The recently released President's Management Agenda (PMA) is focused on the issue of declining trust in government. In the report, this lack of trust is tied to the poor customer service citizens receive from government. In the age of Amazon, Uber, and social media reliance, the level of service people expect from companies has dramatically changed. Citizens expect to be able to contact organizations on their terms (via mobile, online chat, email, phone) and that when they connect with someone, they will have all relevant data at their fingertips. While that has been a reality in the commercial sector, it's a fairly new concept for government.
In 2014 President Obama made citizen service a cross agency priority. Since that time agencies have made large strides in improving how they interact with the citizens they serve. In fact, according to the 2017 ACSI Federal Government Report, citizen satisfaction with government service is at its highest levels since 2006. But there is still much work to be done.
There are a number of government-focused events in the coming months that will talk through Citizen Service tactics. Government executives will share their successes (and even failures) in making good on the promise of government by the people for the people. Here are just a few:
- AWWA Customer Service Seminar (May 9-10; Kansas City, KS) - The American Water Works Association designed this event to address the challenges facing water utilities in the 21st century, assisting Customer Service Representatives in being responsive to increased customer expectations and expanding global demographics.
- Adobe Digital Government Symposium (May 15; Washington, DC) - In its ninth year, this symposium brings together government leaders and industry experts to share best practices for accelerating citizen-centric service delivery while increasing efficiency. The event will address the need for executive support for customer experience (CX) as well as include tactical discussion of the design of CX programs and channels.
- Code for America Summit (May 30-June 1; Oakland, CA) - This summit will explore what it looks like when government starts to design policy with tech at the table. How can policy design become more user-centered, data-driven and iterative? And how could that lead to better citizen service? Attendees will hear stories of citizen engagement success over the past year.
- 8th Annual Citizen Engagement Seminar (June 14; Washington, DC) - Attendees will discover how agencies are tackling citizen engagement initiatives from digital communications, to data visualization and analysis, to citizen self-service, to social media. These best practices will be discussed in a mix of keynotes, panel discussions, and informal networking sessions.
- Digital Transformation for Government Summit (June 19-20; Washington, DC) - This event brings together DoD, federal government, private industry, academia, and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the tactics and strategies for transforming IT systems in a way that puts the citizen at the center of services offered online. Speakers will talk about how to create a seamless online and offline experience for users.
- 930Gov 2018 (August 28; Washington DC) - This multi-track event will include a full conference track on customer experience. It will explore the policies, applications and technologies involved with improving customer experience and citizen services.
Where are you learning about the latest trends and tactics in customer experience and service? Share your thoughts in the comments.
