Ed Toner

2017 Customer Service Year in Review

Last July I wrote a blog titled Fundamental Data. I discussed the need for measurement of Customer Satisfaction through collection and analysis of data. In order to improve, an organization needs to be able to monitor performance progress against service goals. Data exists to change perception into reality. Data provides you with the ability to analyze service levels objectively and determine the “why”. Why did a particular incident/service request take longer than the average time to resolve? With this in mind I want to share some of the OCIO metrics for 2017.

We track the average number of days “open” for Incidents and Service Requests to gauge our progress against our Service Level Objectives. The graph below shows steady improvement as you can see from the trend line. The average days open for an incident or service request in 2016 was 6.3 days.  In 2017 we reduced that time to resolve by 29%, an average of 4.5 days. This chart also tells us the effect our consolidation was having during the transition period (Phase 3 / 2017-6). The data helps to communicate what is important bymeasuring trackable data and then we analyze the story that is being told by the data. In June 2017, Site Support teams were being formed and it understandably showed in our resolution times that month while changes were made and roles defined. Likewise, we recovered steadily during the following months of the year once the teams were actively supporting each other.

Incident/Service Requests Average Days Open

 

Our data tells one more story about the increased workload the OCIO team took on after Phase I of consolidation. The average number of service and incident requests in 2016 was 1,364 tickets per month.  In 2017 it almost doubled with 2,472 tickets per month, and I expect that trend to continue into 2018.

Incident/Service Requests Tickets Opened

 

Early in my tenure with the State I blogged about Commitment to improve Customer Service. I discussed our necessary focus on both application and network performance and availability.  I also discussed our focus on IT as a service and the delivery of that service. We are all responsible for delivering products and services to our customers that meet or exceed their expectations. Feedback from customers is always positive, even when it’s negative because the customer is telling you how to make your service better.

A customer satisfaction survey is one way to obtain actionable feedback which can assist in our increased satisfaction rating over time. Customer satisfaction surveys helpfocus service organizations on the importance of fulfilling and exceeding customer expectations. When satisfaction ratings decline, they can be a sign of lacking adherence to processes and/or procedures, or that those processes/procedures need modification and improvement.  The end goal of a customer satisfaction survey is to get the perceived customer feedback and use it to improve the overall customer experience.  Best in class organizations focus heavily on customers’ experience. To do this, they first need to measure and track the customer experience; surveys are a great way to do that.
So at a high level, below are the results from our latest survey conducted last November:

997 total surveys sent - Actual tickets Resolved/Completed during November 2017
229 responses received = 23% response rate

Surveys sent and response rate

 

Scale:

  1. Very Dissatisfied
  2. Dissatisfied
  3. Neutral
  4. Satisfied
  5. Very Satisfied
Survey Satisfaction Rating

Thanks to all of you, the survey results are Great! The results tell me that your efforts to provide our customers with a positive experience are not only effective, they are also getting noticed.  The next steps are to find out how we can improve even more by following up to obtain additional feedback. Two areas that we are already focused on improving are ones that also matter most to our customers.

Question #2: How would you rate your experience using the enterprise Service Portal to create, submit and manage your own ticket(s)?
Our Score: 70%
We have a current effort underway to enhance the Service Portal and provide a more user friendly experience. I receive frequent updates from the team working this issue and while we are not finished yet making improvements, much progress has been made.

Question #6: How would you rate the time that it took to resolve your problem after it was reported to the OCIO?
Our Score: 79%
My focus for sharing our metrics in this blog is to show our customers that this organization works so that these metrics will continuously improve.Most of you have seen those metrics before today because your teams have already developed the reports and processes that are needed to identify areas of improvement.   Together we will continuously update those processes and procedures, to more appropriately address customer issues in a timely manner.

You have accomplished so much with consolidation, continued to achieve high availability standards, completed major projects and improved processes at every level during 2017. Therefore, this objective confirmation of your dedication to customer service is very gratifying.

As always, I (and your customers) appreciate your efforts to provide quality service to the State and the Citizens of Nebraska!

Ed

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