack of investment in appropriate technology. All services currently have their own business system and there is no over-arching customer database to enable a member of staff to access everything the organisation knows about the customer to provide them with the best possible service. There is also no easy method to track customer enquiries and/or service requests to ensure they are responded to or delivered in the time specified often resulting in a promise not made in the first place or a complete service failure causing avoidable customer contact and in many cases a complaint. The systems that are currently in place and contribute to the above are: a) A limited pilot implementation of a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM). The system currently implemented provides a customer database, workflow and the ability to track enquiries and their outcome. However, the skills required to develop, maintain and support it have never been acquired meaning any changes to the system and support have to be procured externally. Also without technical integration with the relevant business systems, duplication of work is required to ensure services are delivered.

b) A limited implementation of a Call Management System. This system is used for the management of customer phone calls taken by the Contact Centre and other services that have teams receiving a large volume of calls. It ensures all calls are routed to the right staff, provides full performance management, the facility for leaving messages and/or queuing and the ability to add prompts providing additional information to customers to reduce the need to speak to front-line staff. Calls from customers outside this system are difficult to monitor, manage and measure and it is unknown whether all customers receive a response. c) A limited implementation of Electronic Document Management. This system provides an electronic store for all documents received and/or sent whether paper or electronic documents, with the ability to scan, index, search, retrieve, route and track documents for complete performance management. This has currently been implemented fully in some key areas heavily reliant upon documents but needs to be implemented right across the Council so all documents and correspondence can be fully performance managed. Other technology required but not in place is:

� integration software to enable key systems to talk to each other; � mobile devices with access to CRM and key applications; � website integration with CRM (integrated with business systems) to

allow self-service by customers; � further development of the Geographic Information System (GIS)

for enhanced integration with website, CRM and some key applications; and

� A data warehouse that allows full retrieval and management of all Council information.

2.6 Working with Partners

There are many good examples of partnership working across the Council however, there are major constraints provided by the lack of common technology, network security and data sharing protocols for joint access to systems and information which need to be overcome. There is also no coordinated approach for how the Council and its partners present their portfolio of services to customers to avoid confusion of who to contact and reduce the repeated explaining of their circumstances to each organisation. 2.7 Civic and Cultural Quarter A one-stop-shop that delivers the full portfolio of services delivered by the Council and its partners is due to open early 2013 and will require a total transformation of the way services are accessed in the town centre and delivered across the borough. A new service delivery model has been developed to ensure a right-first-time approach is achieved where possible using new processes, technology and specifically trained front-line staff and service specialists as required. The plan for the one-stop-shop is currently being finalised and the relevant processes are being redesigned to be efficient

and provide the best possible customer experience. The model already agreed for this project is the same as within this strategy. 3.0 Where Do We Want To Get To? 3.1 Principles Principle 1: We will achieve a right-first-time approach wherever possible. Our customers do not want to be passed around the organisation. Depending on the access channel chosen, they want to complete one transaction wherever possible and/or have contact with one member of staff who represents the whole organisation by taking responsibility to provide a response or ensure a response is provided by another. Principle 2: We will always tell customers when a service will be delivered and will put right anything that goes wrong. When our customers contact us, they always want to know when a service will be delivered or a response can be expected. They also want to know what should be expected, what they need to do if something goes wrong and what we will do to put things right. Principle 3: The front line of the organisation will be empowered and have excellent customer service skills. People and the way they interact are critical in the delivery of excellent public services and good processes do not work without good people. Our customers want personal and responsive face-to-face contact, well trained staff with excellent communication and negotiation skills and welcoming contact points with friendly, approachable, knowledgeable staff that are polite, understanding and empathetic.

Principle 4: We will ensure that all access channels are flexible to meet the individual needs of customers. All our customers have different needs and their method of access may change depending on the service they require. Ensuring accessibility to all our customers in the way they choose is key as well as introducing them to other more cost-effective channels. Principle 5: We will join with partners encouraging seamless services with no wrong door for customers.

