Customer experience (CX) has perennially been a critical priority across government. But improving services is only half the challenge. Agencies also need to know whether their efforts are actually making a difference.
During GovLoop’s recent CX Community of Practice virtual discussion, Margeaux Akazawa, Customer Experience Lead at NASA, shared strategies agencies can use to evaluate CX success and ensure improvements are truly benefiting customers. Read on to learn more about what she had to say and to watch the session recording below.
Measure Customer Effort
According to Akazawa, one of the most valuable CX indicators for government is the Customer Effort Score. Unlike private-sector organizations that often focus on brand loyalty or recommendations, government agencies should prioritize understanding how much work customers must do to access a service. Questions to consider include:
- How many forms must be completed?
- How many clicks are required?
- How many touchpoints are needed before receiving help?
By measuring and reducing customer effort, agencies can make services more accessible and effective. Additionally, customer effort can be evaluated through surveys, journey mapping exercises, and analysis of service workflows to identify unnecessary steps and bottlenecks.
Focus on Timeliness
Time is often one of the most important factors in customer satisfaction. Akazawa emphasized tracking how long your response times are, as well as how long it takes to process and deliver requests and to resolve customer questions or complaints.
However, measuring timeliness is about more than simply moving faster. It can also reveal gaps in communication and expectation-setting. If a process takes several days, agencies should clearly communicate that timeline and provide visibility into progress whenever possible.
Pair Customer Satisfaction With Open-Ended Feedback
Customer satisfaction scores remain an important measurement tool to see how you’re doing, but Akazawa recommends pairing them with open-ended feedback because a numeric rating alone rarely tells the full story. Qualitative feedback provides context, helping agencies understand why customers gave a particular score and uncovering issues that might otherwise go unnoticed.
For example, customers may highlight website navigation challenges, praise helpful staff, or identify pain points within a service process. These insights often provide the most actionable information for CX teams.
Start With the Data You Already Have
For agencies just beginning their CX measurement journey, Akazawa offered a simple piece of advice: start small.
Customer insights already exist in many places, including help desk tickets, website analytics, service requests, and survey responses. Combining quantitative data with qualitative feedback can create a holistic view of customer experience without requiring new tools or major investments.
Most importantly, agencies should not wait for a perfect measurement strategy. Any meaningful data is better than no data at all. By starting now and continuously refining their approach, organizations can build stronger services and deliver better experiences for the people they serve.
Want more CX tips to serve your constituents more efficiently? Join us next month online Monday, Oct. 5, from 4–4:30 p.m. ET/1–1:30 p.m. PT, for 4 Pillars for Building an Effective CX Framework.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.