GovMetric: Insight

UK Councils - Customer Access Index
October & November 2011

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data. We are looking at both October and November 2011, following the Christmas break.

This index is based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.govmetric.com.

This month:

Monthly Spotlight - Highest multi-channel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlight - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
Feature story - Post Offices and Local Government delivering services in partnership
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi-channel basis:

October

November

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the Face to Face channel:

October

November

nov f2f

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

October

November

nov tel

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel:

October

November

nov web

Finally, this chart looks at the number of Feedback gathered:

October

November

nov feedback

Nearly 30,000 pieces of feedback were collected by the Top 10 councils this month.

Post Offices and Local Government delivering services in partnership

Post Office Ltd is the largest retail and financial services chain in the UK - bigger than all of the UK's banks and building societies put together. Considered to be vital community assets in both urban and rural areas, 99% of the UK population is within 3 miles their nearest Post Office, and 90% is within 1 mile.

post office

But with the mail market in decline, the government is encouraging the Post Office to expand its financial and government services. This will include more local authority involvement in the planning, delivery and level of post office service provision, and further developing the Post Office network as a Front Office for the government at both the national and local level. More details about the proposals can be found here.

In other countries, local government services are provided through post offices to good effect. These include the payment of childcare fees in Australia, applications for disabled parking permits in Italy and pre-paid city and airport parking in Ireland. Post offices in Switzerland are hubs for local government information, notices and newsletters and post offices in Ireland display local authority planning department information. In the UK, over 300 councils already use the Post Office for delivering some services.

There are potential benefits for both sides. For the Post Office, it will help to secure the financial viability of the network; for local councils, it presents the opportunity to deliver services through a wide-reaching, well-trusted channel while also achieving significant cost savings. Older, poorer and other vulnerable citizens (who regularly use post offices and do not always have access to online services) will also benefit; the Post Office network includes 1,500 branches offering services in deprived urban neighbourhoods, and in many rural areas the local Post Office is the sole retail and financial services provider.

Some of the services that the Post Office can support councils to deliver include:

Cash collection from residents - rents, business rates, council tax, parking fines, penalty charge notices, licence fees
Payments to residents - asylum seekers, care leavers, school uniform vouchers, rebates
Form checking - benefits, planning and concessionary travel applications
Identity checking and verification - customer relationship management, enrolment, change in circumstances.
Assistance with online applications.

Below are some recent and forthcoming pilots and projects.

westminster

Westminster City Council
In September 2011, the Post Office signed a contract to provide through its branches a suite of managed services on behalf of Westminster City Council. The first two services to go live were parking penalty charge payments and applications for resident parking permits. Other services to be offered through Post Office branches will be casual parking scratch cards, casual trader vouchers, ordering commercial waste bags and collection as well as Business rate and Council tax payment.

Westminster cabinet member for customer services and transformation Cllr Melvyn Caplan said: "This innovative deal with the Post Office will give Westminster residents more choice of where to make their cash or cheque payments across the borough. The fact residents can pay a wide range of services in one spot - everything from council tax to parking permits - also increases convenience and efficiency."

The Post Office's head of regulation strategy Mike Granville added: "We are pleased to bring on board Westminster City Council, which joins the large number of companies that already trust and rely on the Post Office to manage payments services on their behalf. Innovative contracts like this deliver access and convenience to the customers of the council's services as well as ensuring that more people come through the doors of our Post Office branches, which will help to sustain our valuable branch network into the future."

ryedale

Ryedale District Council
Last September, Ed Davey (Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs) announced that 25 councils would be invited to explore a partnership with the Post Office similar to that in place with Westminster City Council. One of these was Rydale District Council. The council was already reviewing post offices in its district to pre-empt threatened closures when the Royal Mail Group approached it. The authority has been asked to work with Post Office Ltd and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to help shape the future of the network. The partnership will see the authority discuss how more of its services can be offered through local post offices.

Sheffield City Council
In November 2010, Sheffield City Council, the Post Office and the National Federation of Subpostmasters began a pilot to make Post Office branches a front office of Government and public services across the city. Building on the 700,000 transactions Post Office already carries out on behalf of the council, the pilot was designed to improve access to local public services through Post Offices whilst increasing Post Office sustainability. The pilot is now being evaluated and early findings are positive.

Welsh Assembly
In 2009, the Welsh Assembly Government sponsored a trial of the Post Office Validate service with two local authorities in Wales: Cardiff Council and Conwy County Borough Council. Validate was used as a housing benefit error and fraud detection and prevention service for local authorities. The service used targeted mailshots to encourage customers to report changes in circumstances via local post office branches (as well as presenting other options, including mail). Cardiff Council has seen this as a successful trial: "The pilot has been very successful. 67% of customers opted to use the Post Office rather than visit the council's offices and satisfaction rates with the service have been very high. Changes to benefit amounting to £85,000 per week have been identified."

