Tag Archives: CX

The Intersection of CX and Communications in Government Services

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Customer experience (CX) and communications have been intuitively tied together in industry and in our day-to-day lives for a long time, but that has not been the case in government until recently. With the emergence of CX officers, executive orders, and various mandates that require government agencies to enhance their customer service, communication has proven integral in implementing improvements that provide increased accessibility, ease-of-use, and equity in service delivery.

The Customer Journey

Mapping the customer journey involves a range of processes. By examining CX through the lens of communications, government agencies can uncover actionable insights to improve citizen-facing services. For the first time, leadership in horizontal positions — roles that aim to break down silos and foster collaboration across different departments or agencies — can tie the pieces of the customer journey together in a more comprehensive way. To accomplish this, agencies should focus on four main phases of communication:

  1. Awareness
  2. Trust and consideration
  3. Decision and action
  4. Engagement and management

Tangible results emerge that improve CX over time when the customer journey is broken down into these four phases. Citizens must be aware of digital services on agencies’ websites to take advantage of them; and agencies must convey trust to drive citizens to make a decision to enroll in a program. Agencies must then implement steps to continue to engage and nurture people through the customer journey. Utilizing this approach allows government agencies to tie CX and communications together.

The Digital Transformation of CX

One of the biggest challenges facing government is ensuring people are aware of the services available to them, particularly those underserved populations who have not participated in programs in the past. Digital and communications staff must work together to ensure that programs, services, and benefits are utilized and remain funded.   

Granicus HISP Customer Experience Series Blog Embedded Image 2024

It is important that agencies recognize that digital transformation is more than simply replicating forms as a digital service. Pairing digital solutions with the communications layer presents government with a critical opportunity to engage with people through authentic digital transformation. Simply making a form into a PDF and posting it on an agency’s website is not digital transformation.

Moving from a “lift and shift” perspective of replicating the brick-and-mortar experience to adopting a truly integrated experience can be daunting but it is an essential component in building genuine customer engagement and improving CX. Email and SMS have been critical in reaching underserved and at-risk populations, as well as struggling citizens seeking government services.

Frequent engagement is the foundation for trust and consideration in government communications. Navigating government bureaucracy can be challenging, but through more thoughtful digital transformation of services, agencies can reduce the burden on the people trying to use them. Many government benefits have gone unclaimed in the past because individuals were unaware or unable to navigate an agency’s website. Minimizing these barriers through clear, frequent communications can enhance trust and ensure that citizens receive the services they are entitled to.

Transparency builds credibility and trust, and meaningful communication builds transparency. By being proactively transparent during the development of applications for digital services, agencies can ensure that the unseen parts of the customer journey are considered.  

Meeting citizens where they are with simple, seamless, and secure services is another way federal agencies can reduce user burden in CX and help people move toward decision and action. Despite limited resources, agencies can meaningfully impact CX by using existing assets and data to create mobile-friendly programs and increase accessibility across devices.

Measuring Meaningful Improvements in CX

Translating customer awareness and trust into a measurable outcome requires people to be engaged in and understand the steps of the process. Communications and CX directly contribute to achieving mission outcomes when they are effectively tied together. Measuring communications metrics — like subscribers and click and open rates — demonstrates how many people considered the information they received as important enough to engage with. Government agencies can implement more customized and personalized communication strategies when they start measuring engagement.

Managing and interpreting metrics while continuing to connect with users is critical to maintaining the communications cycle and building even deeper connections. Building an audience is not just about increasing numbers: It is just as critical to keep the audience interested and engaged to create a seamless encounter.

Transparent communications — whether email, SMS, or phone calls — help manage expectations and improve overall customer experience. In 2023, the federal government sent 150 million text messages and around 12 billion emails, highlighting the importance of efficient digital communication. Government agencies build trust through consistent and reliable interactions when they invest in CX.

Proactive communication is key to transforming and managing CX over time, rather than treating it as an afterthought or only seeing it as accumulated numbers. Investing in CX improves trust and engagement, ensures clear and effective digital communications, and builds relationships, helping to maximize the return on investment for government agencies.

For more on this discussion, watch Charlotte Lee, the Strategic Lead for CX and Innovation at Granicus, on the Federal News Network webinar, “How agencies are ‘reaching people where they are’ through effective CX communications”.

