Council asks 'How well do we do?' in Customer Service Week

North Norfolk District Council is running a six-month survey of customer attitudes, as part of National Customer Service Week.

North Norfolk District Council is running a six-month survey of customer attitudes, as part of National Customer Service Week.

Between October and March, a sample of people contacting the Council through its customer service team — on any subject or to reach any department — will be asked to complete the brief survey, which is designed to discover how effective and competent NNDC’s customer service team is, what their attitudes to customers are, and how quickly the customers’ inquiries are dealt with.

Importantly, the survey also asks whether the customer’s call, letter, email or visit could have been avoided — whether because they couldn’t carry out a transaction or find the information they wanted on the Council’s website, didn’t get what they needed in earlier dealings with NNDC, didn’t understand a letter from the Council, or would have preferred a different way of making contact.

Estelle Bawden, NNDC’s Customer Services Manager, said: “We are looking at different ways of meeting customers’ ever-changing needs and expectations, and we will use this and other information to improve customers’ experience of dealing with us. Meeting targets is one thing, but this survey should tell us whether people are actually getting what they need when they contact us.”

In 2007 the Council established a team of customer service agents to answer telephones and help visitors to its offices, while also bringing existing reception functions like cashiers and tourist information centres into the team.

These agents are trained to be able to answer inquiries that might previously have occupied ‘back office’ staff (if and when they were available), and to give — or get —customers the help they need promptly.

Surveys will be conducted on a sample of days reflecting busy, normal and less-busy times, and results will be collated on an ongoing basis. If it proves useful and successful, the survey may continue in use after the six-month pilot finishes.

NNDC is also marking National Customer Service Week with a competition among staff across the organisation to find the best example of service that goes ‘the extra mile’.

• National Customer Service Week (5 to 11 October, 2009) is an initiative by the Institute of Customer Service designed to raise awareness within organisations of the importance of professionalism in customer relations, and to recognise and learn from achievements in the field.
• For more information about the customer service survey, call Estelle Bawden on 01263 516079.

ENDS