Customer service is one of the most important aspects of a successful company. Good customer service can increase company sales, raise competition, and enhance the image of a company. These same attributes can be applied to government agencies as well. Good customer service will enhance the public’s image of government, and give citizens a sense of support and security from their government agencies.
Due to the improvements in technology and many services being transformed onto virtual platforms, Government agencies must enhance and improve their customer service capabilities to meet the higher volume of citizens’ demands. For these reasons, Oracle has surveyed employees from several levels of government and found out that improving their agency’s customer service relied on improving collaboration, increasing staffing and customer service channels, and increasing funding.
Respondents were also asked to identify common issues that were found in government customer service, and found that 32% believed a lack of organization was a fundamental problem in implementing exceptional customer service. In addition to that, a staggering 39% believed there were many staffing issues associated with improving customer service. Clearly, government agencies are faced with multiple central issues. As a leader in Customer Relationship Management, Oracle provided the Five Best Practices to Improve Customer Service:
- Design with the customer in mind
- View customer service in the context of the agency’s core mission
- Share resources across agencies
- Integrate customer service with open government programs
- Consider lessons learned from the private sector