Does your council offer services through local Post Offices? Have you got any plans to expand this over the next 12 months? Perhaps you are you one of the 25 councils that has been approached to form partnerships? We would love to hear from you.

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the two key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

nov channels

nov services

No significant changes this month.

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The methodology is as follows:

Overall satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels:

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

Channel satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel:

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

Populations circa 2009.
The arrows indicate the council's position on the chart compared to the previous month's results.

Data is sourced from www.govmetric.com. GovMetric is a customer experience measurement service that enables you to listen to the Voice of the Customer across all contact channels, to prioritise which areas to improve and to measure improvements through near real-time reporting.

As the data used is a fixed snapshot taken at the end of each month there may be minor variances to the data seen in GovMetric reporting due to final data updates after the end of the month, mapping updates etc.

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit http://www.

UK Councils - Customer Access Index
September 2011

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for September 2011.

This index is based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.govmetric.com.

This month:

Monthly Spotlight - Highest multi-channel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlight - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
Find out where you rank amongst other councils with our satisfaction tier chart
Feature story - There's an app for that: How councils are going mobile
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi-channel basis:

North Kesteven District Council hold on to the top spot for a second month - well done!

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the Face to Face channel:

Kensington & Chelsea and Exeter make it into this month's top 10.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

Dundee City Council continues to rise up the table.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel:

Well done to North East Lincolnshire - a great performance.

Finally, this chart looks at the number of Feedback gathered:

Over 30,000 pieces of feedback were collected by the Top 10 councils this month.

There's an app for that: How councils are going mobile

Predictions show that 50% of the UK population will own a smartphone by 2012. This month we are taking a look at some of the different options available to councils wanting to take advantage of the smartphone revolution to deliver lower cost and convenient services to citizens.

Barnet Council: developed its own app

Last month, Barnet launched its own Smartphone app, which has been designed and created in-house. It enables users to find out local information, see the latest council jobs, contact their local councillor, find answers to common questions and get involved in local consultations. Residents can also pay for their council tax, sign-up for pay-by-phone parking or search an interactive map of local activities via the application. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and the iPad and an application for Android is currently being developed and will be launched in due course.

Councillor Robert Rams, Cabinet Member for Customer Access and Partnerships said: "By launching the official Barnet Council's app, we are not only increasing the number of ways residents can contact and engage with the council, but are achieving this in a cost effective way, proving excellent value for money to the taxpayer. Smartphone applications are now widely used by many companies, but as far as we are aware, Barnet is one of the first local authorities to design and launch its own unique version."

barnet

Wychavon District Council: uses the Looking Local app

Wychavon District Council has adopted the Looking Local platform to provide mobile access to online services. This platform has grown out of the DigiTV National e-Gov Project, and it enables subscribing organisations to deliver content to TV, smartphones, mobile web, social networks & games consoles.

Central to the Looking Local app is the 'Report It' feature, which enables users to quickly report local issues such as graffiti, abandoned vehicles, potholes, damage to street furniture, anti-social behaviour and dumped rubbish. In five easy steps the user can map where the problem is, attach a photo and a comment and submit the report which then gets sent to the council.

In addition to the reporting functionality, the Looking Local app gives access to a wide range of local services provided by over 125 partner organisations including choice-based lettings, repair reporting, news and events, local health services and listings, as well as nationwide job searching from Jobcentre Plus and information from NHS Choices.

wychavon

See also
http://lookinglocal.gov.uk

Sutton Council: uses MyLoMo to deliver smartphone-compatible content

You don't have to provide an app to successfully deliver services via smartphones. Sutton Council uses the MyLoMo platform to deliver 'mysutton.mobi', a 'lite' version of its primary website that displays the most relevant content on mobile platforms. The MyLoMo platform has been designed with Local Authorities to minimise integration work, be back end agnostic and enable the re-use of existing web services. Also, although the service is specifically designed to display accurately when using smartphones, it will also display successfully on any other internet enabled mobile phone to varying degrees of display & speed.

Services available to residents include reporting an abandoned car, fallen trees or graffiti, and the ability to check local maps & travel information as well as the latest Council News or even what's showing at the local cinema.

sutton

Other options

There are other task-specific apps available, that can be used directly by citizens or subscribed to by councils. For example, FixMyStreet by MySociety is a service for reporting, viewing, or discussing local problems such as graffiti, fly tipping, broken paving slabs, or street lighting. Apps are available for Apple and Android smartphones.

What has your council been doing to get mobile? What levels of take-up are you seeing? How do you expect this to continue over the next 12 months? Do you think smartphones offer a real opportunity for reducing the cost of service delivery? We would love to hear from you.

