Customer Service Excellenceat Chorley Council

Jamie Carson Corporate Director (People)

Case study … to fuel thinking!Slides and tools availableContextBusiness Process ArchitectureCircles of NeedCustomer Profiling

Overview:

New Chief Executive – New Leader 2006Major restructure first 3 months - £1m savingSome great people and servicesFair CPA score 2004Operating in a strategic vacuumLSP ineffective – Corporate Strategy poorCustomer focus strong in some areasValue for money a real priority – council taxfreezeStaff morale low

Chorley in Context

Resource constraints mean re-focusing what wehave more effectively – 3% cashable Gershon

71% BVPI’s continually improving

Over 50% in top quartile

Blend of outsourced/in-house services

‘Can do’ culture and appetite for improvement

Some strategic alignment but in bits…

Needed a big idea!

Background and Context

Business Architecture Blueprint

THE VISION

“By the end of the project the Council will have a better understanding of everything it does in order to identify

duplication, opportunity for synergy to optimise resources and focus them more effectively

on customer need.”

To understand the functions of each Directorate– common units of work/activities.

To develop a blueprint model for a transformedCouncil

To identify options for changes to the structureof the Council

Aims of Project

We have:

Identified all the core business processes carried out by a district council

Linked them to customers and staff

Arranged them into the main areas of work of the Council to design a new organisational structure

These areas define what it is to be a district council

The Approach

‘too little customer insight is being used toshape services’

‘there is little sharing of customer intelligenceacross the Council and LSP partners’

‘not enough time is spent visioning and shapingservice provision’

‘there is little cohesion of business disciplinesacross the organisation’

‘capacity for genuine business planning inlimited’

Does this sound familiar?

Tackling the needs of the customer by wrapping the business of the organisation around the customer

Assistant Chief Executive (Policy &

Performance)

Assistant Chief Executive (Business

Transformation)

Chief Executive

Corporate Director (Business)

Corporate Director (Neighbourhoods)

Corporate Director (People)

A new structure:

Circle of Need Project

How did the Circle of Need Project come about?

“Delivering public services based around the needs of citizens and businesses must start with an understanding of citizens and business need” … Varney

We asked ourselves a number of questions:

1. Do we really understand our customers?

2. Do we understand which customers need which services, regardless of who provides these services?

3. Would it be possible to develop a model to facilitate this thinking which would lead to an enhanced customer experience?

Successful companies understand their customers’ needs and future needs before they do

Premier Foods –

Unilever –

Amazon – Personal recommendations

The Axe effect(Eastern Europe)

The Lynx effect(Western Europe)

A practical example of the Circles of Need concept

Needs Identified:• Hostels• Hotel• Car Hire• Travel Insurance• Cheaper Energy• Luton Express• Travel Guides• Gift Vouchers• Ryanair Money• Airport Parking• Concerts & Sports• Airport Coach• Bed and Breakfast• Foreign Currency• Gambling

A closer look at the Circle of Need Model based on the Ryanair example

In need of a flight

“I need a hostel”

“I need a hotel”

“I need a hire car”

“I need transport to Luton”

“What tours are available

on holiday?” “How can I

find a travel

guide?”

“I need airport car parking”

Hostel bookings available

Car Hire Bookings

Luton express tickets

available

Day trips offered

Travel guides made freely

available

Hotel bookings

Links to airports to

book parking

Hertz carhire

NationalRail

Hostelworld.com

Where Ryanaircan’t provide a

service they gather

information from the

customer and refer them to

partnerorganisationsFrom one

presenting need, many

needs are diagnosed

Key

CitizenNeed

Services

(1.1.2.2) In Need oftemporary or

long-term Guidancein day-to-day Living

(1.1.2.1) In Need oftemporary / longterm Support in

day-to-day Living

(5.2.1) Being anadvocate i.e.

speaks on behalf ofa group

(1.2.3.2) Havinginadequate accessto democracy e.g.voting / planning

voting

(1.1.1.3) HavingCommunication

issues and barriersto Accessing

services

(1.1.3.1) In Need ofMedical Treatment

or Assistance

(2.1.3) Being aresidential property

(5.2.3) Being agroup to provide

advice andguidance

(1.3.2.1) In Need ofAccess to an Active

& SupportiveCommunity

(1.3.2.2) In Need ofSocial Integration

(1.3.3) Being inNeed of Physical

and CulturalDevelopment

(1.1.3.2) In Need ofMental or Physical

Health Support andAdvice

(1.1.1.1) In Need ofImproved

Accommodation

assisted collection(1.1.2.2) In Need of

temporary orlong-term Guidancein day-to-day Living

(1.1.2.1) In Need oftemporary / longterm Support in

day-to-day Living

(5.2.1) Being anadvocate i.e.

speaks on behalf ofa group

(1.2.3.2) Havinginadequate accessto democracy e.g.voting / planning

voting

(1.1.1.3) HavingCommunication

issues and barriersto Accessing

services

(1.1.3.1) In Need ofMedical Treatment

or Assistance

(2.1.3) Being aresidential property

(5.2.3) Being agroup to provide

advice andguidance

(1.3.2.1) In Need ofAccess to an Active

& SupportiveCommunity

(1.3.2.2) In Need ofSocial Integration

(1.3.3) Being inNeed of Physical

and CulturalDevelopment

(1.1.3.2) In Need ofMental or Physical

Health Support andAdvice

(1.1.1.1) In Need ofImproved

Accommodation

assisted collection

Examples of Circles of Need – Assisted Collection

Customer presents

themselves as homeless at the

authority

Customer has either been

sleeping rough or staying with

family and friends

Customer awaits decision

regarding if they are eligible for

housing

Customer has homeless interview

Customer housed in ‘short

term’ housing (i.e. hostel)