Our customers are often required to visit or contact numerous services and/or other government agencies and repeatedly explain their circumstances even when they are all contributing to the same outcome. People do not want to be passed around and do not understand why public services cannot be dealt with more easily.

Principle 6: We will deliver quality value for money services. Value for money access to services and service delivery should always be provided to the residents of Doncaster. Any reorganisation of staff or services, the re-design of processes and implementation of technology will be achieved in the most efficient way possible. 4.0 How Are We Going To Get There? 4.1 Projects Delivery of the principles will be through the five following key projects. Project 1: Fully Developed and Efficient Access Channels. The access channels currently available have evolved over time rather than being fully developed and used right across the organisation to achieve high customer satisfaction and efficiency. � Website There is clearly one access channel that the Council should concentrate its efforts upon due to the fact it is available 24/7 anywhere in the world and is the best value for money to the Council. The Council website www.doncaster.gov.uk is the electronic face of the Council and whilst it is very informative and provides some self-service functionality, it needs to be improved so it meets the needs of our customers. Some technical improvements have already been initiated and a full redesign is under way. However, a self-service function for all services where possible needs to be more of a priority to realise savings. This will be within the scope of this project. � Telephone Contacting the Council by telephone is the current preferred method. However, there are two pages of phone numbers currently advertised with customers expecting a very high level of service from the Council when they call them. This is not achievable or cost effective so the scope of this project will include the Council moving to a small group of key phone numbers which will each respond to a set of similar/corresponding services whilst still maintaining an expert approach. A contact centre environment will be used either in one location or virtually across the organisation using re-designed processes, trained staff and systems. This will provide a more efficient resource management model and increased business continuity benefits. No other phone numbers will be advertised unless essential.

� Email The main email address advertised for the Council is general.enquiries@doncaster.gov.uk, however as it is unknown how many email addresses across the Council are used by customers to contact the Council or whether they are responded to, it is difficult to ascertain whether it is the most used or how we currently perform as a whole. These facts and the

same reasons given for the rationalisation of telephone contact means that we need to change the way we deal with email contact across the Council. Email is currently the second most cost-effective access channel after web self-service and is also accessible 24/7 although the customer has to wait for a response if out of working hours at the moment. This could change in the future and could even be dealt with remotely by staff working at home. The Council will move to one advertised email address for initial contact responded to by a dedicated team of staff trained to respond and/or gather responses from the appropriate part of the Council. This will provide a more efficient, measured and consistent service. � New Access Channels Other access channels now popular with many customers have yet to be adopted by the Council. One text number for the Council will be introduced shortly and the use of social media needs to be progressed and will be included within this project. Project 2: The Redesign of Business Processes Around the Needs of Our Customers Eliminating All Waste. The ‘right-first-time’ and ‘no wrong door’ concepts cannot be achieved without a full business process re-engineering exercise that re-designs all processes around the customer also enabling integrated working between partners, high performance and value for money. In order to redesign all our processes around our customers, we will:

� Identify all processes that affect our customers; � Map the agreed processes and identify their cost; � Re-design from a customer perspective as well as removing

duplication and unnecessary steps to achieve savings; � Implement any new technology and procedures; � Re-align staff structures; � Train staff to use the new processes and tools; and � Communicate any necessary information to customers.

This work has already started in preparation for the planned Civic and Cultural Quarter one-stop-shop however this project recognises the need to increase the pace of that project and increase the remit to include all access channels to contribute to the savings that need to be made by the Council both now and in future years. Project 3: Specification and Implementation of a Technical Infrastructure That Delivers the Capability Required. To assist our customers in the most effective way, staff need to have information about the customer at their fingertips, the ability to provide any information and to access any service. This cannot be achieved without technology that provides a record of all customer interactions, access to information, the ability to transact and retrieve anywhere in the borough and integration with many business systems including those of our partners. This project will produce a specification to inform the type of functionality that the

