1. About the strategy
Our Customer Strategy sets out how we will provide a consistent customer experience through the proactive provision of information, advice and guidance as well as easy access to services when required.
We will continue to embed and reinforce the good practices that are already in place as well as finding innovative ways to keep improving the delivery of services whether that be out in our communities or directly with the council.
Our strategy aims to improve the customer experience by:
- making services simple to use, accessible and inclusive, saving our customers time and effort
- resolving enquiries quickly and effectively, providing a greater breadth and depth of information, advice and guidance wherever they chose to access this
- making it easier to get the help required when it is needed, streamlining, consolidating and combining our efforts
- reducing the need for multiple contacts to different departments, joining up our systems and data
- providing a consistently good service no matter how our customers reach out to us, avoiding the need for them to repeat themselves
- understanding and anticipating customer needs and offering timely solutions, tailoring support based on their unique history, past interactions and preferences
- keeping customers informed, reducing their need for unnecessary contact with us
- being responsive and effective, providing and using appropriate resources at the right time based on complexity of need
- evolving with changing times and being digitally ready for our customers that wish to engage with us in that way, investing in technology for the future
- recognising that some people are unable to access digital services due to connectivity issues, cost or lack of digital skills
- empowering people to be able to help themselves, accessing information, advice and guidance in their communities or signposted to the resources or support they need
This will be a constantly evolving strategy as we adapt to changing customer behaviours and technology developments, although aim to establish a solid foundation to effectively respond to future change.
By keeping our customers, or those that contact us about our customers, at the heart of what we do, we will ensure that we remain connected to our customers as we look to continue to deliver services in the future.