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the two key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

channels chart

No significant changes this month.

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The methodology is as follows:

Overall satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels:

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

Channel satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel:

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit www.govmetric.com/demo. Make sure you have volume turned on!

UK Councils - Customer Access Index
August 2011

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for August 2011.

This index is based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.govmetric.com.

This month:

Monthly Spotlight - Highest multi-channel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlight - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
Spotlight: GovMetric Awards 2011 Winners Announcement
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi-channel basis:

all

Well done to North Kesteven District Council, who take the top spot this month despite not appearing in last month's top 10.

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the Face to Face channel:

South Northamptonshire, Mid Devon and East Hertfordshire all appear in this month's index.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

Dundee City Council is the highest new entrant this month.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel:

web

Well done to North Hertfordshire District Council - a great performance.

Finally, this chart looks at the number of Feedback gathered:

feedback volume

The positions of the top six performers are all unchanged this month, with well over 20,000 pieces of feedback between them in just a month. That really is a huge amount of insight!

Spotlight

GovMetric Awards 2011 Winners Announcement

We are very pleased to announce the winners of this year's GovMetric Awards. Many thanks to all of you who made submissions, we were all very encouraged by the fantastic work our subscribers are doing to engage with customers and use their feedback to bring about real change- both in the way services are provided and on improving the culture and strategy of their organisations.

Council of the Year (Unitary/ County) - London Borough of Sutton
Sutton have had an incredible year, spurred on by their gong last year they have gone from strength to strength. Again they have collected a staggering amount of customer feedback - over 94,000 individual ratings across the three main channels. Using their customer feedback in a variety of ways Sutton have been able to demonstrate the real value of customer insight in making improvements and they have learnt hard lessons from their customers by effectively using the service to monitor issues having a strong impact on the customer experience. They now have a strong commitment to really listening to the voice of the customer.

Council of the Year (District) - Stevenage Borough Council
We know that smaller organisations are different from large ones and they work in different ways, this is why we decided to open up our 'Council of Year' category and recognise the great work that some of the smaller borough and district councils are doing. Stevenage Borough Council have collected over 23000 feedback responses which is amazing given the population of the borough is under 80000. Stevenage are prolific across all of the three main channels and are relentless in striving for customer satisfaction. They know that you need to measure satisfaction consistently to better understand your customers. They have regularly appeared in our top ten in our Customer Access Index, and continually obtain excellent ratings from their customers.

Council Website of the Year - Warwickshire County Council
Having been in our top 5 for satisfaction in almost every month since we started publishing our Customer Access Index, and hitting number one on several occasions, Warwickshire are worthy winners of our Council Website of the Year. They have received more feedback on this channel than any other council and they have used the feedback constructively to fine tune their new website. They know that making little changes on the web and continually looking to make improvements, for which customer input is a huge feature, is the key to success. They value both the quantitative and qualitative feedback they receive through GovMetric and this is really driving their plans for the future.

Service Category Excellence - Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council for Council Tax Service
This year we decided to look at results based on the basic GovMetric service categories to see if we could recognise some excellent practices in a particular service area. This was a tough challenge as we needed to prove consistency as well as overall excellence. Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council were our ultimate winners for their excellent customer ratings in the Council Tax category. Most of their feedback came from the face to face and telephone channels, so we know that the staff do a fantastic job and that the council provides a quick, informative service to its customers. Achieving an overall satisfaction figure of 94% which was an increase of almost 3 points on last year, they also managed to increase the feedback levels by over 4% too. Consistent, measurable improvement - just what we like to see!

Case Studies in Excellence - The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Southend-On-Sea Borough Council
Both of these councils continue year on year to improve their use of GovMetric and make progress with the overall customer insight agenda.

We were really impressed with the staff engagement work that Southend-On-Sea Borough Council have been doing, they actively educate and brief their staff in the importance of collecting customer insight, continuously measure individual staff involvement and have integrated this into their formal appraisal processes. Most importantly we can see that staff have better visibility of the entire insight process, from collection, to analysis and accountability for responding to feedback.

At The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea GovMetric has become well embedded in their operations, and they have worked hard on incorporating customer insight into their KPIs and the organisation's "vital signs". Add to this further improvements in staff training and mentoring, making better use of data and analysis of comments, and progressive feedback throughout the organisation, RBKC are definitely getting it right!

GovMetric Team of the Year - Dundee City Council
Dundee City Council have been using Govmetric for over a year. They had a slow start but they know how important it is to be listening to customers. They now have a structured approach to monitoring take up and have empowered the staff to use the techniques that work for them when engaging with customers. This has resulted in much more useful data and some great responses from customers about the staff themselves. We recognise that the team at Dundee have put in a lot of hard work this year to really embed GovMetric into their everyday responsibilities.

