Policy and Practice February 2019

CUSTOMER SERVICE continued from page 7

Figure 1: Sample Questions and Results from a Customer Survey

year, call center wait times increased to more than two hours at peak times. Complaints increased by almost 300 percent. Something had to change. “When citizens come to us, they need help, and a negative customer experi- ence only makes a stressful personal situation even worse.” —Landon Cook, Director of Customer The TDHS needed a new customer service solution. They started by asking what a customer-centered service would look like. Commissioner Barnes visited offices in every region of the state to hear directly from front-line and supervisory staff. They reviewed current best practices across other departments and the state. They ended up with a technology solution, ServiceNow, a customer service tool that integrated inquiries by customer, rather than by program area. They now offer a seamless customer experi- ence—inviting the customer to make contact by phone, email, live chat, or lobby kiosks. Increased access for consumers has not overwhelmed the system; rather, by unifying workflows and sharing information across the departments and giving all a single view of customers, they dramatically decreased duplicative requests. As a result, they slashed inquiry resolution times by more than 70 percent and can easily access data to continuously improve their services. “Customer-focused government is essential to creating meaningful oppor- tunities to ensure that we are building a thriving Tennessee. We do this by Services Operations, Tennessee Department of Human Services

Tennessee faced was in soliciting responses to the survey. They want to hear from participants, but struggled to find the best way for participants to complete a survey. Fresh EBT by Propel can provide support in reaching SNAP participants. Fresh EBT reaches 2 million SNAP participants across the country, and, in partnership with providers, uses this point of contact to invite consumers to share feedback: What works? What doesn’t? What matters? (See Figure 1.) These survey results can contribute in helping build the field, improve the customer journey, and enhance participant connection to the program and services. Identify Pain Points and Respond: Customer- Centered Customer Service inTennessee Beyond gathering insights and feedback, departments across the country are taking bold steps to create responsive customer services and improve effectiveness. In 2015, the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) relied on a manual process to handle customer inter- actions: a combination of emails, spreadsheets, and printouts. Customers often called multiple program areas within the department with the same issue, but the programs had no way to link these inquiries, often ineffi- ciently working on the same issue for the same client, while new inquiries piled up. When the department faced a sudden increase in customer volume, almost doubling over the course of a

making sure that our citizens’ needs are met in the most efficient way possible, whether that is through new business processes or technology solutions.” —Danielle W. Barnes, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Human Services Building on Good Customer Service As shown in the TDHS case study, seeing the consumer as a whole person, rather than a one-time interac- tion, improves the client experience (and saves money). This broader frame uncovers new, seemingly small inter- actions that can have outsized impact on clients. For example, more than 80 percent of adults with a smartphone and bank account use a mobile banking app several times each month. 6 Managing a constrained food budget as a SNAP par- ticipant requires even more vigilance. “When you’re on food stamps and cash assistance like me, every penny counts and you need to stay on top of your remaining balances at all times.” Until recently, the easiest way for SNAP participants to check their EBT balance was to call a 1-800 number. In 2018, Americans made this call more than 800 million times and spent approximately 10 million hours listening to a robot read their EBT balance: mothers in stores with kids pulling on their sweater, customers checking out with a cashier watching and a line growing behind them, and —Fabio F., SNAP Customer, New York

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