Some of our services are closed or have different hours over the Christmas and New Year period.

3. Improving our customer engagement

We will review our customer interactions, communications and information products to ensure our customers have clarity and understanding, and feel informed and equal. We will deliver a personal and empathetic experience and language.

Strategic initiative 3.1: A review of current interaction and communication content and practices

What is it?

A comprehensive review of Council’s current engagement and interaction style (voice and tone), processes, roles, products and approach.

How will we do it?

  • Conducting a review of Council’s current customer interactions to determine who is doing what, how, where the inconsistencies are, and what can be improved with regard to information content and language, and communications style and approaches.

  • Developing a series of recommendations that will feed into Initiative 3.2: Improved whole-of-Council engagement and interaction approach.

Success

Success is a clear and detailed understanding of Council’s customer engagement, including who, how, why, tone and language, investment, processing times, responses, customer feedback.

Strategic initiative 3.2: Improved whole-of-Council customer engagement and interaction approach

What is it?

A coherent, strategic and quality-assured governance framework that applies across all of Council’s customer engagement and interaction.

How will we do it?

  • Developing a Customer Interaction Guide - with principles to guide Council’s customer interactions - that aligns with the Customer Experience Improvement Strategy, Channel Strategy and other key strategic guidance.

  • Developing and implementing supporting policies and processes for customer interaction that deliver on the Strategy.

  • Defining a supporting customer interaction quality assurance framework and roles.

Success

Success is a whole-of-organisation framework for Council customer engagement and interaction.

Strategic initiative 3.3: Improved customer engagement and interaction content and practices

What is it?

Operational alignment of customer interaction and engagement practices, language and content with the holistic customer interaction framework in 3.2.

How will we do it?

  • Redesigning our interaction style and products to be simple, clear, and user-friendly.

  • In alignment with the Customer Interaction Guide and Channel Strategy, determining what messages will be delivered where, how and when at an operational level, ensuring consistency across channels / approaches.

  • Training staff how to engage effectively in the new style and approach Council has adopted.

Success

Success is customer feedback and satisfaction, staff feedback, increased processing speed, cost efficiencies, fewer simple queries being made.