Example of how the Circle of Need concept has been used in Chorley

1

2

3

4

5

Customers shortterm housing solution

coming to an end

Customer seeksurgent housing

assistance

Customer ‘tells theirstory’ to homeless

officer

Short term housing solution provided no

other needs addressed

Customer applies for housing, may still

have other needsKey

Out

com

es

Customer Emotion Mapping

Posi

tive

Neu

tral

Neg

ativ

eTo

uch-

poin

ts

No obvious touch points, some sign posting may have

taken place

Face to face Face to face Face to face Decision given by post

• Realisation of homelessness hits

• Depression

•Reasonably happy as they have gone through the process before or escaping domestic violence

• No problem entering council premises

• Customer doesn’t know what to expect

• Has done this before so knows what to expect

Not ideal with children

• Council offices clean and tidy

• Able to seek help

• Customer feels better after speaking to officer

• ‘Get it off my chest’

• Staff are very helpful

•Private interview room is as little faceless

• Pleased officer completes the form even though I could do it myself

• Happy I received a place to live the same day I was homeless

•Cotswold house is generally viewed as acceptable place to be

• Related needs can go undiagnosed

• Very long days

• Little activity

• Boredom

• Employers are put off employing me because of the address I give

How can the Circle of Need model be applied to local government? Circle of Need model has been developed around 4 key areas

Citizen Needs

Business Needs

EnvironmentalNeeds

Public InterestGroup Needs

Based on Maslow’shierarchy of needs

• Security & Crime

• Health & Well being

• Self esteem

• Belonging andrespect

• Businesslifecycles

• Legislativecompliance

• Resources andoperational mgt

• Add value anddeliver

• Needs of physical structures

• Environmental features (man –made or planned)

• Connecting infrastructure

• Advocacy groups

• Pressure groups

• Groups giving advice andguidance etc

Customer Profiling Data

Chorley Council have been able to identify the various types of customer profiles within the Chorley Borough and compare these to the UK as a whole.

B

A

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

Mosaic Groups

Career professional living in sought after locations

Older people living in social housing with high care needs

Independent older people with relatively active lifestyles

People living in rural areas far from urbanisation

People living in social housing with uncertain employment in deprived areas

Low income families living in estate based social housing

Upwardly mobile families living in homes bought from social landlords

Older families living in suburbia

Close knit, inner city and manufacturing town communities

Educated, young, single people living in areas of transient populations

Younger families living in newer homes

Group Overview

17.25%

9.03%

22.54%

22.34%

0.16%

3.19%

8.08%

6.25%

3.49%

3.70%

3.97%

% of Chorley

Compared to UK Group D breakdown:

Mixed communities of urban residents living in well built,

early 20th century housing

Comfortably off manual workers living in spacious but

inexpensive private houses

Owners of affordable terraces built to house 19th century heavy industrial workers

Low Income families living in cramped Victorian terraced

housing in inner city locations

Centres of small market towns and resorts containing many

hostels and refuges

Communities of lowly paid factory workers, many of

them of South Asian descent

Multi-cultural inner city terraces attracting second generation settlers from

diverse communities

D21

D26

D27

D23

D22

D24

D25

• Direct Debit take up

• Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit take up

• Electoral registration returns

• Weeks of action

• Community safety

• Neighbourhood working

• Emergency planning

• Extra services – based on location and need

Quick wins – for Chorley Council

How Customer Profilingand CRM fit

Mosaic Data has been integrated within the CRM system

Group CType 15

Currently, useful for:

• NI14

• Channel migration opportunities

Future Uses:

• Circle of Need implementation

Next steps

Next steps

Contact CentreContact CentreCustomer Services

“Good morning your through to Laura how can I help”Can I take some details for your council tax enquiryYour name and postcode

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Live at PR7 5AE Coppull, contact Chorley Council by

telephone

Pension AgeMostly poorly educatedLive on a council estateAre struggling to live day to dayHave a poor dietHeavy drinkersHeavy smokersReceptive to: TV, telemarketing, and red top newspapersUnreceptive to: Internet, magazines and broadsheet newspapers

Circle of need embedded within CRM to identify need & related need, underpinned by customer profiling

Customer profiling suggests Mr. and Mrs. Smith are:

Customer Services

“You may qualify for council tax benefit”“Based on information you have provided you may be eligible for help from otherorganisations can I send them your details, we have gathered”

Contact CentreContact Centre

Warm Front Grant

Services fromacross govt

Insight gathered

Dear Mr. and Mrs Smith,

To improve services further please can you complete the enclosed customer insight questionnaire and return it to us in the pre paid envelop,RegardsLaura

Dear Mr. and Mrs Smith,

To improve services further please can you complete the enclosed customer insight questionnaire and return it to us in the pre paid envelop,RegardsLaura

Post

Customer insight gathered and shared to improve services

• Increase in customer satisfaction

• Tangible appetite for improvement

• Beacon awards

- transforming services and community engagement- better outcomes for local people

• Excellent Council

On the journey …

• National Process Improvement Project… Google ‘NPIP’

• www.chorley.gov.uk

• jamie.carson@chorley.gov.uk

Tools available