technology needs to deliver so it can be procured/made available to provide the platform for the new way of working that this strategy will bring. This will also consider the technology already in place. Once the technology has been procured or existing technology enhanced, the new processes will inform the detailed way in which the new technical infrastructure needs to be configured and then implemented. The size and complexity of this project cannot be under-estimated however the benefits and savings realised will more than make up for it. Project 4: Development and Implementation of a Continuous Programme of Training and Development for the Front- Line of the Council. The re-design of processes will re-define the way the organisation is structured releasing more resources to the front-line. The new front-line needs to be highly skilled in the delivery of excellent customer service and it is vital that they feel empowered to make common sense decisions when generic processes cannot deliver. If we wish for customer satisfaction to be high, this investment is key for the staff that form the face of the Council. The training package developed by this project will be delivered to the whole front-line of the organisation to provide:

� A consistent and seamless response from the organisation no matter who the customer contacts;

� Empowered staff who take full responsibility until a response is provided and make common sense decisions when things go wrong;

� knowledgeable responses by staff who know how the organisation functions as a whole;

� welcoming access points with friendly and approachable staff who possess excellent communication and negotiation skills; and

� A skilled workforce who can use all the tools available to provide an immediate full response or ensure the enquiry/request is resolved as promised.

This training will also be included in the induction for all new front-line staff and a shorter refresher package will also be developed and implemented on an annual basis. Project 5: Implementation of the One-Stop-Shop Within the Civic and Cultural Quarter. This will be the new face of Doncaster Council in the town centre and will not only replace all the current town centre receptions but introduce a new and extensive one-stop-shop facility where our customers can access the full portfolio of services provided by the Council and its partners. This presents an exciting opportunity and a great ability to vastly improve the perception our customers have of the Council and its partners. This project forms part of the Civic and Cultural Quarter project and already progressing but is integral to this strategy and includes the deliverables of the Service Delivery Sub Group which are:

� Physical implementation of the Customer Service Centre facility delivering the full portfolio of Council services;

� The re-design of all current face-to-face processes to deliver through a new service delivery model;

� Specification and implementation of the tools and technology required; and

� Development of the new staff structures, procedures and training. 5.0 How Much Is It Going To Cost? The cost of delivering this strategy depends upon how long the Council wishes to take to deliver it and the appetite for up-front investment in order to reap the benefits with the risks attached within the current financial environment. There is an obvious up-front financial investment required for the technology involved no matter what the timescales are, however the rest of the resources required could be found within the organisation if they were freed up to deliver this strategy as a priority but further financial investment may be required if it was chosen to complete everything rapidly. Appendix 3 shows the estimated costs for each project. 6.0 Benefits Realisation Although the evidence is not available at this stage, it is believed that the efficiencies achieved by the re-design of processes, reduced avoidable contact and new or further developed access channels will cover all the investment required and in addition achieve major savings for the Council in the years ahead. Many expert consultants reckon that over 50% of much customer contact activity is due to failure demand and simple headcount cuts often increase this rather than cutting real waste. End-to-end re-design, done well, gets to the root causes of failure and cuts failure demand to create real savings that are consistent with improved services. In 2007, the Communities and Local Government’s National Process Improvement Project (NPIP) found that business process re-design is an effective tool to help local authorities meet their organisational aims, including improving customer service, establishing shared services, and enhancing staff

satisfaction and retention. The project also completed some research on the scope for efficiency and has produced compelling evidence of significant – at least 20% - potential for efficiency gains from business process re-design projects. There are of course many other benefits such as improvement of service provision, shared service opportunities and an improved customer focused culture across the organisation. Examples from the pathfinder projects are: Efficiency Gains

� Across the 11 projects, the total efficiency savings identified expected to provide in the region of a 10:1 - 15:1 return on investment on the cost of carrying out the business process re-design exercise.

� London Councils identified that the three London Boroughs reviewed could save 5%-17% of staff time from removing non-value adding costs from the child protection process from assessment to referral.

� Furthermore, they identified savings of between £700k-£900k from implementing shared processes between authorities in the commissioning of home care and related support.

� Sedgefield identified savings of up to 17% from moving waste management customer services on to a Customer Relationship Management System and the web.

