CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY - Singleton Council

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Contents

Singleton Council acknowledges the Wanaruah, Wonnarua people and their custodianship of the land in the Singleton Local Government Area. We also acknowledge all other Aboriginal &Torres Straight Islanders who live within the Singleton Local Government Area and pay our respect to elders past, present and future.

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T

04 WHAT IS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?

03 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 08 BACKGROUND 10 VISION – A holistic view of excellent customer experience 14 CX FRAMEWORK | Evaluation + benchmarking 16 OUR ACTION 32 GLOSSARY

This strategy responds to our community’s needs – a community that expects the best from its Council. A community that holds us accountable for delivering experiences that are Vibrant, Progressive, Connected, Sustainable and Resilient.

Council recognises that our ability to achieve this requires a meaningful connection with every customer we serve. It requires focussed effort, fit-for-purpose tools and ways of working that embed customer centricity in every decision we make.

Excellent customer experiences are created when we work diligently on improving every touchpoint a customer has across our organisation. Decisions are made in a context where all employees understand the impact they have on a customer - whether that customer is external or internal.

THIS STRATEGY IS UNDERPINNED BY:

• Introducing a Customer Experience (CX) Framework which enables Council to evaluate our ability to deliver excellent customer experiences - across each unique service.

• Every employee having a clear view of what great customer experience is. Both across the whole of Council and critically, how they apply this to their unique service area. This is not one size fits all.

• Being successful because we have deeply integrated a culture of customer centricity and the use of evidence and data to improve decisions and actions.

• Establishing new customer metrics and dashboards that hold us accountable to improving the customer experience and are in balance with the sustainable long-term future of Council.

• Encouraging the community to provide feedback at the point of interaction and post interaction and include customers in the ongoing improvement process to ensure we are not lost in our own biases.

• Creating excellent customer experiences is a fundamental pillar in our desire to be a destination of choice for investors and visitors and become the best council in Australia.

• Enabling Singleton Council to respond to changing community expectations and improve service delivery through a focus on the end-to-end journey of our customers.

• Increasing capabilities to create services and touchpoints that meet the ever-increasing digital expectations of customers balanced with the deep need for real human connection at key moments of truth.

• Supporting the delivery of the “inspirations and aspirations” identified in our Community Strategic Plan 2017-2027.

The field of Customer Experience is not a set and forget methodology, especially as we face a future of changing expectations and evolving community needs. Council must be ready to adapt and respond to this future. Every employee will have the opportunity to integrate the framework into their day-to-day activities to create sustainable customer experience improvements.

The adoption of a CX Strategy will establish a core capability within Council for ongoing continuous improvement through an empowered workforce. We will identify opportunities for continuous improvement and emerging insights to address unmet customer needs, thereby establishing Singleton Council as the best council in Australia.

Executive Summary


From the General Manager The privilege of local government is to play a leading role in bringing people together through shared values, experiences and place, delivering the infrastructure and services that underpin the creation of a vibrant, progressive, connected, resilient and sustainable community.

Recognising the importance of the purpose of Singleton Council and with the people of Singleton at the heart of everything we do, we aim to hold ourselves to the highest accountability in how we serve all of our customers, including our residents, local businesses, investors and visitors.

This Customer Experience Strategy is our commitment to how we plan to build a culture and capability to deliver excellent experiences in all interactions with Council and set the platform to be the council people want to do business with. It may be a cliché, but the emphasis is well and truly on making our customers the hero of our story.

At the core is a stream of work to review our most critical services with a focus on enhancing the customer experience, providing the tools and support for all staff to align with a shared goal of excellence in every business unit, from planning and regulatory services to economic and business development, water and sewer to infrastructure delivery, and everything in between.

This is more than a strategy, but a way of doing business based on the philosophy that every staff member is a customer service officer.

In holding ourselves to the highest standards, we want to be sure that we’re meeting our customers’ expectations of excellence. Which is why, as part of this strategy, we’ll also be frequently asking for your feedback. We are committed to listening to our customers and using what you tell us to drive continued improvements to deliver truly excellent customer outcomes.

The adoption of this strategy sets a roadmap for a customer-centric culture across Council, aiming to be better every day through an empowered workforce and a firm focus on our customers’ needs and expectations. But in its simplest form, this strategy sets the framework for a positive working relationship between Council and our customers to create the community we’re all proud to be part of.

