"Customer service in the public sector" - what do you think of?
Long queues at the road traffic office? Eternal telephone loops? Or the simple submission of tax returns?
Every day, millions of transactions take place worldwide via local, regional and national public administrations, with varying levels of quality in customer or citizen service. Some authorities, such as the Swedish labor office or the U.S. Census Bureau, already offer simple citizen services via mobile devices and modern applications.
The German government also adopted the "Digital Administration 2020" program back in 2014. But we are still a long way from reaching our goal. The media in particular has massively criticized the fact that - especially in times of the pandemic - health authorities mainly work by telephone and fax
Standards from the private sector also apply to public institutions
The move towards better customer service in public administrations is driven by the ever-increasing expectations of citizens. Private companies such as Amazon have already made simple, intuitive and transparent interactions the standard for customer service.
They are based on the customer and their customer journey - not on internal guidelines or outdated processes. Interactions are dynamic and based on user behavior. Information can be accessed easily and anywhere. Mobile devices are being used more and more and citizens expect public authorities to (also) be accessible via this channel.
To date, German administrations have often lacked the technology, the money and frequently also the will of the authorities themselves to make far-reaching changes. At first glance, digitalization in the public sector often seems like a mammoth project. But today there are both procedures and technology that enable a step-by-step approach and very quickly generate benefits and increase efficiency.
Putting the citizen at the center
Whether a government agency is already in the midst of modernization or has not yet begun its digital transformation, it is able to provide a customer-centric service and create exceptional citizen service with an agile platform. This leads to continuous improvements in accessibility, reliability, punctuality and accuracy.
Step-by-step approach to e-government
Start with your most pressing needs and then close the gaps between legacy systems and current applications to provide a consistent service to citizens:
- First, define the customer journeys required for your processes: What is the end-to-end process for handling any type of request, from intake to resolution? What needs to happen from a back-office perspective and what should the citizen see?
- Build from the inside out: Once you have defined your customer journeys, you can play them out across all channels, while a platform regulates technical access to data and services in the background. This ensures accuracy and consistency in all your procedures and guidelines, regardless of which channels (telephone, mobile, chat, website, social media, etc.) are used to handle the customer journeys.
- Offer always-on availability: Go mobile-first, but not mobile-only. Phone, email and traditional mail are still important, but outside of normal service hours, easily accessible self-service channels offer an easy way for citizens to get in touch with you.
- Use cloud systems to connect data from all your channels: Take advantage to securely collect customer data from all your applications and technologies and enable easy data traffic.
- Use "case management" and intelligent leadership for more transparency and stability: A case - or a business transaction - refers to the steps required to achieve a goal (e.g. application, approval, payment of a benefit) Case management organizes all the actions required to complete a customer journey and optimizes the results. It also provides employees and citizens with a direct overview of each individual step and thus promotes transparency . Combining case management with a tool such as artificial intelligence even makes it possible to anticipate future needs and proactively engage with citizens.
Read here what the implementation of an intelligent platform achieves in practice, using the example of the Bavarian State Ministry.
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