Report of the Director of Corporate Development

Transcription

1 Customer Service Excellence: Update (DCD/37/12) Report of the Director of Corporate Development 1. Introduction The purpose of this report is to update elected members on the result of the recent surveillance visit which is part of the Customer Services Excellence accreditation. 2. Background 2.1 To support Merseytravel s objective of putting the customer at the forefront of its activities and to demonstrate Merseytravel s Corporate Strategic Theme to serve the community to achieve increasing levels of customer experience, it was decided in 2010 that the organisation would pursue the Customer Service Excellence accreditation 2.2 The Government also wants public services for all that are efficient, effective, excellent, equitable and empowering with the citizen always and everywhere at the heart of public service provision. With this in mind Customer Service Excellence was developed to offer public services a practical tool for driving customer focussed change within their organisation. 2.2 The foundation of the tool is the Customer Service Excellence standard, which tests in great depth those areas that research has indicated are a priority for customers, with particular focus on delivery, timeliness, information, professionalism and staff attitude. There is also emphasis placed on developing customer insight, understanding the user s experience and robust measurement of service satisfaction. 2.3 The standard is designed to operate on 3 levels:- (a) As a driver of continuous improvement By allowing organisations to self-assess their capability in relation to customer focussed service delivery, identifying areas and methods for improvement. Corporate Social Responsibility Committee 12 April 2012

2 (b) (c) As a skills development tool By allowing individuals and teams within the organisation to explore and acquire new skills in the area of customer focus and customer engagement, thus building their capacity for delivering improved services. As an independent validation of achievement By allowing organisations to seek formal accreditation to the Customer Service Excellence standard, demonstrate their competence, identify key areas for improvement and celebrate their success. 2.4 The standard has 5 criteria which are attached as Appendix 1. The outline which are: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Customer Insight this focuses on the importance of developing an in-depth understanding of customers. The Culture of the Organisation this is concerned with the support for customer-focussed approaches throughout the organisation so that excellent services are delivered to all customers. Information and Access this is aimed at providing accurate and detailed information to our customers on an ongoing basis. Delivery this relates to how we carry out our main business, the outcomes for the customer and how we manage any problems that arise. Timeliness and Quality of Service this looks in detail at the standards we have relating to how we carry out our main business. 2.5 Merseytravel received the Customer Service Excellence accreditation in April Process to Achieve Accreditation 3.1 Prior to OTOF, two parts of the organisation had already obtained the Customer Service Excellence accreditation; Tunnels Administration including Tunnel Tours and Bus Gateways. 3.2 There is an annual surveillance visit as part of the accreditation. Therefore as there had been major changes to the two areas as part of OTOF and as the accreditations were completed at different times, it was decided that instead of going through

3 another two different and separate assessments, Merseytravel would apply for a corporate assessment. 3.3 As part of the accreditation process the external assessor highlighted six areas of Strength: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Customer Engagement The organisation was fully committed to ensuring that it listened to its customers and responded in a way that improved the overall customer experience. Several good examples were provided of Merseytravel engaging with its customers through face to face discussions, surveys, responding to comments, panels and general feedback analysis. Implementing Improvements Merseytravel had made several positive changes (including improved customer journeys) as a result of analysing the customer experience (ie Tunnels traffic flow and fast tag availability). Corporate Commitment A strong and cogent commitment was evident which certainly permeated through to the staff that delivered the service to customers. Strong planning mechanisms ensured that staff and customers could influence and affect the plans that were in place and this resulted in an extremely clear performance plan being in place. Staff Development Merseytravel as an Investor in People Champion organisation certainly viewed staff development as key to supporting a strong customer service culture. Focussed Staff there was an obvious and commendable commitment shown by staff to putting the customer first and adopting a positive approach when dealing with customer needs. Staff felt empowered and well trained to deal with any issues in a customer focussed way. Partnership Approach Good cohesive and coherent synergised relationships existed between Merseytravel and their numerous partners which provided clear benefits for the customers (ie timetables, travel information and coordinated services).