Jason Linnane | General Manager

Make the customer the hero of your story| Anne Handley


What is customer experience?Customer Experience, also known as CX, is the sum of all the separate parts of an individual’s interaction with Council. Whether that is referencing the website, calling for help, reading a brochure, visiting a playground, the feeling of the atmosphere when you walk into a Council building, the lost dog found, the fresh water to quench your thirst or the friendly wave as you leave the library.

Sometimes it’s also the things we can’t control, like the comments on Facebook, a conversation around the BBQ or a previous experience at a different council.

A great experience is one where the sum of all these parts creates not only an experience that leaves you feeling cared for and heard, but also one that gives you the outcome desired.

Everything we do impacts our customers’ perception – and it is with this mindset that we present a strategy to ensure every experience is driven by excellence to create a positive customer experience.

Leaders who operate with a service mindset help build a service culture| Jacqui Scammel


WHAT LEAD US TO THIS POINT? In 2018 the Customer Service Strategy established the first wave of initiatives addressing improvements and optimisation of our service delivery. We have seen improvements flow through as well as enjoying a hard-won increase in employee engagement brought about by strong leadership and a focus on the needs of our staff. The foundation of great customer experience is a great employee experience and this strategy builds on these improvements.

THE NEXT STEP We are now at the next step in the journey. A journey which identifies a need to create a Whole of Council view of what “excellent customer experience” is and, through this create the nuanced iteration of that experience across each unique touchpoint. This is driven by our commitment to align with the principles of the Australian Business Excellence Framework with a focus on Principle two “Understanding what customers and other stakeholders value, now and in the future, enables organisational direction, strategy and action.”

Through this commitment we have identified gaps which the CX Strategy will address. We currently do not have an overarching and meaningful vision of what an excellent customer experience looks like. Therefore, we do not have the data and measurements in place to know how each unique service is performing. In turn, we have not established processes to actively identify opportunities to improve the experience and finally, we do not have the frequency of customer feedback that allows us to respond quickly to issues.

These are all solvable and represent the targeted outcomes recommended in this strategy. These outcomes establish a path of sustainable continuous improvement and innovation that is customer-lead.

BackgroundOUR CONTEXTThe only reason we exist as a council is because of the community we serve. A community with a reputation for pulling together to overcome adversity and a spirit of togetherness built on decades of community-focussed growth.

We are committed to serving this community with the excellence it deserves.

Every interaction we have with a member of our community needs to be one that builds relationships, is mindful of the needs of the customer and builds trust.

We serve in an environment where customer expectations are high, and we serve within increasingly complex systems. The private sector now dictates our customers’ expectations of high-quality service. This is further compounded by ever-changing technology platforms used to deliver services – both within the private sector and government. This has impacted expectations of timeframes, ease of transactions and outcomes are hyper-personalised driven by ever increasing number of digital experiences.

Emerging trends see an increasing need for purpose-driven engagement, where customers expect a connection and relationship, not just simple transactions. People have a desire for human-to-human interaction built on authentic and transparent connection. Organisations that meet these expectations establish trust.

OUR OPPORTUNITY Our ability to deliver on these changing expectations is made even more critical by the fact that our community does not get a choice in who provides the services delivered by council. We are their Council; they can’t go anywhere else. Consequently, the services we deliver and the experiences we create must exceed their expectations.

To exceed these expectations, we must resolve the complexities of the environment we operate in and ensure every employee is focussed on helping their customer. Singleton Council offers a broad array of unique services to thousands of our residents, businesses and visitors each year. Each of these services is made up of numerous touchpoints and behind each of those touchpoints sits 230 employees, dozens of technology systems and libraries of policy and legislation.

Our aspiration is that by managing this complexity and creating simplicity within each experience, every customer will feel heard and the help we provide can exceed their expectations.

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VisionA holistic view of excellent customer experience

through empathy - is deeply connected to customer needs and,

through an improvement mindset - can respond swiftly, with high-quality interactions to those needs.

WHAT WILL THIS LOOK LIKE?

Our aspiration is for every customer to feel like a hero in their own story. Every employee will feel the pride swell up from genuinely helping - even when the situation is tricky.

We will build partnerships with our community instead of simply being a transactional processor.