We had many submissions for this category and it was a hard choice for us to make, indeed all teams are to be congratulated for their efforts. There were a couple of submission that stood out for us for which we would like to mention and award a runner up prize, they are

Runner Up - The Borough of King's Lynn & West Norfolk
Runner Up - Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

Both of these teams have been through significant changes in the last year but we were impressed with their commitment to the customer and the team spirit that has prevailed!

GovMetric Promotion Award - The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
We are always on the look out for ideas for promoting GovMetric. Raising awareness, communicating key messages to customers and generally encouraging them to participate is vital on all channels, but on the face to face and web channels we have an opportunity to do this through a visual means. Signposting and clearly explaining to customers the importance of their feedback and how you use it can easily be done through articles, posters, signs and displays. Earlier this year The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead created a presentation which is shown on their LCD screen their Customer Service Centre. The presentation is simple but very effective, and shows video footage of customers giving feedback and reinforces the importance of customers telling us what they think. Along with some other promotional work RBWM have significantly increased the number of responses they receive on the face-to-face channel.

Finally, thanks to Colchester Council who kindly hosted the East Region User Group this month. It was a really enjoyable and valuable day, with a jam-packed agenda.

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the two key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

channels chart

services chart

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The methodology is as follows:

Overall satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels:

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

Channel satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel:

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit /demo. Make sure you have volume turned on!

UK Councils - Customer Access Index
July 2011

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for July 2011.

This index is based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.govmetric.com.

This month:

Monthly Spotlight - Highest multi-channel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlight - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
Spotlight: A look at the LGC / Serco channel shift survey
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi-channel basis:

Essex County Council is a new entry into the overall top ten. The top three councils remain unchanged.

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the Face to Face channel:

Harborough District Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council are new entries in the index.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

It's all change this month, with six new entrants in the table. Lincolnshire County Council maintains its position at the top of the index.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel:

There are several new entries this month, with Kensington and Chelsea placed as the highest new entrant.

Finally, this chart looks at the number of Feedback gathered:

Southend-on-Sea and Waltham Forest Councils have made a new entry in the index, and The London Borough of Sutton has maintained the top position with nearly 6000 pieces of feedback this month.

Spotlight

Last week LGC featured an interesting article on channel shift, examining councils' progress in shifting channels and the obstacles they still come up against. For those of you who missed it, the report (based on a survey carried out by LGC and Serco during August) included some interesting findings.

The survey found that when it comes to how councils contact their service users, email is only marginally more popular than 'snail mail', with only 28% of survey respondents citing it as a one of their primary contact methods (compared to 24% for regular mail). When you compare this to the dominance of email in our own office communications, this result is startling, and certainly prompts the question "why?". Furthermore, the survey found very little evidence of channel shift to social media and mobile - channels that have been transforming the customer contact in the private sector.

The growth in internet and mobile take up means that demand for these services cannot be far away; councils risk missing significant opportunities for reducing costs and improving customer access if they do not take these channel shift opportunities seriously, the report concludes.

Understanding how well you deliver services by email is obviously crucial to improving customer uptake. You may not be aware that GovMetric can be used to measure customer satisfaction with emails, as well as the main three channels. If you are already a GovMetric user but are not yet using our email solution, why not give us a call to find out how it could help you?

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the two key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

channels chart

services chart

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The methodology is as follows:

Overall satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels:

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

Channel satisfaction is based on GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel:

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit /demo. Make sure you have volume turned on!

UK Councils - Customer Access Index
May & June 2011

Based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.GovMetric.com

This month:

Monthly Spotlights - Highest multichannel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlights - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
Find out where you rank amongst other Councils with our satisfaction tier chart
Spotlight:Using video to promote GovMetric
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data, this month we are looking at both May & June 2011.

Monthly Spotlights:

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi channel basis.

overall

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and Wychavon are new entries into the overall top ten. The three top performers remain in their positions.

South Northamptonshire Council and Shropshire Council are new entries and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council have moved up three places in the index.

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the face 2 face channel:

North Kesteven District Council, Rugby Borough Council & South Northamptonshire Council are new entries and have ranked high in the index.

For the first time, this index contains all of the same councils as last month. Do we have a leading group emerging perhaps? We will have a look when we assess July's data.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

Wychavon District Council and South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council have made an entry into the top ten, a fantastic achievement in this channel.

tel june

Charnwood Borough Council, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and North Hertfordshire District Council have all entered the chart this month. Lincolnshire County Council and Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk maintain their position at the top of the index.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel.

South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, North Hertfordshire District Council and Stevenage Borough Council have all entered the chart this month. Congratulations to South Tyneside for going straight to the top spot!

web june

Croydon Council, Hambleton District Council and Leicestershire County Council are new entries into the index this month.