4 3.4 As part of the process, there were areas for development identified which will form part of an ongoing programme of improvement to ensure Merseytravel continues to meet and exceed the requirements of the standard: (a) (b) (c) Customer Profiling Although this was only identified as an area for development, the assessor was interested in seeing the results of the further work completed in the areas of customer segmentation and also how this information influenced the future plans for the delivery of an effective service. Complaints Procedure Although the organisation had been introducing a single approach to this area, further work could be done in terms of embedding the system across all Merseytravel operations. Complaints Follow Up More work could be completed in ensuring that a consistent approach was adopted in terms of closing the loop in relation to ensuring that customers were satisfied when their complaint had been upheld. Consideration must be given to establishing a follow up procedure in order to check out whether the complaints process was viewed as effective. 4. Activities since Accreditation 4.1 As mentioned previously, Customer Service Excellence was developed to offer public services a practical tool for driving customer focussed change within their organisation which should improve the delivery of services to the customer. 4.2 The report following the initial assessment of Merseytravel identified three areas for development referred to above and these have resulted in new projects being commissioned or existing projects being amended to address the findings of the external assessor. These being:- (a) Customer Profiling the Merseytravel Marketing Manager commissioned Arkenford, a Market Modelling and Research Company, to carry out a Market Segment Profiles exercise. The data from the exercise was used to better understand existing users, potential users and non-users. The results of the exercise were published in May This has led to a number of improvements in the delivery of services to the customer. Campaign plans have been developed around the insight gained from the

5 segmentation work. Therefore, there is a clear link to our decision making in terms influencing the media selection and messaging based on the audiences we are trying to influence. Further research will now be commissioned and links to Merseytravel s implementation of its Customer Service strategy. Some examples of enhanced campaigns are evident with the Season Ticket Campaign, the Term Time Tickets Campaign and the LSP Campaign. (b) Complaints Procedure and Complaints Follow Up Business Support Services who are responsible for the delivery of Merseytravel s customer comments system was contacted regarding the contents of the report. A project board is overseeing the replacement of the current computerised comments handling system and the improvement of the customer comment handling process. The new system will incorporate a complaints follow up procedure. With regard to the consistent delivery of Merseytravel s corporate comments process, this issue was also identified by the Quality Management System internal audit process. The Heads of Service responsible for those areas identified as part of the Quality internal audit received formal notification of their non-conformance to the process outlined in the Quality Manual. It was also raised during the ISO9001:2008 Management Review which was attended by the previous Chief Executive, Director for Corporate Development, Chair of the Corporate Development and Audit Committee, Head of Transformation and Transformation Manager. When the new computerised system is launched the profile of the system will be raised making staff aware that the corporate process should be followed. It is expected that the new computerised customer relation system should be in operation by May 2012.

6 5. Surveillance Visit No.1 22 March Mick Lynch from Centre for Assessment Ltd carried out Merseytravel s first surveillance assessment on 22 March 2012 and the table below outlines his visit schedule:- Key people seen Jason Roberts Liz Chandler Gary Evans/ Gerry Reed Joanne Hazelwood Iain Davison Peter Sandman Customers Frank Rogers Jason Roberts Assessor reflection Jason Roberts/ Alastair Ramsay Key issues to be explored Opening meeting and documentation discussion Discuss new Customer Strategy and changes made since last visit Discuss two Partial Compliances from previous assessment Update on customer activities at tunnel operations, ferries and attractions Update on Marketing Strategy and updating of Website Discuss impact of segmentation work in relation to future planning raised during previous assessment Speak to customers and visit City Centre Hub Update on customer experience and feedback Sweep up meeting Assessor reflection and report write up Feedback and closing meeting 5.2 The ongoing assessment report is attached as Appendix 2 and the outline of the findings from the external assessor is set out below - (a) (b) Criterion 1: Customer Insight - Comprehensive work completed on segmentation which has provided valuable information in relation to specific groups and conversation strategies. Customer forums used to take in people s views which are convened every 12 weeks. Criterion 2: Culture of the Organisation - The Big Conversation has now been concluded and the organisation had defined best in class customer service strategy. Development for staff has continued to be seen as pivotal to the success of Merseytravel (IIP Gold). LTP3 firmly linked to behavioural change linked to putting the customer first. There was a huge corporate commitment to putting the customer at the heart of everything that Merseytravel do by elected members and senior management.

7 (c) (d) Criterion 3: Information and access - Extensive review and development of website taking place and should be ready in June Good monitoring of access channels provided information regarding importance of bus and train timetables. Criterion 4: Delivery - New system for complaints will give people unique reference number and allow them to track complaint progress. This is currently being tested and Assessor would be keen to see results on next surveillance. (e) Criterion 5: Timeliness and Quality of Service - Merseytravel has continued to monitor their performance in terms of timeliness and quality (ie Surveys, focus groups, elected members and annual report). (f) (g) Elements & are now Compliance Plus as comprehensive work been completed not only in relation to segmentation but conversion strategies. Elements & remain as Partial Compliance as a result of testing taking place on new system (Optiva), the new Merseytravel website and the use of the snap survey for gathering customer perceptions. The assessor stated that Surveillance 1 was very strong for Merseytravel and there was no doubt that they were using the CSE framework to ensure that they fully engaged with their customers in order to provide effective services for the people that use them. There was strong commitment still evident from the top of the organisation (Senior Management & Elected Members) and this can only auger well for both the staff and customers. Effective marketing and segmentation allowed Merseytravel to focus on potential customers and also to provide clear information which would underpin this focus. Motivation from staff to continually look at ways of improving and to constantly provide top class services was extremely high. Return on investment from initiatives which were linked to customers was clearly seen through the campaign evaluation report The assessor stated that It has been a pleasure to conduct this surveillance, having spoken to committed staff, happy customers and witnessed a clear trajectory of improvements in terms of standards and delivery.