Every employee will know who their customer is, what is important to the customer and how their day-to-day work impacts that customer.

Employees will be empowered to pro-actively identify ways of improving the experiences they deliver to those customers – both internally and externally.

Employees will be provided with tools to support them in identifying, acting on improvements and delivering excellent experiences.

Employees will enjoy a culture of human centricity where we see “helping others” as a privilege. We have the time to listen and are encouraged to go the extra mile.

Employees will have evidence and data to make decisions, measure their improvements against, and celebrate their successes.

We will hold ourselves accountable through transparency of our CX dashboards.

Our people will be empowered by a new set of tools, processes, skills and “ways of working” which support them in their desire to put the customer at the centre of each service.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PRINCIPLES

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CUSTOMER OUTCOME DRIVERS

A great experience will quickly fade if we don’t deliver quality customer outcomes. We will hold ourselves accountable by delivering outcomes that are:

HELPFULWe look for every opportunity to help our colleagues and customers. We think outside the square and actively look for a way forward.

INFORMATIVEWe provide the information a customer needs to feel in control and make an informed decision. We ensure it is accurate, is delivered at the right time, in the right detail and in the right way.

HIGH QUALITY

Every experience we create for a customer must be of the highest quality. Each service area will work to understand the specific quality attributes their customers expect.

PERSONALISED

One size does not fit all. We are improving our systems, processes and tools to ensure every customer enjoys customised and accessible experiences.

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It is within the CX Principles that we have a defined view of what an excellent customer experience is. Excellent experiences are created when we make decisions aligned with our CX Principles. They will guide our choices when reviewing the current state and ensure our decisions are focussed on improving the customer experience.

Each of the principles will be brought to life within each service and experience. Teams will use these principles to identify gaps in an existing experience and create improvements with measurable outcomes.

SEAMLESSWe pro-actively work to eliminate the gaps in experiences to ensure customers feel like they are in control and not getting lost.

CONSISTENTWe want every customer to enjoy high quality, consistent experiences in every interaction they have with Council.

RELIABLEWe deliberately ensure every interaction with a customer builds trust. We ensure the customer feels like they can rely on us as a partner.

EASYEvery employee is working to identify opportunities to reduce how much effort a customer must expend.

TIMELYWe focus on growing our ability to understand and manage our customers’ expectations and deliver on our promises.

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS DRIVEN BY A CULTURE THAT:


Customer service for me is about supporting our customers throughout the stages of the planning journey to help deliver their dreamsSarah Hyatt | Coordinator Planning + Development Services


CX FrameworkEvaluation + benchmarking

To achieve our customer experience vision, we have established the “4C’s” CX Framework: Clarity, Confidence, Capability and Culture. The CX Framework is guided by the voice of our Councillors and the expectations they have for Council and it builds on the wealth of feedback we have from the community.

It does not prescribe what an “excellent experience” is – instead it is a tool which guides evaluation of our existing customer experience capability and will benchmark our maturity. Benchmarking will allow us to identify strategic objectives and identify action plans across Council and within each unique experience.

CX FRAMEWORK APPLIED WITHIN EACH UNIQUE SERVICE

Our customer’s success is built on experiences that are each unique. To improve each experience the framework is used to evaluate the unique aspects.

THE CX FRAMEWORK WILL ENSURE EACH UNIQUE EXPERIENCE HAS:

Clarity through a shared vision for all team members involved in the creation and delivery of each unique journey.

Confidence though the establishment of quality benchmarks CX reporting and quality metrics within each experience.

Capability to identify and prioritise areas for continuous improvement and surface opportunities for innovation based on customer need, impact and strategic alignment.

Been delivered through a Culture of customer centricity and human connection.

CX FRAMEWORK APPLIED AT A WHOLE OF COUNCIL LEVEL When the CX Framework is applied across Whole of Council it is used to identify the gaps in our CX Maturity at a platform level.

THE CX PLATFORM COMPRISES

Journey mapping tools that enable teams to understand the current state of existing experiences and understand the teams, processes and technology that impact those experiences.

Methodology and tools to identify opportunities for customer-lead improvement and innovation.

Systems to capture customer feedback at a touchpoint level and within each journey. These subsequently ladder up to a whole of Council CX Dashboard.

Technology which is leveraged to deliver improved experiences.

