Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the formerly named Inward Focus Select Committee, held on 19 October 2023, be received and approved as a correct record.

An introductory presentation will be given on the Customer Experience corporate project.

The Chairman welcomed all present to the meeting and introduced Rosie Taylor-Caddy, Assistant Director - Customer Experience and Tammy Fox, Assistant Director - Revenues and Benefits, who were in attendance to give an introductory presentation to Members in respect of a recently commenced Customer Experience corporate project.

The Assistant Director – Customer Experience advised Committee that the project was still in its infancy, but it was a pleasure to be in attendance at the meeting as Members’ input and views were vital to the project and would inform any decisions going forward.

The presentation outlined the following:

External Customers

The Council had many external customers and these included residents, customers outside of the District, visitors, businesses, commercial tenants, partners and stakeholders.

Definition of Customer Service

Customer service encompassed many different methods of communication including face to face contact, online exchanges, telephone conversations and through social media.  Service provision had responsibility for shaping a customer’s journey, the performance standards set, the measurements to be achieved against such standards and managing customer expectations.  The service was not giving the customer everything they want on demand on every occasion.

Delivering a Positive Experience

It was important the at every point of interaction with the Council, the service delivered was positive and supportive to customers whether they were visiting just once or living within the District and having many interactions with the Council.

Current Issues Identified

·         Inconsistent approach to customers

·         Failed promises

·         Handling of requests being hindered by data security, system capabilities and statutory service requirements

·         Not fully recognising everything the Council does that falls between the social and digital customer gap

·         Difficulties transferring processes onto new digital solutions.

What is Measured

Customer Service staff deal with a large number of figures, statistics and outcomes on a daily basis via Pentana/IdeaGen performance systems, contact data, complaints/compliments, Corporate Plan updates, standards monitoring and contractor information.

Asking the Customer

The Council currently ascertained customers views via residents’ surveys, tenants gateways, tenant satisfaction measures and repairs/assets post work surveys.

Suggestions for future Data Capture:

·         More regular customer satisfaction surveys via digital platforms

·         Readership survey in the Ashfield Matters magazine

·         Better use/sharing of data

·         To assess the capabilities of PowerBI (an interactive data visualization software product with a primary focus on business intelligence) from Ashfield’s perspective

·         More frequent use of the Citizens Panel.

Next Steps:

To progress the project, officers would be undertaking the following:

·         Meeting with the Council’s Assistant Directors via the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT)

·         Analysing customer journeys to endeavour to remove any duplication and failures

·         Developing satisfaction surveys to be delivered via the Council’s digital platforms

·         Introducing post event surveys for customers

·         Engaging with the Citizens’ Panel

·         Developing a readership survey via Ashfield Matters magazine

·         Organising some mystery shopping

·         Undertaking some Customer Service training and/or qualifications and apprenticeships

·         Analysing obstacles in respect of personalisation hindered by statutory, legal and system issues

·         Splitting the current Customer and Digital Strategy document via a refresh, to enable more detailed focus within each area

·         Developing a Customer Promise Charter  ...  view the full minutes text for item PI.3