Seamlessly Enhance Accessibility in CX Through Communication

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To provide comprehensive, seamless and fulfilling customer experience (CX), agencies must listen to customer feedback. Part of the Federal Government’s current CX initiatives, inspired by the President’s Management Agenda Executive Order Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government and 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA), focuses on improving the digital experience of Government customers. Agencies with public-facing services that were designated as High-Impact Service Providers (HISPs) follow the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s guidance to move services online. By highlighting customer feedback and utilizing technology to improve service delivery, agencies can make strides to improve their CX.

Where To Start

Improving CX should be faced with a rigorous, multi-channeled approach. For many agencies, the renewal of their services will take 2-3 years, if not longer. Strategies for reshaping CX will vary among agencies, as certain stages in their journey will be specific to their needs. However, on a broad organizational level, there are a few main steps agencies can take. Initial goals manifest as process mapping. This critical step can help agencies understand what Federal programs are asking of them, and what they need to do to improve their agency. Next, agencies should establish a robust feedback process. To improve customer service, agencies must gather information through surveys to understand the wants and needs of the constituents they serve. Specific milestones along this process can include encouraging agency employees to work with customers directly or acclimating them to new services or applications. Some agencies will work primarily online. After recording what resources, portals and technical assistances exist, as well as what improvements need to be made, agencies should begin refining their CX strategies. Across all Federal agencies, design should be seamless and accessible.

Technology and CX, Hand In Hand

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When improving CX, agencies should integrate technology into their feedback process. Technologies such as clear and readable dashboards, analytics campaigns and automation can enable employees to read and acknowledge all feedback received. Once employees analyze feedback, they will be empowered to implement necessary changes vital to both employee and customer happiness. Empowerment can come in the form of setting up IT teams with employees at all levels of the company, granting and delegating capabilities to experts. Driving improvements in CX can look like implementing customer-facing services. With call centers, chat bots, community centers and more, agencies must consider how their services are being utilized and whether they are optimized. The strategy behind the service is just as important as the service offered.

Oftentimes, customers are not compelled to respond to paper or virtual surveys. Sending employees out into the field to and provide a face-to-face, personable interaction and garner real-time reactions can help gather a response from a larger sample. With the usage of analytics programs, agencies can track how many outreach efforts it takes to get responses to online initiatives, as well as the time spent on those responses.

Equity and Accessibility

The equity and accessibility of their customers are imperative for agencies considering enhancing their CX capabilities. Public-facing services reach millions of customers, and therefore, need to be accessible to a variety of different people. For example, even some smaller states feature citizens with more than 95 different languages. To communicate with everyone, agencies can provide language services. When crafting statements, reaching people of different education levels must be accounted for as well. Websites, pitches or pamphlets that explain service access should be clear and concise. Regardless of socioeconomic status or location, every customer deserves access to Government resources. While many aspects of Government services have moved online, not everyone has access to stable internet or a device. Therefore, agencies should consider physical centers or kiosks at community centers. Additionally, experiences should be consistent across these diverse backgrounds. All customer service should be thoughtful and considerate. Agencies need to understand their respective compliance and accessibility standards. Offering audio provisions on websites and closed captions on videos can help reach a wider audience as well.

Adobe works from the omni-channel experience to set a higher standard for the digital experience in Government. By working directly with clients, Adobe can help stakeholders and vendors to champion their customer service.

To learn more about how Adobe is setting a higher standard for CX in Federal Government, watch their interview with Federal News Network on implementing feedback to improve customer service.

Improving Government CX Services to Build Trust Amongst Customers

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In the Private Sector, customer experience (CX) is characterized by applications that serve as a single-stop service for customers. These expectations have trickled from the commercial digital world into the Public Sector, with the exception that co-designing services that keep up with the public’s needs and priorities is non-negotiable to rebuilding trust. High Impact Service Providers (HISPs), Federal agencies that the Government has deemed as having critical value due to their public-facing services, aim to mimic the single-stop layout by creating an all-encompassing CX in the Public Sector. This way, the public sees the Government as seamless and unified, and different Government agencies as parallel to each other.