8 5.4 This demonstrates that Merseytravel is utilising the Customer Service Excellence framework effectively and continues to improve. There were elements that are only Partial Compliances but these are being addressed. 5.5 Optiva (the new Customer Relations Management) should be in operation by June 2012 which will address the Partial Compliances relating to embedding the Complaints Procedure across all Merseytravel operations and Complaints Follow Up, ie ensuring that a consistent approach was adopted in terms of closing the loop in relation to ensuring that customers were satisfied when their complaint had been upheld. Consideration must be given to establishing a follow up procedure in order to check out whether the complaints process was viewed as effective. 6. Risk Implications A risk assessment has been carried out and the impact and likelihood of a negative effect on the organisation should be minimal. In fact, it is deemed that implementing the work plan for the Customer Services Excellence standard will have a positive effect. 7. Financial Implications 7.1 Set out below are the costs for the assessment and external assessor:- Initial Assessment: Item Days Cost Optional pre-assessment Stage one desk top review And planning Stage two on site audit Report writing Optional separate feedback presentation Total fee: Surveillance Assessment 1 Surveillance visit Surveillance Assessment 2 Surveillance visit Staff time in preparing for the assessment, gathering data and attending interviews with the external assessors must also be considered as part of this project. 7.3 These costs will be met from existing budgets.

9 8. Equality Impact Assessment Rapid screening is not required, as formal decisions are not sought from elected members at this stage, given that this report is for noting. 9. Environmental Implications There are no Environmental Implications arising from this report directly, however impact assessments will be carried out where required. 10. Conclusions 10.1 Merseytravel continues to be recognised as an organisation that has Customer Service Excellence The organisation has demonstrated that the accreditation is not just about the plaque on the wall but there is tangible evidence of improvement as a result of the accreditation process Services to the customer who should be at the forefront of everything we do will be improved as a result of the projects identified The external assessors continue to praise Merseytravel, its systems and its staff but it has been recognised that there are still a number of issues to be addressed including adopting a consistent approach throughout the organisation The fact that the organisation has received Compliance Plus, as part of the surveillance visit, for some of its activities relating to customer services, reflects real achievement in pursuit of world class status and demonstrates continuous improvement of its activities. 11. Recommendations Members are asked to note the contents of this report.

10 Background Papers Customer Services Excellence Standard. Report Prepared By Jason Roberts, Transformation Manager. Contact for Media and Public Enquiries Ian Kenyon, Head of Media and Communication.

11 Appendix 1 Customer Services Excellence Criteria Criterion 1: Number Customer Identification Element We have an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of our current and potential Customer groups based on recent and reliable information We have developed Customer Insight about our customer groups to better understand their needs and preferences We make particular efforts to identify hard to reach and Disadvantaged Groups and individuals and have developed our services in response to their specific needs. Engagement and Consultation We have a strategy for engaging and involving customers using a range of methods appropriate to the needs of identified customer groups We have made the consultation of Customers integral to continually improving our service and we advise customers of the results and action taken We regularly review our strategies and opportunities for consulting and engaging with Customers to ensure that the methods used are effective and provide reliable and representative results. Customer Satisfaction We use reliable and accurate methods to measure Customer satisfaction on a regular basis.

12 1.3.2 We analyse and publicise satisfaction levels for the full range of Customers for all main areas of our service and we have improved services as a result We include in our measurement of satisfaction specific questions relating to key areas including those on delivery, timeliness, information, access and the quality of Customer service, as well as specific questions which are informed by customer insight We set challenging and stretching targets for customer satisfaction and our levels are improving We have made positive changes to services as a result of analysing Customer experience, including improved customer journeys. Criterion 2: Culture Leadership, Policy and Culture There is corporate commitment to putting the Customer at the heart of service delivery and leaders in our organisation actively support this and advocate for customers We use Customer Insight to inform policy and strategy and to prioritise service improvement activity We have policies and procedures which support the right of all Customers to expect excellent levels of service We ensure that all Customers and customer groups are treated fairly and this is confirmed by Feedback and the measurement of customer experience We protect Customers privacy both in face-to-face discussions and in the transfer and storage of customer information.

