Building Relationships with Users in a Systematic Way Background material for the development of a Dissemination and Marketing Strategy Consultation Mission on Promoting the activity and Creating a positive image of the Ukrainian State Statistical bodies Kiev, Ukraine 9 – 12 December 2014 Petteri Baer, Marketing Manager, Statistics Finland

User needs & demands – how can they be found out? Is knowing user needs & demands important – or maybe it is “just a side function”? Not a simple task Which users’ voices are heard? How good is the coverage of our information services for our users? Kiev 9-12 December 2014

More and more statistical publication takes place on the internet… This is a very positive development Availability and accessibility of official statistics has grown substantially Already in the beginning of the year 2008 > 500 Million internet hosts in the world! Now > Million… Kiev 9-12 December 2014

Internet has in two decades helped to build corporate imagos It has also highlighted the often pretty different approaches statisticians may have on ways of publishing data Much good experience has been accumulated on this in the last ~20 years UNECE Work Sessions IMAODBC Conferences Kiev 9-12 December 2014

Following elements are usually found on a NSA`s web site Statistical releases, Press releases Statistics by topics and subject matters; Key figures; Calculators Frequency of names -service Contact us / Feedback / Privacy statement Search / Site map / Help Links to other national and international statistical agencies What’s new (on our web site)? 5Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

Other possibilities for service development on the web Statistics by popular themes and topics First visit service for new visitors Services made available by user group ABS: Understanding Statistics Notifying special days with statistical information materials Links to relevant Wikipedia pages Use of new web tools, Web 2.0, Social media Service pages with top actual themes, discussed in the society: What’s hot? 6Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

How do we perceive ourselves? How do decision makers perceive our services? How important is our role in real decision making? In practical terms? How covering is our information on users? Do we know enough about our potential users, our potential customers? Kiev 9-12 December 2014

User demands – the basic ones User friendly Easily accessible Understandable and clear Focused on the essentials With visual presentations Politically neutral Balanced 8Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

Basic quality demands for statistical services Q= Relevance Accuracy Timeliness Punctuality Accessibility Clarity and Comparability 9Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

Customer Service Principles of Statistics Finland We are easy to approach We serve our customers flexibly and efficiently We attend carefully to the needs of our customers We operate fast and with precision We keep our customers up-to-date We learn continuously from our customers 10Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

Dialogue with customer and analysis of customer behaviour More information about present and forthcoming needs of the customer More efficient marketing and service profile to customer The value of the customer relationship grows for both parties Willingness of both parties to invest both time and money in building the customer relationship Growth of customer loyalty and consolidation of the customer relationship More activities responding to real customer needs More efficient customer contacting and a decline of contacts made in vain A LEARNING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP 11Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

Trade-offs almost every day Accuracy is a must – but what about timeliness? Relevance is a must – but what about needs specific only to one or a few users? Remember: Only used statistics are useful statistics! Kiev 9-12 December 2014

User friendly statistical services …can be established only through interaction with users Interaction with real users Not with solely our imagination on them Not only governmental users Not only the ones we by tradition are mainly used to Kiev 9-12 December 2014

Often it is not easy, especially if different divisions work in silos - and behave as if that would be ideal 14Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

If we don’t know our users… (1) …They are almost as good as dead for us We cannot customize or mass customize anything for them without interaction We cannot approach them with our interesting offers if we don’t have the contact information to do the contacting work

Kiev 9-12 December 2014 If we don’t know our users… (2) We will not know how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with the present services we provide We will not know about any unmet needs in the field of statistics It will certainly be difficult to develop services which will be better fit for their information needs.

Who bears the responsibility that communication with users works well? Is it the individual statistician, the subject- matter expert? Program managers? Information & PR Unit? Or – Is it a challenge for the top management? Who should bring in a systematic approach on building user relations, if it is missing? Kiev 9-12 December 2014

User relations are a strategic issue User relations are directly linked to the strategic scope of the Agency: Mission, Mandate Capabilities Responsibilities Resources Kiev 9-12 December 2014

Back to the basics: Who are our stakeholders? The Royal family & office Government & Ministries Parliament The National Bank & other central gvt Regional & local governing bodies Is THIS the list? Kiev 9-12 December 2014

One way to categorize users Central administration Local administration Corporations and enterprises Educational institutions and public libraries Research institutions Organizations Media Kiev 9-12 December 2014

Different user groups have different need structures Consequently they have varying demands for statistical services Business people versus researchers Local authorities – comparisons with other local authorities and with the average NGOs, lobbyists – focus on the themes, relevant for their interest group It is not wise to serve them all with the same common approach 21Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

A modulated approach - basics for efficient user services The importance of A good information architecture Effective databases Metadata information available Linking identifications exist between different data XML helps to build electronic bridges Kiev 9-12 December 2014

User needs are specific – not “general” All user needs are specific Their satisfaction should be developed in communication and cooperation with the users For this, categorization of the users and contacts are needed No errors in basic data Delivery on time Delays are reported Data supplied in desired form Comparability of data Customer is taken into consideration Friendly staff Finding the right persons Accessibility of staff Data delivered with speed Data up-to-date Information about the data/service Data meets demand Tailored data value for money Further processing of data sufficient Kiev 9-12 December 2014

Tools assisting work for better satisfaction of user needs Simple, but well structured MS Excel tables Use of MS Access structures Customer databases Information on regular and heavy users Customer Relationship Management system （ CRM ） For good and systematic follow-up and planning of interaction with regular and heavy users Example NSO:s: Canada, Finland, Estonia Business Intelligence systems 24Petteri BaerKiev 9-12 December 2014

But – that’s already another story Thank you for your attention Remember: Only used statistics are useful statistics A learning Customer Relationship Kiev 9-12 December 2014