Data is captured, warehoused and analysed in a meaningful and actionable way.

Methodology for customer and community engagement to inspire new experiences as well as feedback on existing experiences.

CX Principles and Outcome Drivers that establish a Whole of Council view of what excellent experience is.

Cultural patterns that establish a customer centric Council.

A Journey Atlas which catalogues all the journeys Council delivers and aids in the prioritisation of improvements and innovation.

Leaders who operate with a service mindset help build a service culture| Jacqui Scammel

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CLARITY

CONFIDENC

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ULTURECAPABIL

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We have a clear vision of who our customer is and what they need – now and into the future.

With the right people, skills, processes, tools and ways of working - we can deliver excellent experiences.

Our success and progress will be proven by confidence through the data, evidence and metrics we measure.

This will be delivered through a team of people who share a set of attitudes, values, mindsets and behaviours that put the customer at the heart.


The CX Strategy sits under Council’s Community Strategic Plan. It will be implemented with reference to the operational plan and will inform multiple streams of work that align with the core function of council.

The following action plan has been developed through the application of the CX Framework and an assessment of Council’s current CX Maturity. To prioritise actions we have aligned the identified outcomes with the vision of our Community Strategic Plan:

Our Actions

Vibrant

Progressive

Connected

Sustainable

Resilient

The following action items are presented as aligned to that vision.

Empathy is one of the most effective ways of connecting human to human and that’s why it’s so crucial in a service culture| Jacqui Scammel


1.1 Clearly defining a tangible Vision to set direction

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Establish clarity of direction to deliver high quality experiences through the creation of a 2024 Customer Experience (CX) Vision. This will align decisions and establish momentum within the experiences we create. Establish a customer vision for each business unit and service level that aligns with the customer journey and the whole of council vision. Increase our capability within “Experience Design” through training and support the application of the CX Principles and Outcome Drivers in day-to-day work and continuous improvement activities.

1.2 Clearly defining what a high-quality experience looks like

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Initiate a program of work to actively improve the experience of customers across all business units and service touchpoints by applying the 4C’s CX Framework.

Define metrics to measure and report on the quality of each service and the outcomes it delivers.

Create support material for teams on how to engage in a variety of situations to create positive experiences.

Support teams to be innovative and connect customers with other avenues for help to ensure we deliver the best outcomes.

Apply and be nominated for targeted CX Awards to provide external evaluation of our initiatives and CX Strategy.

1.3 Embedding the voice of the customer into our ways of working

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Review existing feedback systems and existing insights and report on gaps or identified areas for a enhanced data.

Initiate a customer research program to close gaps in existing data and prioritise key customer pain points and opportunities. We call this our “jobs to be done (JTBD)”. The jobs we help our customer complete.

Map the JTBD back to the Journey Atlas and the services that support each “job”. This will ensure our customers priorities are clear and gaps are identified,

Collaborate with each Business Unit to create a CX Vision for each service and how this will be measured against our CX Principles and Outcome Drivers.

Vibrant Objective: We will create high quality experiences that establish positive interactions and better outcomes for the community. Through this we will amplify a relationship of trust, respect and support which enables us to partner with our community.

This will be achieved by:

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Pilot and embed activities that map the end-to-end experience customers have. Referred to as Journey Mapping this will ensure each journey delivers on the vision of high-quality experiences and desired outcomes.

Integrate customer collaboration and co-design in the design of our services and experiences to create excellence in process and outcome.

Apply the CX Framework to establish confidence that the services we deliver meet the expectations of our community and customers.

Create dashboards to build confidence in the direction we are heading and the clarity of the vision.

Provide training and support to utilise CX Methodologies and Tools to ensure decisions made are understood by the outcome they deliver to the customer.

Apply the CX Toolkit to embed high quality experiences within the experiences we create

77% of consumers say inefficient customer experiences detract from their quality of life| www.prnewswire.com


2.2 Creating a clear view of how individual customers interact

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Investigate and review other councils use of technology for creating internal clarity of how each customer interacts to establish a benchmark.

Evaluate our current state against the benchmark through a “Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat” (SWOT) analysis and Gap analysis.

Identify a 2024 vision for the technology platform and establish a business case and roadmap.

Evaluation of our technology and systems to better understand how, where and when our customers interact with council

2.1 Initiating a digital experience uplift

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Benchmark Singleton Council’s digital experience against best practice in government and allied industries.