Spotlight: The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead's innovative promotion of GovMetric

We love seeing the different ways that our customers promote GovMetric to their own customers. Take a look at The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead's video for some inspiration: Click here to view the video.

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the 2 key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

May:

access channels

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

key services

June:

access june

key services june

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The proposed methodology is this.

Highest multichannel satisfaction scores

To work out the overall satisfaction then include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

To work out the channel by channel satisfaction include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit /demo . Make sure you have volume turned on!

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The customer view of Waste services online

GovMetric data shows Waste & Recycling to be a high volume service. The papers tell us that it is a highly visible service and so we decided to look into it further to see what could be learnt about Waste & Recycling service delivery across our customer councils.

We examined the satisfaction of all of the 65 GovMetric councils who monitor customer satisfaction on Waste & Recycling on their websites using GovMetric . The following table reports the top performing council's average monthly satisfaction score for the period May 2010 to April 2011:

W&R Sat

Congratulations to Wrexham for a fantastic average monthly satisfaction score!

If you are a GovMetric customer you can determine how you compare below using the quartile range indicator for Waste & Recycling on the web channel only:

Tier

Taking a closer look

It's clear from the results that there is lots of room for improvement for many councils, and a few simple changes can make a big difference to your customer's experience of accessing your waste and recycling web pages. We looked at the top council websites, such as those below, and compared them to those with poorer levels of satisfaction.

Websites 2

North Warks

There are some definite differences that could explain some of the discrepancies in satisfaction. Whilst most of this is common sense, it does confirm that websites geared towards easy navigation and simple user-friendly communications do result in better customer satisfaction. Here are some key points that we think should be considered:

• The importance of easy navigation:
We noticed that navigation on the best rated sites was easier. Signposting on the home page was really clear and waste and recycling pages were quick to find. Some sites also had fast track links for the high volume queries on their home page. Query resolution is the top reason for dissatisfaction and navigation plays a big part in getting customers to the right information quickly.

• Pictures & Images:
There seems to be some evidence that waste and recycling web pages that contained pictures and images to represent the various sections of information scored much higher in satisfaction than those with none. The snapshots from Wrexham and North Warwickshire council websites above are really good examples of this. They have great visual impact and in many cases end users would not have to read any text because they would instantly recognise the type of information they needed from the pictures.

• Keeping information current:
On investigating the reasons for satisfaction ratings it was very obvious that during the peak demand times. E.g. public holidays, out of date information caused a great deal of dissatisfaction. It is also common to see that revised information is not removed after these events. Demonstrating to customers that information is up to date and relevant is vital.

• Signposting to external partners & associates:
County councils have to communicate to customers which services are provided by county and which are delivered by districts. Helping customers by signposting them to external partners and associates can mitigate the risk of customers being misinformed or feeling abandoned and not knowing what to do next. Nottinghamshire County Council have done this very well, as we can see from the example below:

Notts

Waste & Recycling case study:

For an in-depth look at how one council has seen big savings by focusing on this area, click on the link below.

GovMetric helps South Tyneside Council to slash average transaction costs by 58%

With pressure on key services rising as a result of the economic downturn, the council embarked on a project to migrate the non-critical elements of the Waste & Recycling services to the web. Click here to find out more.

South Tyneside

If you would to find out more about anything raised in this email, please do not hesitate to get in touch on 01572 75 65 65 or email us o info@govmetric.com

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UK Councils - Customer Access Index
April 2011

Based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.GovMetric.com

This month:

Monthly Spotlights - Highest multichannel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlights - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
Spotlight: Latest User Group News
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for April 2011.

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi channel basis.

Top Ten

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council have moved up five places in the chart. The top ten actually features all the same councils as last month's top ten, albeit the comparative positioning changes. It will be interesting to see whether next month's charts brings any changes.

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the face 2 face channel:

f2f

The top three places in this top ten are quite tight with South Northamptonshire Council, The London Borough of Sutton Council and North Kesteven District Council regularly appearing at the top. Congratulations to Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council for their entry into the Face to Face top ten.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

Nottinghamshire CC & Lincolnshire CC have swapped places this month but things are very tight at the top of this chart, with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place councils achieving the same satisfaction levels, leaving it down to the amount of feedback collected to differentiate them.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel.

Web

Great Yarmouth Borough Council have entered the chart at number two, suggesting a push on their web feedback activity. The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead have also had a good month, rising 4 places from last month. Hambleton District Council make a new appearance in this chart so congratulations to them.

Spotlight: Latest User Group news:

We're just back from the latest London and South User Group. A big thank you to all that attended. The venue this time around was at Sutton Council, which gave us the opportunity to celebrate their record breaking number of responses in March.

