Customer Service, Government Style

Who's the best at customer service? This question is asked often in the business world primarily because many company philosophies are based on how well they serve and retain their customers, and how well they keep their profits flowing. Knowing who's the best and how they do it is highly sought-after information.

Until recently, customer service had less priority in government - no one attempted to rank the best or learn how to best serve citizens. This isn't the case today, however. Citizen-centricity way is the new mantra, and the public sector is plowing huge investments of time, labor and taxpayer money into the issue.

And the stakes couldn't be higher. Citizen demand for quality services is at an all-time high, and willingness to pay for these services through taxes and fees is dropping. At the same time, citizen trust in government continues to erode.

For nearly a decade, Accenture has tracked government customer service around the globe and ranked the top performers. The company found four pillars to quality public sector customer service:

• a citizen-centered perspective in which "necessary" information is organized around the citizen;
• cohesive multichannel services that are fast, efficient and convenient regardless of the chosen channel;
• fluid cross-government service at the local, regional and national levels, in turn providing integrated services; and
• proactive communication and education, which ensures that citizens are well informed about government services.

The Best of the Best
Accenture's newest report on serving citizens, Leadership in Customer Service: Delivering on the Promise, ranks 22 countries based on scores taken from three components: service maturity, customer service maturity and citizen voice.

Service maturity measures the level to which a government has developed an online presence; customer service maturity measures the extent to which government agencies manage interactions with their customers (citizens and businesses) in an integrated way; and citizen voice is based on results from surveys that measure citizen feedback based on the quality of digital government service delivery.

At the top of the ranking is Singapore, a city-nation in Southeast Asia with a population of 4.5 million living in a land area of only 683 square km. Singapore's innovative customer-centric vision and entrepreneurial attitude - backed by an aggressive approach to implementation - has made it a leader in government customer service, according to Accenture.

Singapore launched "infocomm" - a master plan that includes spending $2 billion over five years to raise the level of public service specifically through the use of IT. The country's national portal, MyeCitizen, offers both public- and private- sector services, including 30 government agencies. The city-state ranks high for its multichannel integration, including at least 300 government services accessible via mobile networks.

Canada, which ranks second in the survey, continues its role as a national leader in digital government. Our neighbor to the north was cited for having "one of the most far-reaching and inspirational visions of truly citizen-centric customer service in the world." In 2006, Canada concluded two high-profile projects: Government On-Line and the Service Improvement Initiative, both aimed at transforming the way it delivers programs and services, as well as streamlining and standardizing business processes.

But according to Accenture, if Canada has the vision, it lacks follow-through in terms of implementation, hence its No. 2 ranking. The report provided little in the way of specific achievements over the previous 12 months, instead, focusing on Canada's efforts to promote shared services, improve management and accountability of services, and strengthen its network and security infrastructure.

The United States - ranked No. 3 by Accenture - has made enterprise architecture and shared services much of its focus in recent years. These goals are laudable and beginning to achieve some payback. When it comes to