Customer survey release delayed until December

Don't look for the next governmentwide customer satisfaction survey until December, project officials said Tuesday. In January, officials with the now-defunct National Partnership for Reinventing Government said that broader results of the 2000 customer satisfaction survey would be unveiled this spring. The results have been tabulated, but the survey's managers have decided to release them in tandem with the full 2001 survey, which will not be finished until December. This will garner more public attention, according to the survey's overseers. "We want the splash to be as big as possible," said David VanAmburg, an official with the University of Michigan Business School, which conducts the survey. The survey ranks agencies on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), which has been used as a gauge of customer satisfaction for more than 200 private companies since 1994. The ACSI provides each agency with a numerical score from 0 to 100 based on customer expectations, perceived quality and perceived value. First conducted in 1999, the survey is based on interviews with about 30 customer groups as selected by agencies. Agencies determine which customers are interviewed for the survey, and have pursued different strategies as they seek feedback on their activities. For example, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency has surveyed a random sample of disaster assistance recipients, considered primary customers of FEMA services, the Environmental Protection Agency has selected reference librarians who use the EPA Web site and respond to questions about the environment. In December, the University of Michigan and the Federal Consulting Group, a Treasury Department unit that inherited survey management duties from the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, will release 2001 survey results for these original 30 customer groups. At the same time, survey overseers will release results for more than 60 new customer groups for the year 2000, including several first-time agency participants, among them the Small Business Administration and the Energy Department. All of these customer groups will be folded into the 2002 survey, according to VanAmburg. While the public will have to wait a little longer for the expanded survey, the Federal Consulting Group is encouraging agencies to stay on the customer satisfaction bandwagon. The organization has formed an interagency working group on customer service that will explore how customer feedback can be used as a management tool, among other topics. Agencies will likely pay for the survey themselves next year, when funding from the General Services Administration runs out, according to VanAmburg and franchise officials. The Federal Consulting Group is also encouraging agencies to survey customers who are the primary users of their services. Critics have long questioned the survey because agencies decide what customers to interview, and some have surveyed arguably easy-to-please customers. "My hope is that agencies will really step up to the plate and measure their most important customers," said Anne Kelly, director of the Federal Consulting Group. The following table contains a working list of all customer groups to be interviewed in both surveys to be released in December. New participants for the survey are in italics.

DEPARTMENT/AGENCY	CUSTOMER
Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service	International travelers having plant/animal inspections
	Flower importers
Forest Service	Visitors to National Parks
Food and Nutrition Service	WIC program recipients
Food Safety and Inspection Service	Principal grocery shoppers and food preparers
Farm Service Agency	Farmers receiving loans
	Recipients of federal crop insurance
Food and Nutrition Service	Food stamp recipients
	School lunch recipients
National Agriculture Resource Service	Data users of Agricultural statistics
Natural Resources Conservation Service	Recipients of technical assistance
National Agriculture Statistics Service	Data recipients
Commerce
Census Bureau	Data users in libraries, states, local agencies
Patent and Trademark Office	Recent individual patent and trademark applicants
Defense
Defense Acquisition	Suppliers to the Defense Department
Army	Warfighters receiving new equipment
Navy	Warfighters receiving new equipment
Air Force	Warfighters receiving new equipment
Corps of Engineers	Users of recreation water facilities
Education
Education	Primary users of educational publications
	Users of Education-Information website
	Grant Administration payments
Student Financial Assistance, Education Dept.	Electronic applicants for Title IV aid
	All other customer groups
Energy
Energy Information Administration	Information Users
Environmental Protection Agency
EPA	Reference Librarians accessing EPA Web site
Federal Emergency Management Agency
	Disaster assistance recipients
General Services Administration
Consumer Information Center	Users of Consumer Information Center Publications
Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families	Parents of Head Start students
Food and Drug Administration	Principal grocery shoppers and food preparers
Health Care Financing Administration	Recent Medicare beneficiaries
Health Care Financing Administration (4 segments)	Participants in state Medicaid/SCHIP programs
Centers for Disease Control	Users of website
Health Resources and Services Administration	Data recipients
	States receiving block grants
	States receiving discretionary grants
Housing and Urban Development
Community Development	Community Block Grants
Federal Housing Administration	Applicants for FHA mortgages
	Housing assistance recipients
Interior
Bureau of Land Management	Recreational visitors
National Park Service	Recreational visitors to parks
Fish and Wildlife Service	Visitors to conservation refuges
Justice
Immigration and Naturalization Service	International air travelors
	International travelers -- Northern U.S. border
	International travelers -- Southern U.S. border
Office of Justice Programs	Data recipients of criminal justice information
Labor
OSHA	Health and safety professionals
	Employees who experience walk throughs
Employment and Training Administration	Users of One Stop centers
Employment Standards Administration	Black lung part b beneficiaries
Pension & Welfare Benefits	Benefit plan participants
Bureau of Labor Statistics	Users of labor statistics
NASA
	Educators involved in NASA center programs
	Media Contacts
National Science Foundation
	Recent grant applicants
	Recent grant awardees
Office of Personnel Management
	Federal retirees and annuitants
Small Business Administration
	Recipients of small business financing
	Recipients of business development assistance
	Users of small business development centers
Social Security Administration	Recent retirement benefits recipients
	Survivor annuitants
	Disability beneficiaries
State
	Users of information/website
Bureau of Counsular Affairs	Recent passport applicants
Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration	Commercial pilots
Federal Highway Administration	Engineers/Administrators of Transporation at the state level
Treasury
Customs Service	International air travelors
Internal Revenue Service	Electronic tax filers
	Paper tax filers
	Tax exempt tax filers
	Small business/self employed filers
	Large and mid-size business filers
	Employee plans
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms	Brewers, winery, and importers
Veterans Affairs
	Veteran compensation/benefit claimants
Veterans Health Adminstration	Outpatients at VHA clinics
	Patients at VHA hospitals
	Recipients of pharmacy services
Veterans Benefits Administration	Participants in insurance programs
Board of Veterans Appeals	Veterans or beneficiaries making appeals
National Cemetary Administration	Cemetary programs and services
Pension Benefit Corporation
	Pension beneficiaries
	Participants in pension plans that have been taken over
Export-Import Bank
	Banks
	Exporters
U.S. Mint
U.S. Postal Service	Recipients of regular mail
	Recipients of express mail

Source: Federal Consulting Group