CMT Case Studies
The Halton Experience

Introduction

Despite their excellent reputation as a leader in quality customer service, in 2000 the Region of Halton decided that they could do even better and launched a three-year initiative to heighten the level of customer service they provide. This initiative involved a sophisticated set of activities, of which a citizen survey and use of the CMT was just one. Nevertheless, this survey proved to be a very useful piece in the service quality puzzle, providing insight into citizen experiences and pointing the way to service improvement priorities.

Survey Objectives

The primary purposes for undertaking a survey were to:

• gauge public awareness of regional services
• evaluate citizen satisfaction with service performance
• benchmark the results over time and with other organizations
• determine opportunities for improvement, and to
• discover the citizen's actual and preferred communication channels.

Approach

Halton initially developed the terms of reference for the survey in December 2002. By February 2003 they hired a public opinion polling firm and confirmed the survey methodology. Between March and April 2003, they developed the survey instrument. The survey was executed in May 2003, and the results were analyzed and reported between June and September. The final implications to customer service strategy were assessed in July 2003.

Methodology & Design

The survey was a 15-20 minute telephone survey, and was conducted between May 1 and May 14. 804 residents were surveyed, and these, in turn, were weighted by municipality within the region.

The survey included various questions pertaining to public priorities and awareness of local service delivery. It also evaluated satisfaction with respect to quality of life, the Halton Region government, and other specific services.

Included in the questions were six core CMT questions plus three additional non-core questions. These questions were specifically directed at those who had used a service in the last year. Halton found input from the ICCS to be very valuable in helping integrate the CMT questions with the other questions of interest.

Benchmarking Experiences

Working both with the firm hired to conduct the survey and with the ICCS, Halton found that it was difficult to find relevant comparators for benchmarking. The data that is currently available comes from a wide range of services delivered through various service channels by different levels of government. Finding "apple-to-apple" comparisons is, therefore, still a challenge at this point.

Nevertheless, while the benchmarking opportunities may not be immediate, the Region of Halton still sees such benchmarking as one of the real values to using common questions, and sees the CMT Benchmarking Database as one of the best opportunities for long-term success in this area.

Key Take-Aways

The survey results revealed that Halton scored very well in terms of client satisfaction while suggesting room for improvement with respect to office location, going the extra mile, and the auto attendant. In doing so Halton was able to confirm their general customer service strategy while adding some specific areas of focus.

With respect to the survey process, Halton learned that it was important to:

• Hire a reputable firm to assist in fielding the survey;
• Ensure the firm is flexible;
• Allow sufficient time for survey development.