Rosetta Carrington Lue 311, Communications, Customer Experience Management

Crisis Event? Government 311 Contact Center to the Rescue!

Hurricanes? Mass electrical outages? Coronavirus testing sites? How can city leaders coordinate the centralization of emergency content for the public? It’s 311 contact centers to the rescue!

City leaders are increasing the inclusion of the 311 non-emergency contact center operations into their crisis emergency communications strategy and reaching out to the media to advise the public to call the 311 contact center operations during catastrophic events. The benefits of driving the public to contact 311 for customer support allow the city’s 911 centers to focus on active emergencies, ensures consistency and accuracy of messaging and provides real-time data and stakeholder reports identifying the public’s concerns or complaints trends.

The local government 311 contact center model has been in existence for over 20 years and helps the public to separate 911 emergency calls from 311 non-emergency inquiries. Previously, calls to 911 systems in U.S. cities were overwhelmed by costly and time-consuming non-emergency calls. They ranged from frivolous (my cat won’t come down from the tree) to legitimate concerns that didn’t require an immediate emergency response, such as potholes, illegally parked cars or missed trash.

In 1996, the City of Baltimore decided to do something about the problem. The city launched the country’s first 311 non-emergency phone hotline, a pilot project supported by a $300,000 Department of Justice grant. Since the first launch of 311, there are over 200 similar local/state operations across North America.

Please remember to leverage your City’s 311 contact center operations so residents, businesses, or visitors can receive fast, consistent, and accurate information and support during a crisis event (i.e. weather, public safety, and public health).

Rosetta Carrington Lue 311, Business Processes, Communications, Connected City, CRM, Customer Experience Management, customer service, digital innovation, employee engagement, Government Customer Service, Local Government, Performance Management, Strategy, Technology, user design, website

Using Human Centered Design for Government Digital Transformation

Let’s be clear about my position – government will better serve all stakeholders by establishing a focus to oversee the design and implementation of a human-centered design-centric digital strategy.

The Business Case for Using HCD:

  • Streamlines, integrates, and scales websites and call centers consistently over time,
  • Takes a holistic, iterative approach to prioritizing improvements across channels,
  • Maintains a mobile-experience first philosophy (people seeking information often use mobile devices first because they want information immediately, or rely on mobile exclusively because it is what they can afford),

Digital Customer Experience Values and Benefits:

  • Uses clear, concise, and consistent language and messaging across all channels,
  • Identifies and responds to key touchpoints in a stakeholder’s journey,
  • Establishes a feeling of trust by providing consistent experiences across channels to different stakeholders, and
  • Firmly focuses on the future by laying the groundwork to integrate social media and emerging technologies in later phases of the project.

I am a staunch believer and GovCX Practitioner who understands leading a human-centered design change initiative requires vision and broad oversight to bring stakeholders, products, technical processes, and communication into alignment.

Jane – Typical Government Customer:

For example, picture Jane, a retiree who needs help. She goes to one website on her phone to get information fast, but it doesn’t help. Later she visits another site on her laptop and can see it better, but finds additional information, organized in a new way, and described with a different language.

Jane doesn’t know what to do or trust, so she tries a call center looking for a person to talk to instead. The wait times are long because so many others are having the same problems. When she finally gets through, the call center staff wants to help but they talk about services and options in yet another way.

Jane is distressed by her experience across siloed channels. She encounters disconnected technologies, has to translate between different language use, and finds that information is inconsistently organized or even offered to leave her frustrated and miserable. The call center staff who takes her call can hear that misery as it overflows into their conversation making the staffer’s job harder, the call longer, and both the financial and emotional costs higher for both.

Each time Jane’s journey plays out for another taxpayer or call center staffer, taxpayers lose confidence in the government agency and increase the costs of call center operations.

A single focus and oversight for government Contact Centers and the internet presence is a logical first step towards an improved Customer experience. Needed research must be conducted across channels and changes prioritized coherently across all platforms to maximize results. If the system is not treated as a whole, customer experience will continue to be fragmented and frustrating no matter how many isolated improvements are made over time.

A seamless experience requires a consistent approach to technological solutions, human needs, and organizational responses. The goal is to inspire taxpayer confidence and government efficiency by making it easy to start with a website, reach out to a call center if needed, and then complete tasks on the web when they are ready. In the future, integrating social media will increase responsiveness and better serve millennials and future generations.

A robust online database of Frequently Asked Questions can enhance customer experience based on insights from web analytics and call center topics. Web analytics and the call center knowledge management technology can be used to identify frequently accessed data, searches that come up empty, and how often users access particular information. In-depth interviews with call center personnel can shape resource allocation and better prepare them to address complex situations since the basics are covered in a searchable database.

Starting with aggregated website and call center data creates a solid foundation for human-centered research to address persistent pain points across channels then effectively design and deliver satisfying stakeholder experiences.