Improvement Of Service Provision

� Chorley used business process re-design to produce a blueprint for how a customer focused district council could run, complete with customer champions operating at a strategic level monitoring service provision to key client groups.

� Other pathfinders identified ways of improving service provision by reducing assessment process times in Revenues and Benefits, and by improving the quality of highways by increasing staff time spent on the cyclical inspection process through mobile working.

Shared Services

� London Councils assessed the potential for shared processes both within individual boroughs, and with other agencies across boundaries - business process re-design helped to identify common processes between areas and therefore where processes could be shared.

� Others are in the process of redesigning corporate services (such as human resources and finance) under a shared service banner.

� Other authorities used their projects to progress their shared services work in Public Protection and Revenues and Benefits.

� The Chorley district blueprint involved using business process re-design techniques to stand back and consider where overlaps may suggest shared services are possible.

Culture

� Pathfinders noted that staff became more customer focussed as they took time out of the day job to consider the customer's perspective of their service.

� Pathfinders reported that staff found the networking opportunities presented by the workshops very helpful.

� Pathfinder staff found that the interviews and workshops gave them useful opportunities to stand back from day jobs, voice concerns and come up with improvement ideas.

� As many of the initiatives were in potentially sensitive areas, the pathfinders that engaged staff as early as possible found more success in tackling tricky subjects.

� Where good practice approaches to involving staff directly in improving business processes have been deployed, there has typically been

improved morale, raised productivity and positive effects on levels of sickness absence.

Finally, to put into perspective the potential benefits that could be achieved by Doncaster Council, the following table refers to a business process re-design exercise completed by Customer Services back in 2006 for general enquiries delivered by the range of access channels across the Council at that time. This data is obviously out of date now but it gives an excellent picture of how the cost of current processes varies across services and how much waste could be eliminated. This was unfortunately not implemented at the time due to the up-front investment required for technology, however all the research still exists and would be the first improvements to be implemented if this strategy is approved.

General Enquiries BPR - Current Costs Calculated To Show Value Added (Essential)

And Non Value Added (Waste) - 2006

Cost per enquiry Volumes Current cost Savings

Non Value

Added Value Added

Total Cost per

query

Weekly Volumes from As-

is

Est cost per year

To Be Potential savings

Face to Face

example 1 0.66 1.22 1.88 4,131.46 403,891.50 -£300,770.27

Face to Face

Example 2 0.79 1.69 2.48 4,131.46 532,793.04 -£429,671.81

To Be 0.00 0.48 0.48 4,131.46 103,121.23

Telephone Example 1

1.57 0.63 2.20 3,527.44 403,539.41 -£297,151.75

Telephone Example 2

8.86 1.53 10.39 3,527.44 1,905,806.58 -

£1,799,418.92

To Be 0.00 0.58 0.58 3,527.44 106,387.66

Letter Example 1

3.76 2.07 5.83 167.34 50,730.79 -£36,111.97

Letter Example 2

12.16 11.41 23.57 167.34 205,098.60 -£190,479.78

To Be 0.10 1.58 1.68 167.34 14,618.82

E mail Example 1

6.25 2.23 8.48 625.74 275,926.31 -£233,951.67

E mail Example 2

16.72 8.97 25.69 625.74 835,913.55 -£793,938.91

To Be 1.29 0.00 1.29 625.74 41,974.64

Appendix 1 - Customer Service Strategy Model

Customers Enquiries, Service Requests, Applications, Payments

Complaints, Comments, Compliments, Consultation etc

Current Access Channels

Main 736000 Telephone Number

But Many Phone Numbers Advertised

Many Email Addresses

Many Receptions Not Delivering Full Range Of

Services

Very Limited Web Access To

Services

Letters/Applications Direct To Services

Staff Approached Direct

Limited Use Of Texting

Surveys/Focus Groups

Feedback Not Used Centrally

We will achieve a right-first-time approach wherever possible.

We will always tell customers when a service will be delivered and will put right anything that goes wrong.

The front line of the organisation will be empowered and have excellent customer service skills.

