Is Customer Focus a bit blurred in your Organisation?
Why a Need Led Organisation puts the Customer back in focus…
‘Putting the Customer First’, ‘Being Customer Focussed’, ‘Developing Customer Centric Services’ – familiar phrases which sit at the heart of Modern Public Service Delivery. But what does it really mean to be focussed on the Customer and their requirements? When we talk of putting Customer Need at the heart of service delivery what does that really mean in reality?
At Aperia we believe that there is significant difference between being ‘Need Led’ and ‘Customer Centric’ as a Local Authority. In fact it’s at the heart of everything we do as an organisation.
In essence it is the difference between improving existing services for your Customers and designing services around the Customer. It is about placing their Needs at the heart of the business of local authorities and ensuring they drive local priorities with partner organisations. In many ways it is the difference between simply improving existing services and the wholesale transformation of public sector delivery.
Below is description of the journey many public sector organisations face in from ‘Service Led’ to ‘Need Led’:
Whilst many organisations aspire to be Customer Centric, or focussed, it has become increasingly obvious that we need to go much further and deepen our dialogue with customers to understand which services we deliver, when and how to meet their needs . Simplistically, ‘Needs’ cut across service boundaries and do not recognise organisational boundaries. ‘Needs’ challenge us to think differently and look at the causes not the obvious symptoms of service demand ‘Need’ demands us to collaborate with our partners not only in terms of joining up existing services but actually collectively challenging whether we are delivering the right services to our Shared Customers. To do this we need to look at how we capture Customer Needs to drive Local Area and Multi Area Agreements (LAA and MAA’s) and Local Strategic Partnership. Are our priorities in local areas truly driven by those Communities?
Meeting ‘Need’ does not mean we make promises to deliver on all needs, regardless of cost or the overall priorities of our communities or our overarching responsibilities as a public sector providers – merely that we listen, recognise and transparently make decisions on services using the customer as the starting point rather than the service whilst balancing limited resources against all requirements.
Meeting Customer Needs in this pragmatic way should be common sense but beyond this there are many local and national drivers for changing to a Need Led Approach to Public Service Delivery.
Efficiency is clear driver for Customer Focus albeit a misunderstood one. In Local Government CSR07 and the new efficiency performance indicator NI 179, require us to target our people and money to meet Need rather than assume our more traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach to service provision is the most cost effective way of providing services. Getting it right first time, more of the time is also key to the concept of reducing avoidable contact and the new NI14 measure. Reducing unmet needs is one way Aperia believe this can be achieved. Contact is driven by need, some of which can be clearly articulated by the customer, and many of which are associated with an initial need, or which are latent needs, which have either not yet been articulated by the Customer or aren’t understood by the service providers. It is these associated and latent needs which local authorities have to capture and address to meet the challenges of NI14.
Nationally, The Varney Review identified a six point strategic plan which demands more than just customer focus in service delivery and highlights the concept that services need to be ‘wrapped’ around the Customer.
Varney: Six Point Strategic Plan
Our Approach
In Aperia we have developed an approach to supporting the Public Sector on this journey to being Need Led. Through our approach we help organisations to wrap the customer around all aspects of their Transformation agenda whether its improving service quality, becoming more efficient, or joining up services across the public sector – the customer is the starting point whether that is an external or internal customer. Central to this is our Circles of Need mapping technique, capturing the needs of any particular customer grouping and working with organisations to understand how these needs could be met more effectively.
For more information on any of the challenges raised in this article, or for help in moving your organisation towards being Need Led please contact us.
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