Customer Experience Built on Trust

Unifying services can reduce challenges the public faces when accessing them. Time is lost due to slow modernization that would otherwise improve interactions with customers. In the past, to access services, individuals may need to take off work, which may lose them income. They may need to travel to a far location, may forget vital documents at home or may have to account for child care. These considerations which come at the expense of the public can be attributed to a “time tax” that burdens Government customers. However, with the shift to online services, customers can update their information quickly and easily on their own time. It is important to note that HISPs are moving to a digital-first, but not digital-only strategy. This means that although all services will be provided online, there will still be in-person options for those who do not have access to a dependable connection or for services that can require in-person help. By providing a variety of reliable, time and cost-effective services, Government agencies can ease usability and build trust with customers.

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Agencies with new, modernized websites can build trust in the Government. Conversely, a rushed website with too much downtime can lead to a user’s inability to access essential capabilities. Not every agency has a Customer Experience Officer to help roll out improved CX strategies. Various agencies may be set up differently regarding reporting structure, which complicates counsel. A driver of HISP and other government-wide CX initiatives, the Office of Management Budget (OMB), has released digital experience guidance related to Memorandum M-23-22. With this initiative, the OMB will help agencies choose which public-facing items to invest in and which digital services to optimize for prime CX.  

A fundamental part of CX is the people who provide services. To truly improve customer service, agencies must first improve their employee experience. This means providing secure access to a variety of work models: virtual or in-person, temporary, seasonal or full-time, contractor or agency related. Once agencies understand how to provide a uniform experience across a diverse portfolio of workforces, agencies can train employees to provide uniform CX across a diverse array of customers. 

Technology also plays a key role in the Government’s hope of a trust-filled relationship with those they serve. Consistent branding is one powerful way to unite HISPs across the Government. This can look like each agency placing its logo in the same area of its website. Another way is one authentication mechanism for members of the public to access both their Government account and servicer website. 

A Unified Login

A cornerstone of the Federal Government’s idea around modernizing CX is that there is a simple way for people to access Government services across multiple devices. Login.gov is putting that idea into practice. To shift online, the Government must provide a secure access method for every customer with a goal to move past the need for passwords. The modern generation of customers expect technological services to be available on multiple devices. They also prefer the ability to take a break and pick up where they left off, which requires behavioral analytics to protect users. Each agency will also be required to offer phishing resistant multi factor authentication (MFA) as an option for public users. With proper Identity and Access Management (IAM), whether in the form of single sign on (SSO) or biometric methods to log in, an app can verify that the user accessing sensitive information is the desired recipient. This way, users can gain easy, secure access to their services and information and agencies gain relevant context at the application level that follows Zero Trust principles. 

Empowering CX with IAM

Okta, the leading independent Identity partner, understands that IAM is an integral part of ensuring services are simple, seamless and secure. Furthermore, IAM services can still center CX. Okta has created human-centered design challenge cards to help agencies redesign experiences based on user needs and CX metrics. By synthesizing CX, secure and proper IAM and modern capabilities, the Federal Government can help build trust with the new era of customers. 

To learn more about how Okta’s IAM capabilities aid CX in the Federal Government, watch my interview with Federal News Network to gain insight on building trust with customers. To learn more about how Government agencies can build trust with their customers and improve customer services, view content from Carahsoft’s Government Customer Experience & Engagement Summit. 

A Unified Identity: Login and Customer Experience

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While in-person services used to be the primary channel of access to Government services, this is no longer the case as more customers turn to digital services. To provide excellent Customer Experience (CX), the Government must prioritize creating digital channels for customers to sign up, apply for and purchase Government services. During Carahsoft’s 2023 Customer Experience and Engagement Summit, panelists discussed how agencies can create an easy-access experience for customers that is unified across all Government agencies.

Simple, United Services

Carahsoft Customer Experience Engagement Summit Part 7 Blog Embedded Image 2023Customers want easy access to services, and this requires a secure, trusted, personal Government-issued digital identity. Having an individualized login allows customers to establish their identity online before completing important tasks, such as making child support payments or searching for unemployment insurance. To be as secure and validated as possible, these logins should be operated by an organization that does not have a motive to leverage private information to sell customer data for profit.

To maintain the core principles of effective customer service, logins should have a common set of controls that validate digital identities. To create a reliable login account, there are three core principles to follow.