We will ensure that all access channels are flexible to meet the individual needs of customers.

We will join with partners encouraging seamless services with no wrong door for customers.

New Principles

We will deliver quality value for money services.

Fully Developed And Efficient Access Channels.

1. Improvement Of The Website. 2. Rationalisation Of Phone Numbers. 3. Rationalisation Of Email Addresses. 4. Introduction Of New Channels.

The Re-Design Of Business Processes Around The Needs Of Our Customers Eliminating All Waste.

1. Business Process Re-Engineering. 2. Systems Thinking. 3. Training. 4. Re-Alignment Of Staff Structures.

Specification & Implementation Of A Technical Infrastructure That Delivers The Capability Required.

(A Single View Of All Customer Contact And Feedback With The Ability To Record, Locate, Performance Manage, Access And Populate Information In A Knowledge Base And Main Service

Systems Of The Organisation.)

1. Specification Informed By New Processes. 2. Customer Relationship Management System – Single View Of Customer. 3. Electronic Document Management. 4. Geographical Information System. 5. Integration between key systems. 6. Mobile Working.

Development & Implementation Of A Continuous Programme Of Training & Development For The Front-Line Of The Council.

1. Induction For New Staff. 2. Training For Existing Staff. 3. Continuous Programme.

Transformational Projects

Re-Define Organisational

Culture &

Ensure Successful Change

Management

Implementation Of The One-Stop-Shop Within The Civic And Cultural Quarter.

1. Re-Design Of All Face-To-Face Customer Interaction. 2. Re-alignment Of Staff Structures. 3. Training. 4. Physical Implementation & Go-Live

Future Access Channels

Golden Telephone Numbers

CCQ Reception and

Neighbourhood Access Points

Member Of Staff With

Mobile Device

One Email

Address

Website Self

Service

One Text

Number Surveys

Electronic Post Room

Social Media Focus

Groups TV

The Benefits Informed Priorities

Informed Decision Making

Informed Service Planning

High Customer Satisfaction

High Performance Improved

Reputation Efficiency

Modern and Responsive Organisation

Customer Journey 1

Transferred to

Contact Centre.

A customer calls to notify the council of her elderly mother’s death – As Is.

A customer calls to notify the council of her elderly mother’s death – To Be.

Customer registers a death at

registrars office.

Notification

sent to council

tax and

benefits

Customer calls

734444.

Can I cancel

tenancy on council

house?

Transferred to

St leger homes.

Transferred to

local rent

payments

office.

Tenancy cancelled .

Can I cancel

carer?

Care arrangements

ceased.

Can I cancel clinical

refuse collection?

Collection is

cancelled.

Can I cancel alarm

monitoring service?

Transferred to

Corporate Alarm

Monitoring Centre.

Alarm monitoring

service cancelled.

Can I remove

from the electoral

roll?

Transferred to

Electoral Services.

Details are

removed from

electoral roll.

Customer

registers a death

at registrars

office.

Call 1

Call 2

Transferred to

switchboard.

Transferred to

ACT team.

Transferred to

switchboard.

End of call.

Customer calls registrars 364922

and makes an appointment

Customer calls registrars 364922

and makes an appointment

Information recorded

on CRM

All relevant Council departments

and partner agencies notified

Customer Journey 1

Customer Journey 2

Many

customers visit

SYPTE office

as they are

unclear of

where to go

Customer is

sent to

Colonnades

Reception

Customer

given

application to

complete and

eligibility

documents

checked

Customer does

not have

relevant docs

but is registered

with social

services

Customer

is sent to

Social

Services

Reception

Customer is

sent to

Colonnades

Reception

Social services

stamp form

Application

is received

at

Colonnades

and sent for

processing

Customer

goes

home

Customer waits 7-10 calendar days

Decision

letter

arrives by

post –

customer is

eligible

Customer

goes to

SYPTE

office

Customer

shows

letter and

proof of ID.