In partnership with the ITC team develop business requirements for a suitable future Technology platform.

Initiate customer research to measure existing digital experiences against standard usability and outcome metrics.

Initiate a Digital Analytics program of work to train and support teams to leverage existing digital analytics to inform decisions.

Initiate a “Digital Experience Uplift Project” to close the gaps and improve our capability to deliver high quality digital experiences.

Progressive Objective: We will increase capability across Council enabling the organisation to adapt to changing customer expectations by adopting new ways of working. These will ensure we can sense the opportunities within the community and respond swiftly.


Review and optimisation of technology platform to improve digital experiences

2.3 Establishing a culture of customer centricity

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Embed the CX Champion network to build momentum and support change initiatives related to Customer Experience projects.

CX Culture embedded in values through empowered teams and improvement mindsets.

Training and engagement made available for all teams to understand how they apply the CX Principles in their unique areas and can actively participate in the cultural uplift.

Curate an employee culture that is aligned with best practice customer centricity and meets the expectations of the Singleton Community

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Identify key business activities that operate in areas of increased variability and prototype how the CX Framework and CX Principles can be applied.

Support teams to identify how their areas impact identified internal customers and establish CX tools to support better outcomes.

Collaborate with all business area to establish methodology that aligns the CX Framework with the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF).

Embedding the CX Framework within large projects and high variability services:


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Building on the CX Dashboards and the JTBD research we will undertake an investigation and analysis of prioritised services. We will capture data points across the journey to ensure the service is aligned with targeted outcomes.

Create a “Voice of the Customer” research brief to ensure clarity and feasibility.

Establish methodology, survey and analysis tools and capability requirements.

Launch, collate, analyse and synthesis the data within the CX Data platform and align the insights with the Journey Map.

Standardise methodology and provide training and support to empower teams to self-service their own “Voice of the Customer” research.

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3.1 Creating a “single view” of customers’ interactions

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Investigate best practice initiatives from government and aligned commercial industries to establish business requirements.

Review the existing systems that capture customer data to identify alignment with business requirements.

Prepare a business case to establish benefits and investment needed to deliver an uplift in our capability to capture a “Single View” of customers.

Initiate and deliver the capability and benefits of a “Single View” system. (if 3.1.3 approved).

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Establish a stream of work to embed the CX Cultural Principles within a values uplift project.

Amplify and embed the existing “day in the shoes” program throughout the workforce.

Explore options to integrate “day in the shoes” within performance reviews.

Initiate cultural habits that brings the customer’s voice into key discussions and decisions.

3.2 Establishing CX Data capability including technology and analytics.

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Design a 2024 data architecture vision that supports the customer data we will utilise to inform decisions and measure quality outcomes.

Investigate and review the existing data architecture and perform a SWOT and gap analysis against best practice.

Prepare a business case if further investment is required to integrate and support the CX Data capability.

Investigate the benefits of a data warehousing platform, including analysis and reporting requirements.

Create business rules which guide the capturing, storing and use of data in compliance with legislation and alignment with community expectations.

Create business rules for how we prioritise contact with customers and frequency of contact to increase our capability to sense our customers’ needs.

Establish a roadmap to implement the necessary changes to deliver the vision and support the uplift of our CX data warehousing, analysis and reporting capability

Provide training and support for identified roles to leverage the data platform to better connect decisions made and provide necessary reporting on customer impact.

Connected Objective: We will connect every employee and team with the understanding of how they impact customers, both externally and internally. This will ensure we deliver experiences that are deeply connected to our customer needs and produce high-quality outcomes.


Inform improvements, reduce gaps and increase consistency across connected and related touchpoints.

Through this they build empathy with teammates and customers to deliver better outcomes.

Through capturing the voice of our customers at both the point of interaction, post interaction and through observation we can create data and evidence of what is important to customers

Curating a culture of employees connected to each other and their customers.

Establishing a “Voice of the Customer” program

A strategy to manage and leverage data to improve customer experience and outcomes.


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Review local government and “like” industries to establish best practice.

Prepare Business requirements that align with our service offering and community expectations.

Review existing Knowledge management systems to map current state to prepare a SWOT and gap analysis.

Establish a roadmap and project to deliver the uplift in our capability.