  1. Logins must be usable by everyone including constituents without a bank account or a home. Employees cannot have implicit biases and must be ready and willing to serve everyone.
  2. The data that people provide must always remain private. With a Government-issued digital identity, customers will be providing sensitive information to prove their identity. This must be protected to preserve trust in the Government.
  3. Programs should be based on private sector technologies. Government agencies do not need to reinvent or reimagine technology. Rather, they should leverage products that are already built well and bring them together in a way that employs the best innovation in the private sector.

The Benefits of Accessibility

Having a digital identity could allow customers to have a single account that is accessible across Federal, State and Local Government. When customers need to transfer to a different department, an identity-tied login creates an easy way to share their history with new agencies. Centralized login accounts can connect the customer through various platforms, such as email, phone call, in-person and online. IT (information technology) is one of the few categories that has a spending increase into the double digits, which reinforces technology as the primary trend in Government innovation.

As with any digital ability, security concerns must be addressed. Since control of login credentials allows control of identity and data, agencies need to know that the person who is logging in is not an impersonator. By privatizing accounts and their login information, this avoids the information being manipulated or sold.

Government agencies are in the best position possible to combat this. The White House allocated agencies a budget to address CX initiatives. Panelists expressed that many excellent partners in the industry are ready to deliver on these cybersecurity initiatives. For the first time, CX is part of the President’s Management Agenda. The entire administration unified around the agreement that CX is vital to the Government, and the digital sphere must be the first step in reconstructing CX. With this support, agencies can spearhead the movement in providing simple, effective and secure service to elevate CX.

 

Check out the rest of the 2023 Government Customer Experience series to learn more about Carahsoft’s insights from CX industry thought-leaders at the summit.

To learn more about the latest in the CX landscape and how Carahsoft’s industry-leading partners can support your Customer Experience initiatives, please visit our resource hub to access all on demand recordings and information from the 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit.

Utilizing Data to Improve in Customer Experience

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The main goal in customer service is to provide for customer needs and preferences. Through data and feedback, agencies can revitalize and refocus services to best support customers. At Carahsoft’s 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit, panelists reviewed the usage of data in improving the customer experience (CX).

Maintaining Pace with Customer Needs

Expectations from customers have changed rapidly. The pandemic forced customers to increasingly operate via the internet, from important telehealth visits with doctors to completing the mundane task of buying groceries. To match audience needs, Government services must follow suite and digitize.

While digitization is vital, agencies must begin by investing energy and resources into the foundation of CX. To create successful digitization, agencies must focus on swiftly delivering value. Components such as success, personalization and digital equity will follow naturally. Implementing iterative feedback strategies and routines to talk one-on-one with the people directly involved refines usability in agency services.

Providing Equitable Service Through Data

Creating swift and efficient Government services can be difficult and gathering data on customer feedback is the key to improving them. By collecting data through live user testing, agencies can demonstrate how well services are working. This insight can be utilized to encourage the Federal Government to continue or increase funding for State and Local initiatives.

Agencies should encourage reviews as much as possible. By gathering feedback, agencies can use the information gained from data to implement measures alleviating processes that customers carry out. Feedback on digital services can be used by agencies to revitalize their websites around customer needs. Digital services should be simple, accurate, equitable and accessible. Sometimes, this means agencies will need to continue redesigning initiatives, even if they performed adequately in test cases. While this can be cumbersome, being equitable for all users is a vital part of customer service. Pilot programs and generative artificial intelligence can alleviate this process and aid in experimenting with new technologies or designs.

With the overwhelming switch to digitization and the automation process, agencies must not lose sight of maintaining security standards to protect the sensitive information they hold. Implementing data protection and resiliency ensures that in case of data loss, agencies can get services back up and running again.

Equitable service means considering the audience. Whether the audience even has access to technology or in-person services, is a large factor in how CX is provided. For services geared for older customers, such as Medicaid, physical copies may be necessary to reach a large part of the audience. Some customers may need help accessing information. Government agencies can make a difference in these communities by offering additional assistance, including teaching seniors how to use technology or signing them up for medication deliveries. Without considering the audience, and without providing an extra helping hand, Government agencies cannot ensure equitable and proper service to their customer base.

Ultimately, agencies need to stay relevant, accurate and up to date with customer needs while also recognizing that it takes time and effort to perfect services. However, by interpreting data to consider different perspectives and needs, and by applying that data to expand support services and platforms, agencies can provide excellent customer service and experiences.

