Achieving great customer experience is challenging in local government. There is rarely a full picture of the customer’s interactions with the Council, services delivered through third parties blur visibility and restrictions on sharing data make it difficult to get a real sense of the overall customer needs.  But it is possible to improve the experience.

We’ve identified the 7 key trends in customer contact management that can be applied to local government that can help to deliver this improvement.

1. Ease of use – Using technology to make service consumption easier and more intuitive e.g. using chatbots like Siri or Alexa;
2. Reciprocation – Offer cheaper services in return for customers taking more responsibility and reducing cost to serve e.g. cheaper tickets ordered through online channel;
3. Loyalty – Anticipating customer needs based on previous interactions and engagement e.g. retailers discounting on items previously bought when re-purchased;
4. Personalisation – Allowing consumers to design, build and personalise products and services e.g. Tesla’s customised cars;
5. People like me – Self-help or like minded communities who support the better use, maintenance, regulation and performance of products and services;
6. Nudging – Using behavioural science to get users to respond in a useful way for example using different text messages to increase Council Tax payments;
7. Transparency – Giving the customer the ability to rate performance and describe their consumption experiences for example ‘Trip Advisor’.