Bill Dodds Assistant Chief Executive - Practice

The Six Keys to Unlocking Satisfaction 1Information... about Services 2Information... about Standards 3Access 4Putting Things Right 5Professionalism and staff attitude 6Listening to customers

Objectives By the end of today you will: Have learned from Scottish Consumer Council’s experience of Customer Satisfaction within public services Have learned from other verifiers knowledge of customers Have a clearer understanding of the key elements of a customer charter and have an appreciation of the benefits of customer engagement

Information…. About Services Generally users are positive about building standards Other evidence however suggests some poor service and dissatisfaction Mainly because of a lack of responsiveness to the needs of customers

Customers Needs Building Standard services should focus on the needs of customers Only by listening to customers can you plan services around their needs Don’t have to be big changes May be a cultural shift Others may be procedural and relate to how services are planned or carried out

Information…. About Standards Managing expectations Information on what targets services are using to measure quality and whether these are being met Don’t promise too much Promising too much can raise expectations and lead to disappointment when these expectations are not met

Performance People want public services to be honest about their performance Don’t use spin Should be a balanced account of performance including how complaints are handled Don’t hide reasons when standards not met

Performance Measures Customer views are better than performance indicators Should be able to make comparisons with other Building Standards services Building Standards need to get better at celebrating success

Information The A-list for information: Accurate, up-to-date, useful and practical; Accessible in language, format and tone; Adaptable for individual needs and circumstances; Available at different levels of detail at different times; Aligned and consistent with other sources of information.

Private Customer Verifiers will have in place by 30 September 2006 a Customer charter which encompasses Guidance to Stakeholders Accessibility of Service Measurable Performance Targets, and Customer Views

Workshop Objective Information How can meaningful engagement with customers be achieved? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the methods outlined? How can customer expectations be managed? How should customer views be recorded and published?

Putting Things Right Experience of customer is based on outcome - good or bad Even in best service complaints are received A complaint is “any expression of dissatisfaction that needs a response” The “gratitude factor” Effective complaints system

Professionalism and Staff Attitude Customer Service Training Better communication with customers using /phones Manage use of voic Approve smaller warrant applications without as much bureaucracy Dedicated BS enquiry line