 

Read the previous blog and check back soon to read the rest of Carahsoft’s insights from CX industry thought leaders at the summit.

 

To learn more about the latest in the CX landscape and how Carahsoft’s industry-leading partners can support your Customer Experience initiatives, please visit our resource hub to access all on demand recordings and information from the 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a Pillar of CX Service Delivery

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Integrating DEIA Into the Larger CX Picture

The Whitehouse Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce promotes standards that can be applied to improving Government customer experience (CX). These include strengthening the ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote and retain the nation’s talent, removing barriers to equal opportunity and creating a space where all employees and customers are treated with dignity and respect. The standards offer Federal and State and Local Government agencies the opportunity to move toward equitable service delivery.

Carahsoft Customer Experience Engagement Summit Part 5 CX Blog Embedded Image 2023Developing a DEIA strategy involves a multitude of moving pieces like analyzing data, enforcing requirements, measuring effectiveness and ensuring progress. All of these areas culminate in sustainable cultural intelligence for organizations. Starting the conversation around DEIA in the context of CX begins with the on-going theme of communication rooted in trust—especially employee and customer trust in the Government. During Carahsoft’s 2023 Customer Experience and Engagement Summit, panelists examined how their organizations are creating more trusting, inclusive and resilient workplace environments which translates to improved services for customers.

A Focus on Human-Centered Design

In the realm of CX, trust is one of the most important aspects of customer, employee and leadership interactions. One panelist found that previously coming from a background in the user experience (UX) transformation space, all human-centered design exclusively existed within UX. In furthering their understanding of the broader CX spectrum, they discovered that UX is only a small part of the CX journey. While UX refers to the way users interact with an organization’s specific products, CX is how users view an organization’s brand and experiences with the business. The critical missing component to elevate CX is communication and transparency to build trust. Much of the progress made through DEIA initiatives aims to rebuild trust with undervalued communities so they feel secure receiving assistance both personally and virtually.

To truly develop more equitable service delivery models, organizations must be able to manage workplace tension by building both internal and external progress. For example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has worked to provide tools for success in both areas through various touchpoints. Externally, NSF teams launched a redesign of the agency’s website that allowed them to collect information from several demographic communities. In doing so, the NSF was able to redesign language inputs and outputs to better serve their website visitors. Internally, the NSF has implemented a call-listening program that analyzes empathy, psychological safety and compassion to protect not only customers, but employees as well. The NSF has also designed a DEIA maturity model, which helps to measure the efficacy of DEIA capabilities, identify critical barriers and benefits to employee advancement and operationalize a sense of inclusion and belonging across the foundation.

Moderating Workforce Development for the Future

Recruiting, hiring and retaining employees is successful when an organization considers a wide range of talent representation. Also, being data-informed is critical for an agency’s mission. Collecting data via methods like staff surveys to identify members’ interests and strengths as well as understand where that talent can best serve the agency is imperative for progress. Baking this into daily processes by working with human resources counterparts ensures the DNA of the organization is varied. Ultimately, diversity within CX talent can positively set one organization and the way its employees interact with customers apart from another.

 

Read the previous blog and check back soon to read the rest of Carahsoft’s insights from CX industry thought leaders at the summit.

 

To learn more about the latest in the CX landscape and how Carahsoft’s industry-leading partners can support your Customer Experience initiatives, please visit our resource hub to access all on demand recordings and information from the 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit.

Following the Funding of Innovation in Customer Experience

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In the world of business, methodology is always changing along with users. While this innovation can be expensive, it is vital that agencies move alongside the private sector with technology implementation and customer service standards. At Carahsoft’s 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit, panelists discussed ways to cut costs and foster innovation.

Innovating to Maintain Pace with Customer Needs

When a business works with clients, most of its focus will naturally be on the customer experience (CX). What was a revolutionary addition in the past, may be an expected feature in the present. As a result, agencies need to continually adapt and grow. Technology can be used to spearhead that innovation. Many people who interface with Government systems are also Government employees, so quality software is vital both internally and externally.