Initiate and deliver the capability and benefits of a “Knowledge Management” system. (if 3.5.4 approved)

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Leveraging the CX Data Platform and Voice of the Customer program each business unit will identify key touchpoints and interactions where feedback is needed from customers.

Business rules will be created for each service to ensure customers are engaged in accordance with the standards set.

A closed loop process will be embedded in teams to ensure feedback and sensing is connected to real change in the customer experience.

Training and Support will be provided on the methodologies and tools teams can use to analyse and act on the insights gained from the data.

Improving our capability to have a single source of truth for customer information through a Knowledge Management uplift project.

Establishing processes that enable teams to sense their customer needs and respond swiftly with improvements

I really enjoy making crucial adjustments to our major water control valves and pumping stations which can affect the delivery of water to customers,reservoirs and pump stations.

After being involved with Singleton Council water and sewer for over 20 years every day produces different challenges and also a never end learning environment.

It is really exciting to work closely within engineering,network and treatment teams to provide a service that customers would expect and also be proud of

Benjamin Carter | Utilities Plumber, Water and Waste Engineer


4.1 Improving decision making with customer data and evidence

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Review initial data metrics captured in Leadership Team workshops and create a 2024 vision for a whole of council dashboard.

Gap analysis and feasibility of suitable tools including a review of existing software to identify how the dashboards will integrate with the CX Data Platform.

Identify a dashboard that is feasible and viable for June 30 2021.

Rollout workshops to each Business Unit to create customer dashboards based on a SWOT and application of the CX Framework.

4.4 Improving workflow management

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Leveraging the Journey Maps, investigate how well the workflow management tools deliver seamless customer experiences.

Investigate best practice workflow management and prepare a SWOT and comparison matrix.

Identify and report on options to improve workflow processes.

Create pilot case of options to test the impact tools have on improved quality in customer, business and service outcomes.

Create a business case and seek endorsement of a Workflow Management Improvement Project. (if pilot 4.4.4 is successful)

4.5

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Initiate a review and investigation into grant opportunities that align with our ambition to deliver the best Customer Experience of any council in Australia

Establish working partnerships with tertiary institutions in the fields of Behavioural Economics, Experience Design, Human Centred Design, Advanced Analytics and other related disciplines.

Initiate internships and research projects with Tertiary groups to create mutual benefits for both organisations.

Investigate and participation in communities of practice will inform our targeted outcomes to improve customer experience. These will include other government groups and commercial organisation that exhibit a shared vision.

4.2 Increasing efficiency through Initiating a CX review of existing services

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Catalogue existing services in a “journey Atlas” to provide overview of all customer interactions and how they map back to the organisation.

Establish prioritisation tool to ensure consistent approach and sustainable execution against the highest priorities.

Embed methodology that identifies efficiency improvements delivering an increase in customer satisfaction and business improvement.

Utilise Journey Maps and CX Dashboards to identify efficiency improvements and failure points resulting in excess contact with Council.

4.3

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4.3.2

Identify gaps in existing methodologies and embed CX Toolkit as required.

Collaborate with Business Improvement to develop a refreshed program of work to amplify the Service Delivery Review Process.

Sustainable Objective: We will ensure that the services and experiences we deliver are adapting to the community’s changing needs and are delivered with a view to balanced long term sustainability.


Through establishing new CX Dashboards for whole of council and individual Business Units we will have the right evidence and data to make informed decisions.

Review existing workflow management tools to ensure seamless communication and follow ups and double handling.

Seeking Grant funding with particular alignment to CX initiatives and potential partners who share our values that can accelerate the CX Strategic outcomes.

This will identify opportunity for increased efficiency without reduction in quality of service.

Embedding the CX Framework and CX Platform into Business Improvement processes.

Identifying grants and partnership opportunities to accelerate and diversify our program and capability.


5.1 Helping employees improve the difficult conversations.

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Investigate and identify key touchpoints where difficult conversations are more likely to occur.

Co create an improved service focussed on deliver better outcomes through difficult conversations.

Prototype improvements with service delivery teams and measure results against agreed metrics and measures,

5.4 Capturing data in a robust, well managed and structured way

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Increase frequency of data captured from customers both at the point of interaction and post interaction.

Surface metrics that relate to our ability to meet service level agreements and quality expectations.