What if Jane went to a central website and found the basic information she needed quickly and easily? If she still wasn’t sure what to do in her situation, she could reach out to a call center. When she did, her wait time would be shorter since more people were finding what they needed on a streamlined easily searchable site that highlights frequently asked questions. Jane wouldn’t be so upset when she connected with a staff member, her questions could be answered more quickly, costs would go down, and Jane would regain confidence in the government agency. Later when it worked for her schedule, she could fill out any required forms on the website and get immediate confirmation that they were submitted. Now when Jane talks about the government agency she shares her experience. I get help when I need it, I get things done on my schedule, and I trust that the government agency has my back.

Conclusion

Integrating processes, products, services, and content in an organization like a government agency takes time, vision, and leadership. Consolidating oversight with the right vision offers the best possible chance to successfully transition the taxpayers to a coherent seamless experience.

About me: I am a pioneer in the field of Government Customer Experience Management and have devoted an entire career to bettering the lives of everyone around me through my work. I am right at home as the CEO of GovCX Professionals where I am able to spend all my time focusing on establishing government and their partners with a building a welcoming, innovative, and engaging government customer service experience.

Rosetta Carrington Lue 311, Communications, Connected City, Government Customer Service, Strategy

Residents welcomed to Niagara Falls 311 planning meetings

The Niagara Falls Community Development Department is competing for a grant to fund a citywide 311 system and is are asking residents for input. 311 is a nonemergency phone number that people can call in many cities to find information about services, make complaints, or report problems.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.wnypapers.com

“A grant-funded 311 system would change and improve the way the City of Niagara Falls does business and serves residents,” said Seth Piccirillo, director of Niagara Falls Community Development. “It is essential for our citizens to help plan this system, and we hope the public will join us at our meetings, as always.”

Rosetta Carrington Lue 311, Communications, customer service, employee engagement, Uncategorized

Using Human-Centered Design (HCD) Approach to Improve Your Government Contact Center’s Experience

Every interaction the taxpayer has with the government is a touch point that shapes their impression on the quality of service received based on a positive or negative experience. The contact centers for government are an integrated platform that provides taxpayers and their family members with accurate information about services and information that can provide taxpayers with their desired requests. Rather than government leaders improving solutions that seem accurate to taxpayers, there has been a commitment to creating ideas that better meet taxpayer’s needs by developing processes and tools tailored to their specific needs. To understand the needs of taxpayers, contact center leaders are standardizing the approach by using the human-centered design (HDC) technique. To best serve the taxpayers and create that emotional connection immediately, government leaders must understand the needs of the taxpayers by hearing about the good and bad experiences occurring with every single touch point occurring.

Human-centered design thinkers use a tool called a design artifact (physical model) to aid in communicating, exploring, and defining solutions. Government leaders have created a unique design artifact, the customer journey map, to allow leadership and employees to gain a deeper perspective of what the taxpayer is experiencing and feeling at each stage of their life journey. The results of honing in on the needs of the taxpayers will provide seamless, emotionally connected interactions to events that have been identified (by using HCD), as “moments that matter.” The “moments that matter” are moments that can have a significant impact on the taxpayer’s experience that directly connects to government’s contact centers. Creating that immediate emotional connection with the caller is essential in ensuring the experience is a not only positive but meets the needs of the taxpayer.

Government contact centers have historically struggled with gaining positive taxpayer’s satisfaction due to long wait times, inability to get connected, and inaccurate information all contributing to the lack of trust in government’s ability to care for them. To build confidence, make a connection, and provide accurate information, government leaders must understand thoroughly what makes a taxpayers tick and ensure the communication is clear in the minds of the taxpayers and the service rendered yields a positive experience. When looking through the lens of the human-centered design approach, government leaders can gain insight through direct observation or surveys of what the taxpayer likes or dislikes, what was confusing or what was clear, and figure out how to develop an internal process that can meet their needs. Improving the process, also known as lean management, is a critical output to the problems defined when taking the perspective of taxpayers into consideration.

Rosetta Carrington Lue 311, Communications, Community Engagement Programs, Connected Customers, Customer Experience Management, customer service, employee engagement, Government Customer Service, Performance Management, recognition, social media, Strategy

Why You Should Celebrate 2016 National Customer Service Week Oct 3rd – 9th!

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In the words of Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin, “Well done is better than well said.” The idea of customer service is often reserved to describe interaction with stores, restaurants, and other organizations in the private sector. Rarely do we hear people say “Wow, I had a great experience dealing with the staff at any government agency!” Fortunately, those outside of government might be surprised at how seriously excellence in service delivery is taken in the public sector.

Let’s take a look at national Customer Service Week which was created by 1992 by the President of the United States, citing the value of service excellence in a free market economy.

