RxCX: Customer Experience as a prescription for improving government performance

Rx CX: Customer Experience asa prescription for improving government performance

Copyright © 2017 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved. 2Rx CX: Customer Experience as a prescription for improving government performance

Ever wonder why elevator lobbies have mirrors?

The story goes that people in a New York multistory were so unhappy with the experience of having to wait for the elevator that they threatened to move out of the building. When an engineering solution to increase elevator capacity was deemed economically prohibitive, management turned to psychology.

Know thy customerCustomers were unhappy because they were bored while waiting. The clear solution? Give them something to do.

So mirrors were added to the elevator boarding areas, providing a convenient and low cost distraction.

The complaints about waiting disappeared and mirrors continue to be a common feature outside elevators even today.


Focusing on customer experience can widen the range of solutions available to tackle any given problem, often at a far lower cost


There have been swathes of initiatives, but limited meaningful progress

There has been no shortage of government initiatives aimed at improving customer service. But the gap persists between what actual customers believe they receive and what government agencies believe they deliver. Consumer surveys indicate that satisfaction with government services is at an eight-year low.

Source: Digital Gov, "Government Customer Service policies & requirements: 1993 to present"


What explains this dissonance? The answer may lie in understanding the distinction between customer experience and customer service.

The two aren’t synonymous —customer service is one component of customer experience (CX).


Moving an organization beyond incrementally improving customer service to transforming customer experience likely entails a change in mindset and an organizational strategy that puts the customer at the center


Traditionally, CX has been positioned as creating moments of delight

But…

In the face of budget cuts in priority areas, this may seem superfluous…


Government may be skeptical, but the data seems to tell a different story...

Between 2007 and 2015, a portfolio of CX leaders outperformed the broader market, generating a total return 35 points higher than the S&P 500 index and 90 points higher than a portfolio of the laggards

According to a study by Watermark Consulting that compared the cumulative market performance of a portfolio of leading CX companies to CX “laggards.”


CX

Customer-centered tools and techniques can be used to advance a specific mission outcome


Government agencies should consider acting on 3 fronts to harness the potential of CX

Understand your customer

Tie CX to a mission outcome

Create a unified vision for change


To move the needle on CX and organizational performance…


Until recently, CX approaches have generally been limited to improving customers’ interactions with agencies that have a “retail” function, such as mail delivery or the issuance of licenses. However, when rooted in a deep understanding of customers, CX can be a prescription for change.

1. Place the customer at the heart of any transformation initiative

Example: USDA— A customer-centric approach can help reduce costs incurred due to errors or improper payments.

The issue: The National School Lunch Program that provides low-cost or free meals to 30 million children each day faced the issue of improper payments. Schools weren’t being accurately compensated for discounted meals, creating errors in district and federal accounts. A 2015 USDA study found that the improper payment rate in the lunch program was 15.8 percent—$1.9 billion in overpayments and underpayments.

The solution: In partnership with the Innovation Lab at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) applied human-centered design (HCD) to discover the root cause of the errors. What was suspected to be a software glitch, turned out to be a customer problem with most errors being the result of an overly complex application process. The team used customer insights gleaned from observation and interviews with parents to design and prototype a simplified application.

The impact: FNS officials anticipate the simplified application will reduce improper payments by 10 percent, or $600 million.


An agency’s ability to effectively execute its mission is often linked to its ability to deliver an effective customer experience to businesses, citizens and its own employees.

2. Tap into the CX toolset to advance agency mission outcomes

Example: The US Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) “PreCheck” program

PreCheck allows passengers who pass a background check to speed through airport security lines.

Travelers voluntarily provide data, which when combined with other layers of security, allows TSA to direct more screening resources to higher-risk passengers and deliver on its mission of protecting the nation's transportation systems.

The program has been expanded across 160 airports across the United States.


Just as the customer's experience often reaches beyond the narrow transaction, an effective agency response is likely to reach beyond existing organizational boundaries

3. Allow CX initiatives to transcend organizational silos

Have a horizontal view across the entire agencyEnsure that the customer experience is consistent across touchpoints that may span multiple business units

Establish CX councils that include representatives from every part of the organization that touches the customerCouncils including digital and technology specialists, program managers, human resources, and corporate communications, among others can make coordinated changes across business units that are able to best meet the needs of their customers

Create a chief customer officer role A number of agencies including the General Services Administration (GSA), the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Export-Import Bank, and Federal Student Aid have done so


Contacts

Greg PellegrinoPrincipalDeloitte Consulting LLP+1 571 882 [email protected]

Nishita HenryPrincipalDeloitte Consulting LLP+ 1 703 623 [email protected]

Kirsty HoseaSenior ManagerDeloitte Consulting LLP+1 571 858 [email protected]

Check out the study here: http://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/industry/public-sector/improving-customer-experience-government-performance.html

Lindsay Musser HoughPrincipalDeloitte Consulting LLP+1 717 695 [email protected]

William D. EggersExecutive Director, Deloitte Centerfor Government InsightsDeloitte Services LP+1 571 882 [email protected]

Cathryn MarcuseStrategic Marketing Manager, DeloitteCenter for Government InsightsDeloitte Services LP+1 571 882 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



http://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/industry/public-sector/improving-customer-experience-government-performance.html




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RxCX: Customer Experience as a prescription for improving government performance