Month: May 2014
5 Ways Government Can Improve Its Customer Service Excellence Brand
While government has started to incorporate more and more private sector strategies to improve operations, one effort where government is lacking is branding. Where private-sector companies are able to build brands that customers love and are enthusiastic about, governments tends to stray away from any substantial efforts to build a lovable brand.
While government may never be able to build a Starbucks-esque brand (where customers are constantly “wowed” and pass this wow along via word of mouth and social media) government can make small changes to the way it interacts with its customers to create a more open, pleasant, and collaborative experience for customers.
I recently read an article called “5 Lessons from Companies with Adoring Customers” by Hannah Johnson on the Get Satisfaction blog. The lessons outlined were incredibly helpful and offered great insight for how small changes can improve an organization’s brand.
Let’s take these lessons and adopt them for government.
1. Provide Customers Access to Decision-Makers when they have a Gripe
The words “open” and “accessible” are now synonymous with any progressive government. While some of this focus is on releasing data, constituents also want access to the top officials making decisions. Thankfully, there’s social media. Social media has leveled the playing field in terms of constituent accessibility. Now, all it takes to reach top officials is a tweet or a comment on Facebook. And you would be surprised at how impactful a genuine reply or even a retweet can be.
2. Don’t Just Innovate for Them, Innovate with Them
Social media and other technologies have also given governments the ability to brainstorm with customers and get their feedback. When designing a process, program, or event, why not post something on social media asking for input? Also, Tweet Chats (scheduled discussions on Twitter) sponsored by governments are a great way to engage and discuss new ideas with customers.
3. Identify, Incentivize, and Empower Customers
Governments should take this cue from the private sector and reward top customers. This does not mean that governments need to buy customers expensive gifts, but customers who are top proponents of services or programs should gain recognition or meetings with top officials. Another way to incentivize customers is through gamification. Gamify civic engagement by giving points for participation in programs or community events. You can also designate great customers as “Super Users” or other honorary names.
4. Treat Customers like Humans
Government may be limited by budgetary or regulatory constraints in terms of marketing messaging. However, customers need clear information from their government. In some cases, there’s not a lot of room for creative marketing promotions or messaging, as information about resources and other public services should not be misconstrued. Social media, however, allows government to step away from entirely robotic responses. Through the use of social media, government can have real, human conversations with customers, rather than only pushing out information. Human interactions can improve the way customers perceive government as a whole.
5. Allow Customers to Help Themselves
Governments are known for being overly bureaucratic. Now more than ever, customer want information, answers, and resolutions instantaneously. A way to appease the customers is to make many processes self-service. Let customers get the information they want, as soon as they want. If your current system don’t allow for the creation of self-service portals, create informational blog posts, or even a wiki so that customers don’t have to wait in a queue to get an answer they could find faster themselves. Empower your customers. They’ll appreciate you for it!
Can you think of any other ways to improve your local government’s customer service brand?
The Nine Tips for Offering Exceptional Customer Service on Social Media in Government
I recently read an article in Forbes by Tracy Foster on “The Nine Tips for Offering Exceptional Customer Service.” Every organization should build its social customer service strategy based this list as it really speaks to our current social climate. Customers want to engage with organizations that offer fast, effective, human interactions. Government organizations are no different. Customers want to engage with government on their terms, via social networks, usually through smartphones. Governments that are taking a proactive social approach are engaging more constituents in a more meaningful way. That’s why I adopted Tracy’s lists of “The Nine Tips for Offering Exceptional Customer Service on Social Media in Government.” With this, I explain how Tracy’s tips can relate to a government agency.
- Be fast. Constituents have grown used to government agencies taking too long to respond to inquires. Social media has given agencies a gift by empowering employees to respond to concerns instantaneously. This is especially true in times of extreme weather or other stressful events. Social media allows agencies to update customers with valuable information in real-time.
- Be thoughtful. Social media has also given agencies a chance to humanize government. Don’t be afraid to show a little personality. Show excitement when an event or story warrants it. If your agency might lose followers if it sounds too much like a robot, constantly pushing out information without real interaction.
- Always respond to problems. Social media is a public platform. That means that customer concerns are aired to the public and, more importantly, the choice to ignore those concerns is public too. While certain situations require certain levels of sensitivity, as a rule, your organization should provide as much information to the customer as possible.
- Send customers to where you want them to be. (Tracy’s explanation works perfectly for government agencies) If it’s an issue that can’t be solved in 140 characters, give customers a direct email address, and be sure that they are responded to as quickly as they would be on social media. If it’s a press inquiry, direct them immediately to the person who manages public relations.
- Share success stories. As a government agency, someone is always telling your story; social media has given you the tools to tell your story too. Blog about your accomplishments. Government is too often reacting to stories when it can be proactively pushing stories out through blogs and other low-cost platforms.
- Cultivate brand advocates. Whether your organization is in government or not, it should reward great customers. While private companies might have the money to give away ipads and other intriguing gifts, government has the resources to reward customers with facetime with top officials. Have a great customer who is always speaking highly of your organization? Schedule a meeting with the mayor or top official in your agency. This kind of reward is more valuable than you think.
- Double-check spelling and grammar. Enough sed. (Just kidding.)
- Be proactive in sharing product and company updates. Government resources are some of the least known-about products out there. For whatever reason, people are not aware of the services that could impact their lives. This tip goes along with #5, to proactively push-out your story and inform customers about the services you offer.
- Go beyond the product. Your organization’s social media presence has the ability to be a resource in and of itself. With retweets, re-posts, and other sharing capabilities, your organization can constantly provide customers with valuable videos, articles, resources, pictures.
Do you have any other social media tips for government agency? Let me know in the comments! And thank you, Tracy, for the great article!
Innovative Customer Service Leadership Strategies 