Customer

goes home

Customer

waits 3

working days

Pass arrives

by post

Disabled person wishes to apply for mobility travel pass – To Be

Customer visits SYPTE office

Customer visits Council office

Advisor has

access to

relevant

information

Pass Issued

Disabled person wishes to apply for mobility travel pass – As Is

Customer Journey 3A low income family moves into the area with a child who has special needs – As is

Transferred to

Benefits for free

School meals

Call 1

Call 2

Call 3

Customer rings

734444

Customer informs

Council Tax of move.

Can I apply for

Benefits?

Switchboard transfer

to Council Tax

Council tax transfer

to Benefits

Customer speaks to

Benefits & form is sent.

Can I speak to

Admissions?

School Admissions are

engaged, customer is given

737204

Customer rings

School Admissions

737204

Customer advised

they need to speak

to Special Needs team

Special Needs Team are

Engaged given 737207

Customer rings

Special Needs

Team

737207

Special Needs Team

send out forms.

Can I apply for free

School meals?

Benefits send out forms.

Can I get on the

Electoral Register?

Transfer to Electoral

Services.

Electoral Services

send out relevant

Forms

Can I get a new bin?

Electoral Services

Transfer to Switch board

Switchboard transfer to

Customer Services

Advisor orders bin

End of call

End of call

End of call

A low income family moves into the area with a child who has special needs – To Be

Customer calls the Council

Customer visits the website

Benefit application and free school meals form filled in

Council tax account set up

School admissions and special needs forms filled in

Added to Electoral register

Bin ordered

Customer Journey 4

The customer needs

equipment for their

home.

An adult

enters the

system having

been recently

registered as

partially

sighted.

A worker goes

out to perform an

overall

assessment.

The customer is

suspected of also

having hearing

problems.

The customer is suspected

of having mental health

issues.

The customer needs

some stimulation

such as visiting a day

centre

A sensory worker will contact the

customer and assess their

hearing needs.

An Occupational therapist will contact

the customer and assess their

equipment needs.

A referral will be made

to the GP who will

perform an assessment.

The customer will

be financially

assessed for a

personal budget.

A referral may be made by the GP to

the Community Mental Health Service

Older People and they will perform an

assessment.

An elderly customer requires an assessment as they have recently been registered as partially sighted –

As Is.

An elderly customer requires an assessment as they have recently been registered as partially sighted –To Be.

An adult enters the system having been

recently registered as partially sighted.

A worker goes out and

performs 1 assessment

for:

Hearing problems

Equipment needs

Suspected mental health needs

Any other needs

Customer Journey 5

Customer is waiting at reception.

A Customer requires a bus fare refund for a contact visit with their child – As Is

Receptionist

calls social

worker,

Social worker gets

manager to sign a

form.

Faxes form to

admin team.

Admin team get

manager to sign.

Goes to

finance team.Finance

issue the

money.

Admin worker

comes down

to the

reception.

Receptionist

receipts the

money.

Gives

money to

the

customer.

When this process runs

smoothly it takes 20 minutes.

The average amount of bus fare refunded is £3.70.

A Customer requires a bus fare refund for a contact visit with their child – To Be

Receptionist takes ticket Checks details

of contact visit

on system

Receipts and issues

money from safe

Customer Journey 6

Customer

rings 736000

Advisor

answers

call

Advisor

logs on

Mayrise

System.

Lighting.

Sreet Lighting

Admin print

off the job.

Admin also log

on Symology

system.

Admin

place in

Engineers

Tray.

Engineer

visits the

street

Light .

This is

a Yorkshire

Electricity fault.

Street lighting cannot

fix the fault.

Customer

rings

736000

to complain.

Advisor

answers call .

Advisor is unaware

that fault cannot be

fixed.

Advisor logs

another job

on Mayrise.

Admin log job

on Symology.

Admin print

off job.

Admin

place in

engineers

tray.

Engineer

visits street

light .

This is

a Yorkshire

Electricity fault.

Street lighting cannot

fix the fault.

Customer is not informed that the light cannot be fixed within

timescales.

A customer calls to report a faulty street light – As Is

A customer calls to report a faulty street light – To Be

Customer

rings 736000Advisor determines who is

responsible and gives

timescale.