We discussed a variety of topics in this half day event including a national data review, product news and development forums and a session to offer support and ideas for resolving the challenges of collecting and using customer insight. User groups are absolutely vital to us in getting feedback from our customers and helping us to develop our service to ensure a good return on their investment.

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the 2 key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

Primary access channels

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

Key services

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The proposed methodology is this.

Highest multichannel satisfaction scores

To work out the overall satisfaction then include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

To work out the channel by channel satisfaction include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit /demo . Make sure you have volume turned on!

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UK Councils - Customer Access Index
March 2011

Based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.GovMetric.com

This month:

Monthly Spotlights - Highest multichannel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlights - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
Council Spotlight - The London Borough of Sutton
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for March 2011.

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi channel basis.

Overall Satisfaction

This has been a really high performing month for our councils, particularly when looking at the high numbers of take up, whilst maintaining strong levels of overall satisfaction.

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the face 2 face channel:

f2f

Congratulations to Hambleton District Council and The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for their entrance into the top ten. The London Borough of Sutton continues to impress in terms of their high levels of feedback and satisfaction.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

We are beginning to see a leading pack in this chart with Lincolnshire CC, Nottinghamshire CC and Shropshire Council consistently appearing at the top of the chart. Great to see the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk making a new entry so high in the table. Dundee City Council, Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and Stevenage Borough Council are other new entries.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel.

Web

Well done to Warwickshire CC for maintaining top spot in this chart. North East Lincolnshire Council is the only new entry in this fairly steady group.

Council spotlight:

As we have seen, The London Borough of Sutton had a fantastic month in March. We spoke to the council about the secret of their success. Janette Garlick, Head of Customer Service at the council had this to share about their impressive results;

'March was a very busy month across all channels. The key to encouraging take up is to give every member of the customer services team a target of obtaining at least 30% feedback which is closely monitored by the Managers and is also included in our Business Plan.'

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the 2 key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

Primary access channels

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

Service demand

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The proposed methodology is this.

Highest multichannel satisfaction scores

To work out the overall satisfaction then include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

To work out the channel by channel satisfaction include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit /demo . Make sure you have volume turned on!

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UK Councils - Customer Access Index
February 2011

Based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.GovMetric.com

This month:

Monthly Spotlights - Highest multichannel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlights - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for February 2011.

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi channel basis.

Overall Sat

The London Borough of Sutton has held on to top spot and there are lots of climbers this month. Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and Nottinghamshire County Council are back into the top ten.

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the face 2 face channel:

f2f Sat

South Northamptonshire Council, Mid Devon DC and Dundee City Council have entered the top ten this month whilst Shropshire Council continues to lead on this channel.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel:

This chart shows more movement than the others. North East Lincolnshire Council, South Northamptonshire Council & North Hertfordshire District Council have all entered the top ten which is great to see.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel.

Web Sat

Teignbridge District Council, Hambleton District Council and North Hertfordshire District Council are new entries to this chart. Interesting to see that the top four councils all maintain their exact position from last month.

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the 2 key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

Primary access channels

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

Service channels

We see that waste and recycling has returned to its normal level following the holiday peak that we see at Christmas and again, to a lesser degree, at Easter.

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The proposed methodology is this.

Highest multichannel satisfaction scores

To work out the overall satisfaction then include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

To work out the channel by channel satisfaction include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit /demo . Make sure you have volume turned on!

***************************

UK Councils - Customer Access Index January 2011

Based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.GovMetric.com

This month:

Monthly Spotlights - Highest multichannel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlights - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for January 2011.

Monthly Spotlights:

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi channel basis.

Overall satisfaction C

The London Borough of Sutton continue to climb up the table and this month top overall satisfaction levels. South Tyneside MBC, South Northamptonshire Council and Dundee City Council have all made their first appearance in the overall top ten. Great to see.

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the face 2 face channel.
Lots of climbers in the Face to Face top ten and Dacorum BC make their first appearance here since we started recording this in November.

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel.

Telephone Satisfaction C

Dundee City Council and South Tyneside MBC have arrived in the top ten. The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea have shot up three places from the previous month.

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel.

Web satisfaction C

A very positive month for our councils on the web channel. Leicestershire CC moved up four places from their results in the previous month. Warwickshire CC and The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead moved up two places and Cherwell DC and Croydon Council made their first appearance.

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the 2 key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

As we speculated last month, the decrease in web activity, along with the increase in telephone demand was a reflection of seasonal demand brought on by December's bad weather and bin collection issues. This month's data demonstrates a return to the levels that we were seeing pre-November.
Interactions across primary access channels

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

Interactions across key services

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The proposed methodology is this.

