Customer Experience (CX) is vital to the government’s duty to serve the public. While each federal agency is unique, all must find a strategy that works for them in administrating customer service. The most helpful approach for the federal government is to make customer service accessible, friendly and beneficial across diverse agencies.
Customer Service is a Vital Part of Agencies
For customers, the main deciding factor in how they interact with an agency is their trust in it. To properly serve customers, agencies must improve the experience of taxpayers. Agency services should be straightforward, simple and quickly processable for customers. This will encourage customers to interact with agencies and to trust them with their information. Originally, the most accessible medium for government aid was physical papers. Many agencies still rely on this method. However, as the technological space changes, agencies must make government services accessible on a variety of different platforms, including computers and mobile devices. This way, government agencies can reach the greatest number of taxpayers possible.
Building Trust between Customers and Staff
Because of the diversity of the taxpayer base, customer service cannot be approached in a single, straightforward way. Instead, agencies must dedicate time to training personnel to create a multi-faceted approach. For example, delivering quality solutions allows agencies to focus on problem-solving to integrate customer feedback into their business strategies. They should enhance user experience so that customers can trust in the government.
It is also important to take an internal approach. Quality customer service is equal parts providing the best personnel service and procuring proper solutions. Government services tend to be ad hoc and optimized, with a steady workflow that is processed swiftly and smartly. Typically, having a unique solution for each scenario is unrealistic in the government sphere, as it tends to lose work efficiency. On the other hand, having a standardized process tends to leave some customers without a desired solution. When outcomes feel suboptimal for customers, customer service strategies should come into play. Staff should be trained to handle a diverse customer base in an appropriate and varied manner. If staff handle grievances in an emphatic manner, that will build trust between the agency and the taxpayer, providing the most optimal service.
Delivering on Customer Service Promises
It is important to implement real efforts in improving customer experience. Government agencies can ensure valuable customer service by providing accountability in CX through an office or official that specializes in CX accountability. The federal government and select federal agencies that handle customer experience, such as high impact service providers, should have chief CX officers to provide accountability in service delivery initiatives across the fed landscape and agency level.[1] That way, agencies must continue to emphasize CX in federal government initiatives.
The federal government must commit to CX. The presidential administration agenda has validated these efforts by prioritizing user experience improvement. To jumpstart this effort, the federal government has allocated $100 million of the Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) toward improving CX for civilian end users that interact with U.S. government digital services. Some of these funds will go to cutting waiting time, eradicating duplicative administration paperwork, and streamlining access to government services.[2] The administration hopes to improve delivery, which, according to the Federal Chief Information Officer and TMF Board Chair Clare Martorana, has previously not kept pace with the needs and expectations of the public. Efforts to improve this include deploying secure technology that will reduce costs for agencies, eliminating burdens on workforce, and meeting the public’s expectations.
Moving Forward
Customer service is a vital way to build trust between an agency and customer. In the federal government, genuine initiatives to improve CX must be addressed. This can be as simple as training personnel on handling customers, or as encompassing as creating a CX office. And as the world changes, the best approach to delivering CX will include tangible solutions, modernization and emphatic customer service.
View the Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit sessions to learn more about delivering on customer experience promises amongst federal agencies.
[1] “Experts Call for More Chief Customer Officers in Government,” FCW, https://fcw.com/digital-government/2022/06/experts-call-more-chief-customer-officers-government/368563/
[2] “Tech Modernization Fund Launches Fresh $100 Million for CX Projects,” Nextgov, https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2022/06/tech-modernization-fund-launches-fresh-100-million-cx-projects/368273/
