The passport application process was one area where government excelled in customer service.

The passport application process was one area where government excelled in customer service. By Ekaterina_Minaeva / AP

What Popular Government Service Providers Could Teach Other Agencies

First of its kind report looks at successful practices that could be replicated governmentwide.

The federal government is not necessarily known for its customer service, but there are some bright spots that could offer lessons to other agencies, a new report found. 

On Tuesday, the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and Accenture Federal Services, a professional services company, released a first-of-its-kind report on customer experience with the federal government. The report is based on information published in September though the president’s management agenda and includes profiles on the government’s highest-volume service providers: the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Customs and Border Protection, the Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid, the Internal Revenue Service, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Veterans Health Administration and the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. 

“The perception of the federal government as a poor provider of customer service does not tell the whole story,” the report stated. “By pinpointing specific services and interactions that receive high ratings and digging deeper into what contributed to those ratings, the federal government can build on its strengths and spread successful practices across agencies.”

Examples of highly-rated services are: an approximately 90% satisfaction rate among the more than 77 million callers to the IRS’ account management line, and an average 87 out of 100 score for the process of applying for passports.

“One reason behind the success of some federal services is that the organizations providing them have done more than simply hire or train courteous and professional employees,” the report said. “They also provide employees with insights about what matters most to customers and suggest specific actions that can improve the experience for their customers.” Veterans Affairs Department leaders provide training for employees so they know how to handle veterans’ frustrations, for example.

The report also said the eight agencies reviewed have a presence on social media, which they use to engage and communicate with the public. Social media “may yield different insights than surveys and other customer research,” the report noted. The agencies “use their social media accounts to interact with customers, deliver information and updates, and sometimes answer questions or concerns.” For example, Medicare posts on Facebook and Twitter about Medicare access while abroad, and Federal Student Aid answers questions about repaying student loans on its various platforms. 

“While many agencies were taking important actions, they could do more,” the report stated. Some lingering issues with customer service identified in the report were: lack of publicly available data, inconsistent quality of websites, limited access to services online and lack of transparency into government processes.          

As part of the study, the Partnership and Accenture worked with the Center for Plain Language, a nonprofit that champions clear language for organizations’ success, to review 23 agencies’ websites. The average grade was a “C” because while some websites had a good flow of information, others were confusing to navigate. 

Besides layout, many high-volume “tasks and transactions” are not offered online, such as applying for passports and green cards. “When customers must interact with the government in ways that seem archaic or out of sync with their expectations—which are set by their everyday experience with commercial services—it reduces their confidence in government overall,” the report said. 

The Partnership and Accenture also found many federal customers feel like they’re dealing with a “black box” due to the lack of communication on some services. This ranged from questions over immigration status cases to confusion about the airport screening process. “Agencies that provide quick, straightforward information, clarify processes and address customer questions have seen positive results,” the report said. 

Using 13 indicators across three categories (commitment to customer experience, customer service basics and customer feedback) to study the agencies, the Partnership and Accenture made several recommendations. This included: use social media and data collection to better understand customers, designate a senior executive to lead customer experience, ensure online information is understandable, improve online service delivery and transform organizational culture to focus more on customers. While this study looked at eight customer experience profiles, the report said the insights are applicable governmentwide. 

“As the needs of government’s customers continue to change, and the private sector further raises the bar on what constitutes a good customer experience, government should constantly adapt in order to keep pace,” the Partnership and Accenture concluded.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.