Highest multichannel satisfaction scores

To work out the overall satisfaction then include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

To work out the channel by channel satisfaction include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please visit /demo . Make sure you have volume turned on!

**********************************************

UK Councils - Customer Access Index December 2010

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for December 2010.

This index is based on aggregated data from 70 councils, gathered monthly through www.GovMetric.com

This month:

Monthly Spotlights - Highest multichannel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlights - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Monthly Spotlights

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi channel basis.

Overall satisfaction

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the face 2 face channel.

F2F Satisfaction

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel.

Telephone Satisfaction

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel.

Web satisfaction

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

This is where we take a look at the 2 key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample.

As we speculated last month, the bad weather and bin issues that December brings has meant that the trend in channel shift has been interrupted. This is likely to be a temporary change due to the factors mentioned, but we shall see whether this is the case when we look at January's results.

Interactions across key services

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

This shows the seasonal peak in Waste & Recycling, mentioned above.

Interactions across key services

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The proposed methodology is this.

Highest multichannel satisfaction scores

To work out the overall satisfaction then include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

To work out the channel by channel satisfaction include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

UK Councils - Customer Access Index November 2010

Based on aggregated data from 70 UK councils, gathered monthly through www.GovMetric.com

This month:

Monthly Spotlights - Highest multichannel satisfaction scores
Monthly Spotlights - Highest per channel satisfaction scores
UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for November 2010.

Monthly Spotlights

We had a great response from you re the monthly spotlight - highlighting the highest satisfaction access channels across the country - so will continue to run this.

The first table looks at overall satisfaction on a multi channel basis.

Overall satisfaction

The second table looks at customer satisfaction with the face 2 face channel.

F2F Satisfaction

The third table looks at customer satisfaction with the telephone channel.

Telephone Satisfaction

The fourth table looks at customer satisfaction with the web channel.

Web satisfaction

We couldn't resist taking a look at Stevenage's web page. As we all know the web channel typically trails the other main channels when it comes to customer satisfaction. It would appear simple clean design, prioritisation of highest demand interactions and a comprehensive services directory make it easier for people to achieve what they are looking for.

Stevenage Website

UK Councils - Channel Access Ratios & Highest volume service demand

As ususal we take a quick look at the 2 key charts from the national trends data - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample -.

It will be interesting to see if the noticeable web channel shift can be maintained through December - or will the weather and bins agenda overload the switchboards again?

Interactions across primary access channels

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

Interactions across key services

Methodology for Monthly Spotlights

The monthly spotlights are calculated using aggregated data from 70 UK councils. The proposed methodology is this.

Highest multichannel satisfaction scores

To work out the overall satisfaction then include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required total number of feedbacks across a minimum of 2 channels

County - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 800 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 400 feedbacks for the month

To work out the channel by channel satisfaction include GovMetric councils which have achieved the required number of channel feedbacks across a minimum of 1 channel

County - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
Unitary - min of 400 feedbacks for the month
District - min of 200 feedbacks for the month

Notes

Data is sourced from www.govmetric.com. GovMetric is a customer experience measurement service that enables you to listen to the Voice of the Customer across all contact channels, to prioritise which areas to improve and to measure improvements through near real-time reporting.

For a demo of how GovMetric works please click here. Make sure you have volume turned on!

UK Councils - Customer Access Index September 2010

This month:

UK Councils- Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
How do you really measure Channel shift?

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for September 2010 - This month we will take a quick look at the 2 key charts - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils in the sample - The methodology for these reports is further down this blog.

As we get closer to Christmas I guess the main question is whether we are going to see a repeat of last year's channel squeeze.

Interactions across primary access channels

The other chart we look at regularly is demand by service type.

Interactions across key services

How do you really measure Channel shift?

With a big emphasis on channel shift at the moment we thought it would be useful to contribute some thoughts on definition around this subject - after all it is going to become an increasingly higher profile subject over the next few years.

It is our experience that one evolves through different stages of understanding and sophistication on channel optimisation - as an organisation is it essential to work through each step to gain the learnings before moving on to the next one? We'd be interested in your thoughts.

The first phase is what Tameside described some years ago as 'Measuring Fruit' rather than trying to distinguish between 'Apples and Bananas'. Our experience matches this. The initial challenge is to get the organisation measuring as many channels and services as it can. This will reveal a number of inconsistencies but once known and understood these can be standardised, value can be gauged, and you can move on.

The next phase is to try and associate costs against such data. Again, initiatives such as Socitm's Channel Value Benchmarking service are invaluable in helping organisations understand their costs and how to allocate to channels / services etc.

Another phase then emerges. This is the one many of us are currently working through. There is a huge difference between helping a customer complete a complex benefit application in your customer service centre, and answering a simple information request query over the telephone. Whilst we recognise this on an individual channel or service basis without any further definition these might get counted as equal interactions when aggregated up for the bigger picture.

