Customer services: the next generation

The forthcoming cuts in public sector spending will undoubtedly impact on the scope and ambition of local government programmes. The stark reality is that the only way to achieve the level of savings required by local councils is to reduce the pressures on their services. Yesterday's mantra of 'do more for less' has been replaced with 'do less for less'. Although not ostensibly a cost cutting initiative, the vision for a "Big Society" does offer a way of protecting the delivery of services through an increase in the intervention of community groups and the voluntary and private sectors. But how to facilitate the creation of this new environment in a manner that it does not just replicate the top-down bureaucracy that it aims to eliminate? Furthermore, how to assist citizens to navigate this more complex environment and have a clear and single point of contact when seeking to access the services that they need? I believe that a key component to achieving these plans lies with the often-overlooked customer services function. On any given day, customer services diligently resolve customer enquiries and signpost citizens to appropriate departments, playing an invaluable role in helping people access the services that they require. I believe that this is just the start. In the future customer service will evolve to deliver greater levels of tailored support to citizens — closer to a 'case worker' approach to handling requests than a contact centre. This central resource will be outward facing, proactively intervening to assess citizen needs tailoring and deploying services to where the need is greatest. This new approach to customer services is a departure from traditional thinking where typically departments such as social services have been gatekeepers of in-depth relationships with customers. I'm not suggesting that customer service replace specialist roles. Far from it. I believe that customer service can help protect these and other high-value functions, engaging them when and only when required by the citizen. One example of such an approach to case management in customer service is Thurrock council. Thurrock has created a 'Community Solutions Team' – a service that uses a workforce of specifically trained and efficient customer advisors to create tailored support plans. The team receives all incoming calls relating to adult care services and works with the customer to complete a directed self-assessment over the phone. The service can also commission services on behalf of the citizen or provide a personal budget. As well as producing significant savings, support plans are now produced five times quicker and service provision commences over eight times quicker. In the future, services such as this will be supplemented by the use of the voluntary sector to intervene and help resolve much more complex problems, such as addressing the needs of the unemployed, the elderly or those with health problems. Build relationships within communities For instance, an older person may not need direct access to social services but may have some health problems, is not claiming all the benefits they are entitled to and could be suffering from social isolation. To assist citizens to solve such problems, some councils are already working with advisors from the voluntary sector to build relationships within communities, to work with them to initiate the services that they need and to monitor their progress. The approach provides the opportunity for early intervention before qualified social workers might be required and can facilitate service delivery across different tiers of local government and the voluntary sector. Such collaboration exists today but it isn't universal and must increase in the future. In particular, these new 'blended services' must be channelled to where they're needed most if duplication of effort is to be avoided and efficiencies are to be realised. Of course if customer services are tied up with basic enquiries such as reporting potholes or renewing library books, its transformational role will be minimised. Streamlining workload through new online and self-service channels where appropriate is therefore imperative if councils are to invest in these more personal, potentially complex interactions. This interventionist approach can address a further need, namely how to affect behavioural change in communities. Anti-social behaviour and unhealthy lifestyles are two behavioural trends that can leave local councils and the NHS with costly and complex problems that add to their overall burden. In recognition of this some communities are considering the deployment of Health Trainers – on the ground personnel deployed to develop health plans to encourage and assist older people to live healthier lifestyles. In addition, the trainers could assist people to achieve emotional resilience against the stresses of old age such as bereavement and the onset of various diseases and disabilities. The next generation of local government services will inevitably focus less on the prescriptive supply of services and more on the use of voluntary and social networks. This emerging delivery model must be shaped dynamically by the needs of the citizen and will drive the emergence of the new customer service contract – one that facilitates and transforms without replicating the old bureaucracies. Councils that embrace this approach will be rewarded not just with cost savings but also with genuine social innovation within their communities. Matthew Miles is a managing consultant with Vertex