Carahsoft Customer Experience Engagement Summit Part 4 Blog Embedded Image 2023Agencies should design interfaces with CX at the forefront. Professionals, such as designers, whose job is to understand how users adapt to natural patterns in software, should have a seat at the table to help integrate new features. This way, new technology is as easy to understand as possible, by as many people as possible. Allowing users to get involved in iterative cycles as updates are added will allow agencies to evolve their solutions as they go. By following previous successes, the overall user experience will improve.

The speed and agility of technology and service systems is one vital component. Both customers and employees will grow frustrated with slow, out of date technology and appreciate Government initiative for agile development. By rolling out iterative cycles during changes, users have the opportunity to evolve with solutions.

Cost Effective Service

Public agencies have been advocating for more funding to keep pace with the financial challenge of customer service. The current presidential administration has issued several executive orders that promote enhancing customer service and experience in the public sphere including additional funding for agencies to implement those upgrades. However, acquiring these funds requires having modern and secure technology and technical strategy already executed in an agency. Although implementing modern technology and the securest cybersecurity strategies can be expensive, it will help agencies save costs down the road.

If agencies do not qualify for Government funding, there are additional initiatives they can implement in the meantime. Agencies can partner with technology vendors to develop solutions that will improve CX. By leveraging existing data, such as data from performance.gov or analytics.usa.gov, agencies can figure out ways to improve customer service. Paying attention to internal service metrics such as the number of closed cases, time to close cases, success rate and satisfaction level can illustrate how well a company is performing with CX before reviews come in. Agencies can decrease helpdesk wait times and lower costs by focusing on self-remediation. Through championing these efforts alongside quality partners and vendors, agencies can view CX problems through different lenses, leading to the best possible process. Agencies can also utilize pilot programs to test situations out before implementing them and affecting both employees and users. Technology should be used to positively influence user behavior. By guiding a wide variety of customers through services with simple, easy to understand instructions, agencies can help both customers and employees which will keep wait times down and save money.

 

Read the previous blog and check back soon to read the rest of Carahsoft’s insights from CX industry thought leaders at the summit.

To learn more about the latest in the CX landscape and how Carahsoft’s industry-leading partners can support your Customer Experience initiatives, please visit our resource hub to access all on demand recordings and information from the 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit.

Maximizing Service by Engaging Employees as Customers

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At the end of 2021, the Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government stated, “Our Government must recommit to being ‘of the people, by the people, [and] for the people’ in order to solve the complex 21st century challenges our Nation faces. Government must be held accountable for designing and delivering services with a focus on the actual experience of the people whom it is meant to serve.” Panelists at Carahsoft’s 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit agreed that this mission begins with an organization’s employee experience.

A New Approach in Customer Experience Over Time

With the recent introduction of mandates and the new executive order, Government agencies have increased momentum to move customer experience (CX) from being a standalone initiative to weaving it into every facet of daily operations. Jill Leighton, Vice President of Public Sector Strategy and Solutions at Qualtrics, said that today, agencies are not just singularly improving a particular service or touch point. Now, they are taking that insight and implementing it into policymaking, strategic planning, reporting success and designing programs, while also learning where to invest and prioritize.

Carahsoft Customer Experience Engagement Summit Part 3 Service Blog Embedded Image 2023Untapped Resources

Using the best resources and constantly staying on top of innovation is an undertaking for any agency. Employees can be the most underutilized asset for organizations, so it is important for agencies to understand what employees need for peak performance. An immense amount of change has happened throughout the pandemic in working environments, and organizations need to take full advantage of the newer talent capacity and building opportunities within teams and employee talent pools. Additionally, agencies can unlock insights from employee and CX satisfaction through data gathering tools like conversational analytics, natural language processing and machine learning.

Artificial Intelligence in CX

Ironically, the possibilities presented by AI technology are critical to a human-centered CX strategy, Leighton said. With the implementation of AI, agencies are able to automate data analysis in various formats, perform automatic cataloging categorization and background filtering. For example, employees on the front lines of call centers can benefit from weekly, even daily summary reports showing the customer’s most pressing problems, their satisfaction levels and other aspects of their experiences. Using AI for the purpose of collecting qualitative and experience data, call operators can gain valuable insight into how to improve their human-centered CX approach and learn how to personalize each interaction they have. Additionally, using that data to optimize efficiency will improve service delivery. These solutions help move employees away from manual processes so they may focus more on interactions with customers.