As a contribution to this question we'd like to share our thoughts on defining interactions - in a way that isn't too burdensome, but which would provide a consistent and comparable basis for monitoring channel shift.

Any interaction can be defined as a:

Customer Service Type / Level - eg:

Assisted - dedicated 121 support
Mediated - one to many support - eg web chat
Self - customer to system - eg IVR or web

What Service? - eg:

As per Local Gov Service / Function list categories - eg Planning, Benefits etc.

Channel - eg:

Home visit
Face 2 face at OSS
Telephone
Txt
Web
Email
Post

How complex? - eg:

Information only
Simple interaction - eg requesting a form, paying etc
Complex interaction - needing help, dialogue, support etc.

What are your thoughts? Anything to add / amend / delete? Look forward to hearing from you.

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UK Councils - Customer Access Index July 2010

This month:

UK Councils- Channel Access Ratios
UK Councils - Highest volume service demand
Customer Service Week
GovMetric Awards
Solace 2010

Welcome to the review of GovMetric data for July 2010 - This month we will take a quick look at the 2 key charts - channel ratios and service volume trends for UK councils.

Worryingly for the 'Efficiency' gurus, the gradual downward trend in self serve web interactions as a percentage of overall interactions continues. This must be disappointing for everyone expecting to see channel shift as a great efficiency saver.

July trends in customer access table

However, those of you who have read this blog over the last few months will understand the link between the varying demand for different services - and the particular access channel profile for each service - and how this then goes on to affect the graph above.

A look at the changing demand for these individual services shows the highest demand at the moment is in the areas of:

Housing
Council Tax
Benefits

Housing and Council Tax seems to be growing quite considerably - and when one considers the higher propensity for customers to access these services over the telephone, then we understand how this impacts the overall channel ratios above. They have changed because of the increase in demand for these services - not a move away from the web channel per se.

July customer interactions across key services table

Anyway - that's enough of the stats! On to the main event in the coming month - Customer Service Week (4^th to 8^th October).

In celebration of the excellent work done by customer service teams up and down the country we schedule our annual GovMetric awards to showcase some of the best examples at this time. A few are listed below:

Council Of The Year - Plymouth City Council

Plymouth City Council have done a fantastic job this year in engaging their staff and customers and using GovMetric data to make some significant improvements. The Plymouth submission included an excellent video which we think sums up what GovMetric, and true customer focus, is all about. You can watch this video below. Look out for some more information about how Plymouth achieved our Council Of The Year award - we think they are truly inspirational!

Improving Council - Hambleton District Council

Hambleton Council have been advocates of the GovMetric service for a long time but this year they have made great strides to introduce the concept of completing the feedback loop both internally and with customers. They have actively resolved to encourage the flow of customer insight throughout their organisation through their six Leadership Boards and through enhanced commitment of their strategic and senior management. They have already seen some tangible results with improvements on the telephone and web channels in particular and they are well on the way to getting the best out of GovMetric - we think they really have the right idea!

Gong Award - Southend-On -Sea Borough Council

Southend Council were the Council Of The Year in 2009 and they certainly haven't rested on their laurels this year either! Continuing to focus their use of GovMetric, in particular they have concentrated on improving take up and the quality of feedback on the Face -to-Face channel. By using question / comment cards to capture customer feedback, and with the continued dedication to staff participation, Southend have been able to significantly increase their take up which has resulted in much improved and more representative satisfaction levels - we think they know their onions!

Gong Award - Nottinghamshire County Council

Nottinghamshire County Council have worked tirelessly this year to get more from their telephone feedback. Firstly they knew that the more response they get from customers the more valid and useful their data will be. Using some excellent examples of team and individual motivational work, they have been able to positively encourage staff to engage with customers and work to raise the profile and awareness of GovMetric in their call centre. Responding to feedback has always been their top priority and using this insight, through very challenging times, continues to drive a more customer focussed service - we think their staff motivation work is great!

Gong Award - London Borough of Sutton

The London Borough of Sutton has been a GovMetric customer for over 3 years and throughout this time they have been dedicated to furthering their understanding customer insight through the use of GovMetric feedback. Their continuous attention to encouraging take up and maintaining staff momentum resulted in them getting far and away the most amount of feedback of any GovMetric client in the year to July 2010. In recognition of the hard work of all the staff at Sutton over the years we think they really deserve a gong!

We'll be showcasing these at Solace 2010 so please ask your CEO to stop by our stand and have a chat.

Notes

For a demo of how GovMetric works please click here. Make sure you have volume turned on!

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UK Councils - Customer Access Index January 2011

UK Councils - Customer Access Index December 2010

UK Councils - Customer Access Index November 2010