Logs details on

CRM to relevant

party (DMBC/YE)

Fault fixed Details updated on

CRM

Appendix 3 – Customer Service Strategy Estimated Costs The costs contained within this document are informed estimates only and based on any work being completed internally within the organisation wherever possible to reduce the financial investment required. If the work is to be implemented rapidly at the lowest cost, this can only be achieved if resources are re-aligned and dedicated. If rapid deployment is agreed without this, external capacity would need to be explored. Project 1: Fully Developed And Efficient Access Channels. � Website The technical and design expertise exists internally within the organisation and work is currently progressing to re-design the website in consultation with services and customers. However, in order to realise the real benefits from a website, it needs to become fully transactional to enable customers to self-serve and so the Council can take advantage of the most cost-effective way of delivering services. Again, some of this could be done internally if this work was prioritised, however some expert consultancy would need to be procured externally to the organisation both for some skills and specifically from the suppliers of any systems with which we would need the website to integrate. The current rates for consultancy range from £750-£1500 a day. Estimated cost - £50k. Savings – Cannot be evidenced at this time but self-service will substantially reduce the cost of delivering services both immediately and in future years. � Telephone The current call management system used by the Council is currently in contract until April 2014 and already provided within budget. The estimated cost to merge the current offering and add some capacity is £5k if located in a Council building. The cost of implementing golden numbers is £1200 each with maintenance charges of £1k per annum each. However, there would be savings by reducing the current level of phone numbers across the Council – these cannot be quantified at this time. If an automated operator was also implemented, this would cost approximately £25k-£30k, however this would pay for itself immediately with further savings achieved in future years. Estimated cost - £42,200 and £6k per annum. Savings – Resource for current switchboard that takes 8,000 calls per week would no longer be required - £31,450 per annum. Reduced phone costs across the organisation unknown at this time. Budget Requirement – £10,750 � Email This would cost the Council nothing to implement. There is already a team within the Contact Centre who respond although access to information needs to improve greatly. The team may need to expand however it is expected that channel migration would enable resources to be moved around.

� New Access Channels One Text Number – this is already in the process of being implemented within current budget. The same team who respond to the email address will respond. Social Media – there are no costs attached to the implementation, however internal resources will need to be re-aligned to maintain. It is expected this will replace other methods of consultation/feedback and therefore no extra resource required. Total Cost For Project 1 - £60,750. Project 2: The Redesign of Business Processes Around the Needs of Our Customers Eliminating All Waste. This project can be delivered totally in-house at no extra cost to the Council if resources are re-aligned and dedicated to this work. The skills required can be gained both by training and from expertise that already exists. An element of this work has already begun in preparation for the one-stop-shop within the CCQ project which involves the re-design of all processes that are initiated by face-to-face customer contact. However, more resource is required to drive this work more rapidly through the organisation whilst widening the remit to all service delivery processes. These roles also need to become experts in change management. It is difficult to estimate the dedicated resource required however based on current work a corporate team assigned in the following way for one year is suggested: Children’s Services – 4 FTE Neighbourhood s& Communities – 4 FTE Adult Services – 3 FTE Development – 2 FTE Resources/PPI – 2 FTE If this was not resourced internally – the estimated cost would be £504,915. Savings – major savings in future years due to the elimination of waste and reduced avoidable contact that the Council cannot ignore in the current financial environment. Project 3: Specification and Implementation of a Technical Infrastructure That Delivers the Capability Required. The cost of this project is very difficult to estimate and requires the most investment, however the major efficiencies that will be generated by the re-design of processes in project 2 cannot be realised to the extent required without doing so. � Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System. Two sets of costs have been pursued for this element. One builds upon the current pilot implementation of the Microsoft offering (we have already procured 213 licenses in the past) and the other (Siebel CRM) is part of a wider package of software that would also include a Finance, HR, Payroll system, integration facilities and a data store. Both have advantages, the