What Is Impacting the Work Force?

Many aspects of Government operations can be difficult to navigate. Panelists referenced a general talent shortage, lack of funding and outdated solutions as barriers for the CX workforce. One panelist said they encounter homegrown identity and access management solutions and piecemeal fixes throughout their organization’s CX efforts, which makes it challenging to provide a seamless experience for customers and employees. Another problem CX professionals face is increased expectations from those consuming Government services.

Ron Vickery, Area Vice President of Customer and Industry Workflows, Government Health and Higher Education at ServiceNow, expressed, “We are putting employees in a really tough situation if we are not empowering them to deliver against that expectation. So, I think that, across the board, is a big trend; rising expectations of the way service should be received and making sure that we have empowered these employees to deliver that level of service.”

Translating the Employee Experience to Customer Experience

Government agencies must prepare employees to provide excellence service with a mission-driven mindset as well as proper resources and technology to deliver it. Benefits such as flexibility in the workplace, operational efficiency, training and easy access to tools and resources can attract new talent as well as retain existing employees. If they feel supported by and invested in their agency, workers will be more inclined to provide the quality of service expected by their leadership.

Nicky French, Customer Service Branch Manager for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), said that the TSA’s security mission presents a unique challenge as this agency must balance national cybersecurity with customer experience. She stated, “Our officers in the front lines have to enforce rules, and sometimes that can come across as a little more militant than we would like. So, we try to make sure that the officers are professional and polite. We spend a lot of time just level setting what customer service means.”

Employees need to know that their organization pays attention to their needs. When positive change is made, employees know their voice is valued and has an impact. Addressing challenges within operations enables employees to make a difference and move their agency’s CX mission forward.

 

Read the previous blog and check back soon to read the rest of Carahsoft’s insights from CX industry thought leaders at the summit.

To learn more about the latest in the CX landscape and how Carahsoft’s industry-leading partners can support your Customer Experience initiatives, please visit our resource hub to access all on demand recordings and information from the 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit.

Letting Data and Leadership Inspire Change

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Every agency strives to provide quality customer service, but learning and executing new ways to do so can be daunting. Attendees at Carahsoft’s annual Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit learned that while the process may differ for each agency, there are a few main principles each group should follow in providing an excellent customer experience (CX).

Expounding On Census Data

Over the past few years, agencies have changed the way they collect data to find the best way to reach customers. For some audiences, this may include both electronic and paper forms. If both methods are deployed every so often, agencies can better understand which customers still need that physical conversation or mail-in form, and which prefer online methods. Agencies must embrace observability in both controlled and uncontrolled environments to collect the most effective data on customer experience. One such uncontrolled feedback forum is social media. Previously thought to be uncorrelated to constructive feedback, agencies are finding that customers use social media as a feedback mechanism. By monitoring responses on social media, government organizations can find action items for the way they serve the public.

Carahsoft Customer Experience Engagement Summit Part 2 Blog Embedded Image 2023After collecting data, agencies need to know how to sift through it to find relative action items. To provide better customer service, agencies need to find measurable results from these initiatives. Actionable plans should be formed around the data results. Ultimately, the customer’s experience must guide agency programs.

Leadership in Action

Data can be utilized in practice through strong and guided leadership. A government agency may be the sole provider for a particular service, such as taxes with the Federal government, or issuing drivers’ licenses through the local government. Therefore, it is increasingly important that the government provides excellent service. Government agencies must center their service around empathy. By connecting and understanding customer needs, employees can balance data insights and other priority goals such as cybersecurity and regulatory framework in light of its main goal of centering services around the customer. Agencies can utilize journey mapping and analytics to find predictive routing for continued customer service improvement.

Addressing CX can benefit other service priorities, too. By focusing on each individual customer interaction, handling time and average transaction time will decrease, while overall satisfaction between employer and customer will be higher. During Carahsoft’s 2023 Customer Experience and Engagement Summit, Abraham Marinas, the Product Design Director at Federal Student Aid, attested, “…as you focus on the customer experience, all those metrics eventually will fall in line.”

Technology can be utilized to fulfill innovation in customer service. Technology has improved vastly in the past several years. While agencies may have previously structured themselves around technology, now, technology should be formatted to fit the agency’s specific needs. By investing in strong partnerships with the IT industry, agencies can create better solutions and technology for their organization.