13 2.1.6 We empower and encourage all employees to actively promote and participate in the customer focused culture of our organisation. Staff Professionalism and Attitude We can demonstrate our commitment to developing and delivering Customer focused services through our recruitment, training and development policies for staff Our staff are polite and friendly to Customers and has an understanding of customer needs We prioritise Customer focus at all levels of our organisation and evaluate individual and team commitment through the performance management system We can demonstrate how customer-facing staffs' insight and experience is incorporated into internal processes, policy development and service planning We value the contribution our staff make to delivering Customer focused services and leaders, managers and staff demonstrate these behaviours. Criterion 3: Information and Access Range of Information We make information about the full range of services we provide available to our Customers and potential customers, including how and when people can contact us, how our services are run and who is in charge Where there is a charge for services, we tell our Customers how much they will have to pay.

14 Quality of Information We provide our Customers with the information they need in ways which meet their needs and preferences, using a variety of appropriate channels We take reasonable steps to make sure our Customers have received and understood the information we provide We have improved the range, content and quality of verbal, published and web based information we provide to ensure it is relevant and meets the needs of Customers We can demonstrate that information we provide to our Customers is accurate and complete and that when this is not the case we advise customers when they will receive the information they requested. Access We make our services easily accessible to all customers through provision of a range of alternative channels We evaluate how customers interact with the organisation through access channels and we use this information to identify possible service improvements and offer better choices We ensure that where Customers can visit our premises in person, facilities are as clean and comfortable as possible. Co-operative Working with Other Providers, Partners and Communities We have made arrangements with other providers and partners to offer and supply co-ordinated services and these arrangements have demonstrable benefits for our Customers.

15 3.4.2 We have developed co-ordinated working arrangements with our partners that ensure customers have clear lines of accountability for quality of service We interact within wider communities and we can demonstrate the ways in which we support those communities. Criterion 4: Delivery Delivery Standards We have challenging standards for our main services, which take account of our responsibility for delivering national and statutory standards and targets We monitor and meet our standards, key departmental and performance targets and we tell our customers about our performance We consult and involve customers, citizens, partners and staff on the setting, reviewing and raising of our local standards. Achieved Delivery and Outcomes We agree with our Customers at the outset what they can expect from the service we provide We can demonstrate that we deliver the service we promised to individual Customers and that outcomes are positive for the majority of our customers We can demonstrate that we benchmark our performance against that of similar or complementary organisations and have used that information to improve our service We have developed and learned from Best Practice identified within and outside our organisation and we publish our examples externally where appropriate.

16 Deal Effectively with Problems We identify any dips in performance against our standards and explain these to Customers, together with action we are taking to put things right and prevent further recurrence We have an easy to use complaints procedure, which includes a commitment to deal with problems fully and solve them wherever possible within a reasonable time limit We give staff training and guidance to handle complaints and to investigate them objectively and we can demonstrate that we empower staff to put things right We learn from any mistakes we make by identifying patterns in formal and informal complaints and Comments from Customers and use this information to improve services and publicise action taken We regularly review and improve our Complaints procedure, taking account of the views of Customers, complainants and staff We ensure that the outcome of the complaint process for Customers (whose complaint is upheld) is satisfactory for them. Criterion 5: Timeliness and Quality of Service Standards for Timeliness and Quality We set appropriate and measurable standards for the timeliness of response for all forms of Customer contact including phone calls, letters, e-communications and personal callers We set comprehensive standards for all aspects of the quality of customer service to be expected in all dealings with our organisation.

17 Timely Outcomes We advise our Customers and potential customers about our promises on timeliness and quality of customer service We identify individual customer needs at the first point of contact with us and ensure that an appropriate person who can address the reason for contact deals with the customer We promptly share Customer information with colleagues and partners within our organisation whenever appropriate and can demonstrate how this has reduced unnecessary contact for customers Where service is not completed at the first point of contact we discuss with the Customer the next steps and indicate the likely overall time to achieve outcomes We respond to initial enquiries promptly, if there is a delay we advise the customer and take action to rectify the problem. Achieved Timely Delivery We monitor our performance against standards for timeliness and quality of Customer service and we take action if problems are identified We are meeting our current standards for timeliness and quality of Customer service and we publicise our performance against these standards Our performance in relation to timeliness and quality of service compares well with that of similar organisations.