Agenda - 01-31-2014 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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86 9.) Increase the city's emphasis on quality customer service and face-to-face communications • TOOL #1: EXAMINE THE CITY'S CUSTOMER SERVICE PRACTICES. For many residents, the only contact they'll have with a city official is a brief interaction on the phone or a short encounter at a city-sponsored event. It is therefore critical that city employees undergo customer service training on an annual basis. • Consider implementing a "secret shopper" program where random employees and departments are called, or approached at City Hall, or at an event, with various questions to see how they perform. The goal of this type of program would be to continue with improvements in service delivery and to help determine service needs. • Customer service is directly tied to the city's overall image, and this affects Red Wing's ability to communicate effectively with its residents. As a result, the city should require all departments to make customer satisfaction cards available to all clients. Each department would be responsible for ensuring this information — to be compiled through customer satisfaction cards and the city web site —was collected, returned to the city administration, and placed in a report (perhaps quarterly) for benchmarking purposes. This would ensure greater accountability to recognize good service delivery, help identify needed training and give employees an incentive to improve customer service. • For interactions where handing a card to a customer might seem inappropriate (police pulling someone over, street plowing), the cards could be sent out at random within 10 days. This has been done successfully in other cities. • TOOL #2: MEET MORE RESIDENTS PERSONALLY. Maximize opportunities for city officials to interact personally with residents. Such as events as National Night Out allow for informal conversations that personalize city staff and build an approachable image. "Red Wing University" would provide another opportunity to get to know citizens. The Council Administrator believes "face-to-face communication is the most powerful," and we agree. • TOOL #3: ASSESS CITY'S VOICE MAIL PROCESS. Take a look at the city's voice mail system periodically to ensure it's working properly and being used in a professional manner. Customers dislike being placed on hold, disconnected, or transferred from department to department. Develop helpful and promotional on- hold messaging. 10.) Identify potential issues and develop strategies for dealing with them.