As the government strives to better serve its people, agencies must continue to update their processes and services for positive change by considering the following:

  1. Have a clear, focused image of the change it wants to make.
  2. Decide how to will demonstrate the benefits of that change.
  3. Share that image with each individual team; even when an organization has a shared vision, it might need to change the implementation process depending on the structure of each team.
  4. Upscale existing talent or hire new experts to specialize and understand new changes.

By engaging in genuine and emphatic conversations and utilizing data to influence leadership and progress, employees can form bonds with their customers to help foster trust and respect for the Government.

 

Read the previous blog and check back soon to read the rest of Carahsoft’s insights from CX industry thought leaders at the summit.

 

To learn more about the latest in the CX landscape and how Carahsoft’s industry-leading partners can support your Customer Experience initiatives, please visit our resource hub to access all on demand recordings and information from the 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit.

Returning to the Heart of Customer Experience: A Government for the People

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At Carahsoft’s annual Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit hosted in June, experts from industry and Federal, State, and Local Government came together to discuss stewardship, innovation and paths forward in customer experience (CX). At the one-day event, the thought-provoking sessions examined trends regarding two main themes in the CX journey: culture and technology. The culture track explored ideas for effective leadership, understanding and supporting employees and the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. The technology track considered goals within IT modernization, artificial intelligence and automation and the digitization of services. This blog series highlights lessons learned from the 2023 Summit and unpacks strategies for achieving excellence in Government CX and engagement.

The Big Picture of Customer Experience

During the opening keynote session, President of GovExec360, Troy Schneider, held a discussion with Barbara Morton, Deputy Chief Veterans Experience Officer, Veterans Experience Office (VEO) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), emphasizing the importance of accessibility and accountability in service delivery. Morton said that purpose is at the heart of customer experiences. Whether they are in the government or supporting from the outside, public servants must consider the barriers along with the opportunities that foster trust, serve the greater common purpose and create excellence in CX. In the Public Sector, CX establishes how constituents engage with civic services. By transforming CX, the public sector can build and progress toward greater trust with those it serves.

Carahsoft Customer Experience Engagement Summit Part 1 Blog Embedded Image 2023Great CX starts with an organizational understanding that building and sustaining trust matters. With that agreement in mind, organizations can better support the mission of delivering efficient CX by learning and adapting to the needs of people they are serving. Agencies should provide visibility to customers on the timeliness and process of their requests, as well as deliver on their promises to foster trust and assurance of reliability. Using human-centered design throughout all stages of CX is also essential for understanding the human perspective and anticipating customer needs. As data is collected throughout the human-centric design approach, organizations gain actionable insights that help them create the best tangible solutions for customer challenges.

Use Case: The Department of Veterans Affairs

Government agencies and organizations must focus on traditional operational measures, and the VA ensures it takes another step forward to evaluate experience-based metrics and treat these insights as co-equal when it comes to agency performance. Morton said that action drivers like executive orders and Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) efforts are significant authorities in the transformation of Government CX to continuously progress toward access equitability and efficiency. With their guidance, agencies must agree on the top priorities for service delivery and then incorporate the human-centered design aspect. For example, the VA examines women and tribal veteran’s experiences to ensure it can translate those insights into meaningful and applicable products so those groups feel better understood when interacting with the VA. Additionally, in a digitally driven world, organizations must provide experiences with easy-to-navigate accessibility. Each agency should have a clear homepage or “digital front door” that customers know how and when to access.

Lasting Progress for Lasting Change

In the government, CX can make a measurable difference in the lives of individuals or families going through significant life changes, such as a natural disaster or medical crises as an active or retired veteran. Open source technology that intersects with the government at Federal, State and Local levels can achieve economies of scope and scale, and the improvement of financial savings proportionate to goods produced. The addition of effective CX technology allows government agencies to provide more assistance to more people, having a profound impact in their lives.

 

Check back soon to read the rest of Carahsoft’s insights from CX industry thought leaders at the summit.

 

To learn more about the latest in the CX landscape and how Carahsoft’s industry-leading partners can support your Customer Experience initiatives, please visit our resource hub to access all on-demand recordings and information from the 2023 Government Customer Experience and Engagement Summit.