Collaborate with teams to establish ways of working that are focussed on “problem and solution” to ensure our activities solve the problems our customers face.

5.5 Amplifying the CX Champions program

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Embed a cultural of Customer Experience where every employee takes responsibility for delivering on the CX Framework.

Collaborate with CX Champions to build advocacy, capture feedback and guide decisions as changes are rolled out.

Investigate the alignment between the Business Improvement Network and the CX Champions network to simplify our ambition towards business excellence.

5.6 Progressing the Knowledge Management capability

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5.6.4 5.6.5

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Identify content that supports each customer experience and map the content into the Customer Journey Maps to ensure clarity for every team.

Identify discrepancies between content sources and content accuracy.

Investigate and review existing information management systems and create current state architecture of how it fits together.

Investigate best practice “Knowledge Management” programs to identify fit for purpose solutions to create a “Single Source of Truth” of knowledge.

Initiate and deliver a “Knowledge Management Uplift” program to ensure knowledge is captured in a “Single source of truth” and team members know how to access the right information at the right time.

Collaborate with internal teams to identify improvements of how content is presented to customers. This will increase the ability for customers to self-service and easily find answers to questions themselves.

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Collaborate with Business Improvement to map Business Processes to Customer Journey Maps.

Align Service Level Agreements to journey maps to identify expected outcomes.

Review actual experiences of customers and identify misalignment with how the experience was designed to how it was delivered.

Review root causes of variation and identify improvements to increase consistency.

5.3

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Investigate and review existing delegations to identify clarity of decision-making ability at every level.

Investigate and review best practice of other Councils and how they create empowered teams.

Report findings and collaborate with ELT and LT to establish refreshed delegation based on clarity of guidelines that work towards collective outcomes.

Resilient Objective: We will curate a culture built on empathy and a shared vision of excellence. Through this we can increase our ability to serve customers no matter what challenges come our way.


Monitoring the consistency of processes to ensure we are not eroding trust.

Empowering decision making in team membersCreate a resilient decision-making process by empowering people who are closest to the customer to make decisions that impact the customer

This will increase confidence in our decisions. Resilience of decision making is brought about by the evidence and data used to inform the decisions.

This will ensure customer centric culture is embedded within all corners of the organisation and not a silo.

This will ensure knowledge is not lost when key people leave the organisation and customers are provided consistent information across channels.


Having the opportunity to build relationships with our customers and getting to know them. I really enjoy chatting with people who come in and hearing their stories about their lives and experiences

Jessica Higgins | Customer Service Officer

Shaina Craig | Customer Service Specialist Officer

I love coming to work each day and delivering an end-to-end wholesome experience for our customers. From first meeting our customers, getting to know their stories and experiences, and then calling them to let them know the outcome of their request and receiving positive feedback. That is what excites me most


Having the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes and see the world through their eyes is crucial to customer service and to building trust| Jacqui Scammel

GlossaryINTERACTION

A direct contact that a customer or community member has with Council.

TOUCHPOINT

The physical object or place where a customer has an interaction. Eg the front counter at the library or the website.

EXPERIENCE

The perceived quality of the different interactions someone has with Council.

JOURNEY

A connection of all the steps, end-to-end that a customer has in their experience with Council.

JOURNEY ATLAS

A catalogue of all the different journeys we create for our customers across all services and areas of the business.

CX PLATFORM

The technology, tools, skills and ways of working that help us stay focussed on our customer and enable every employee to proactively improve the customer experience. HYPER PERSONALISATION

The use of data and advanced analytics to provide more personalised services and experiences through digitally empowered interactions.

OUTCOME DRIVER

To deliver the right outcome to customers, we need to know what they value. Outcome Drivers are the customers perception of what value is.

CUSTOMER CENTRICITY

The ability to focus clearly on the needs of the customer and design experiences that take in account and deliver to those needs.

PURPOSE-DRIVEN

Purpose-driven organisations stand for mwore than just the immediate short-term ambitions, goals and needs. They have a shared vision and work diligently to bring that vision to life.

CX MATURITY

An assessment of our current effectiveness at delivering excellent customizer experience and supports the identification of areas to improve.

T 02 6578 7290 E [email protected] W singleton.nsw.gov.au

12 - 14 Queen Street Singleton NSW 2330

Documents

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY - Singleton Council