The President’s proclamation said:

A business will do a better job of providing high-quality goods and services by listening to its employees and by empowering them with opportunities to make a difference. Customer service professionals work in the front lines where a firm meets its customers; where supply meets demand. With responsive policies and procedures and with simple courtesy, customer service professionals can go a long way toward ensuring customer satisfaction and eliciting the next round of orders and purchases. The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 166, has designated the week of October 4 through October 10, 1992, as “National Customer Service Week” and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of October 4 through October 10, 1992, and the first week of October in subsequent years, as National Customer Service Week. I invite all Americans to observe this week with appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventeenth.

George H. Bush

Across the country, including the federal government agencies, there is a movement to improve the delivery of information and service to those in need.

During the first week of October 2016, they are making Benjamin Franklin proud by not just talking about customer service but actually doing something (many things actually) to make sure our customers are properly “served.”

Rosetta Carrington Lue Communications, Customer Experience Management, social media

8 ways Social Media has changed Customer Service

by Silky Sinha, on Tue, May 26, 2015

Social Media has completely changed the face of customer service and the way consumers interact with a brand. Instead of dialing the call center number and going through the pain of dealing with agents with little or no knowledge of their problems, customers prefer to post their issue on Facebook or Twitter that earns them immediate response and their queries are solved within a blink of an eye. Companies have nowadays started focusing on omni-channel customer service to serve their clients and potential customers on their preferred channels, hence driving effective customer engagement.

Below, I have explained 8 ways social media has changed customer service. Let’s go through them one by one.

Customer Interaction has Gone Public Now

Many Customers no longer prefer to call the customer service and have a one-to-one interaction with the representative to get their problems resolved. Instead they want to share their problems on online platforms especially social media. The companies can’t afford to hamper their brand image in public forms like these and needs to take immediate action to solve the problem which also gives them the opportunity to demonstrate how helpful and highly responsive they are. This will definitely create a positive impact on potential customers by showing that you take care of the customers at real-time and that you are very proactive.

According to a study, more than 60% of consumers have already engaged in a customer service transaction using social media. There are both challenges and opportunities for companies here.

Customers Choose their Medium of Communication

There are still many companies who don’t handle customer service on social media. This is really alarming as most of the customers are now choosing social media platforms to interact with companies. Even if the company has all the other channels for customer service, they might suffer and lose their customers to the competitors.

Customers have Plenty of Options Today

If you do not take care of your customer’s issue as soon as possible and fail to provide a good customer experience, then you are surely at a risk. Your customer will not take much time to find a viable alternative to your company. All your competitors are present on social media and social networking will lead to your customer switching to your competitor.

Customer can Make or Break a Brand’s Reputation Easily

In a matter of seconds, customers can ruin your company’s reputation by writing a complaint on your Facebook page. Reputation management has now become a core part of customer service over online mediums and companies will have to take care of it without delay as customers want immediate results now and are not willing to wait. Regular social media monitoring can help companies in managing their reputation well.
Companies can Deal with Multiple Customers at Once

Tackling customers over phone, requires a lot of time as each customer take his/her own time to describe their situation to the contact center agent. However, with the emergence of social media, customer service reps can handle multiple customers at once and can easily deal with customers facing similar issues by posting the solution on a public forum.

Companies can Leverage Social Media Influencers to Build their Brand

Connecting with social media influencers allows you to increase awareness of your brand, create brand advocates and increase online reputation. Maintaining good and lasting relationship with these influencers will provide your company with an opportunity to improve site ranking, gain more followers and eventually become a social media influencer. They can help you in many ways. By writing a good review about your product they can influence many others to purchase your company’s products. If they share a news about your company on social media, it will definitely help in improving your brand’s reputation.

Companies Can Announce Policy Changes Instantly

In the past, companies had to take out advertisements in newspapers to deliver mass messages to consumers about any change in their customer service policy. But things have changed now with social media coming to light. Company can post the changes on social media and will take seconds to spread among their clients.

Customers can Easily Help and Support Each Other

The moment you post a question or a problem or ask for advice, your friends and colleagues instantly reply after seeing the post. Even if somebody is not known to you, but has some knowledge about your problem or has himself facing the same issue, would come to your rescue and support you in reaching out to the company.

Rosetta Carrington Lue Communications, Customer Experience Management

Day in the Life of 311 Director Rosetta Carrington Lue

Dr. Stephen Covey, in his prequel to the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” “The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness,” outlines the four steps to finding your voice:

1.What are you good at?

2.What do you love doing?

3.What need can you serve?

4. And finally, what is life asking of you?

For me, the answers to these questions overlapped, and lead to my current position as the Chief Customer Service Officer of the City of Philadelphia. Check out my “Day in the Life” episode, created by Philly311 TV, and learn about how I found my voice.

“Day In the Life” series is a way to show our constituents the human side of government. By highlighting the day to day of government workers, “Day in the Life” series transparently, and artfully, demonstrates individuals connection to the communities they serve.