Microsoft system has already had investment so should not be dismissed and the other would be easier to maintain, analyse and integrate in line with other similar based systems. The following costs are for software only: Siebel CRM - £692,300 and annual costs of £152,306 (heavily discounted and conditional on procuring other systems). Microsoft – We are still waiting for the cost of an organisation wide license but if procured on an individual basis: Full User - £576 Limited User - £173 each. Based on the fact that we already have 213 Full Users, if we needed another 200 Full Users, the comparable price with the other product would still give us over 3,000 Limited User licences which is what most staff would use. Other costs provided for the Microsoft solution are: Self-Service Module - £20k. Local Government Essentials Module (includes environmental, highway services etc) - £50k. Also, using another authority as an example to implement the above two modules and integration with two key systems, the quote is: 50 days – minimum project 100 days – with minor changes 200 days – with significant changes. Consultancy is currently quoted at £850 per day and this estimate will be based around minor changes at £85k. It is difficult to know what functionality is included within the Siebel cost but it is suspected that it will be a base product only and therefore comparable to the Microsoft user licence model with any extra functionality and configuration work charged as an extra. Therefore, the following costs will be used as an estimate: CRM Base Product - £692,300 and £152,306 per annum. Self-Service (via website) – £20k Local Government Module - £50k Consultancy Costs (Phase 1) - £85k Estimated Cost – £847,300 and £152,306 per annum (phase 1 only). Savings – significant % of savings in future years but cannot quantify at this time. � Electronic Document Management This system has already been adopted corporately with a licensing model that enables rollout right across the organisation and is essential for when the new Civic Accommodation is implemented. There are also resources with the required expertise available internally; however they are not currently dedicated to the project although this is being discussed. This means most of this work could be achieved within current resources apart from the

integration with other systems. For integration with a CRM system, a typical cost for an implementation would be £15k with consultancy costs ranging from £750-£1500 a day. Estimated Cost - £37,500. Savings – significant % of savings in future years but cannot quantify at this time. � Geographical Information System This system has already been adopted corporately with a licensing model that enables rollout right across the organisation. There are also the resources with expertise available internally but they are not currently dedicated to the project. This means most of this work could be achieved within current resources apart from the integration with other systems. Whilst this function is not essential immediately, the ultimate solution would be a fully interactive desktop that allows locations to be part of the enquiry/service request experience to enable the assignment and completion of work to be attached to the exact site/address. The costs for this are not easy to estimate but a recent example is a tender to integrate and produce a highways management solution with GIS and the tender award value was £130k. Therefore this estimate will include the same amount to capture any further work and integration required. Estimated Cost - £130k. Savings – significant % of savings in future years but cannot quantify at this time. � Mobile Working For the purpose of this strategy, the definition of mobile working is for mobile staff out in the field to have the ability to record, update and receive enquiries and/or service requests via CRM. No assessment of the numbers required has been completed across the Council; however a quick exercise within Neighbourhoods & Communities shows there is a need for approximately 330 officers who could be involved in receiving or recording requests (200 for neighbourhood management and 130 for SSSC functions such as regulation and enforcement). This does not include very specialist officers such as social care wardens at this time. The associated costs are as follows: Blackberry or PDA - £390 each and monthly running costs. Mobile CRM – included under CRM costs. Estimated Cost - £128,700 and monthly costs (this does not take into account those who already have a blackberry which could be substantial.) Grand Total For Project 3 - £1,143,500 and £152,306 annual costs and mobile running costs. Project 4: Development and Implementation of a Continuous Programme of Training and Development for the Front- Line of the Council.

The resource to deliver this project can definitely be found within current resources. It is estimated that a dedicated team of 4 FTE staff would be required to be based in a corporate team working consistently across the whole Council. If this was not resourced internally – the estimated cost would be approximately £134, 644 per annum. Project 5: Implementation of the One-Stop-Shop within the Civic and Cultural Quarter. This project will not cause any additional budget requirements to the projects within this strategy and the CCQ project. It is included within this strategy because it is a critical part of the Customer Service Strategy. Grand Total Cost Capital - £1,204,250 Revenue - £152,306 and running costs.