This programme supports the redesign of council services around customers’ needs. Working in partnership with local authorities, the programme is aiming:

1. to deliver, via the local Council CRM and back office integration process, a model for the development of single point of contact for the first time delivery of public services (to be able to track transactions via a sustainable citizen account and provide an accurate data source to help sustain the national infrastructure).
2. to incorporate the use of the citizen account (CA) that provides the capability to process and retain data about customer transactions and customer outcomes. The schema for the local CA will be based around the BS8766 standard and the transactional management the CA will be maintained through a local Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programme.
3. to develop a nationally accredited qualification for customer services staff.
4. to create and agree a common A – Z of services to support the delivery and knowledge base of Council services for common online presentation of services and common authentication requirements to access those services online.
5. to develop and implement a standardised set of procedures for monitoring and measuring customer satisfaction.

Ultimately, the aim is for the delivery of core services at the first point of contact (towards a target of 75%) and to set high targets – up to 95% - for customer satisfaction ratings.

Supporting the aim of assisting councils in achieving a minimum of 75% customer query resolution at first point of contact, the Customer First program, through the A-Z and Knowledgebase project, has made particular inroads in helping people find the answer to their questions on council websites. In partnership with esd toolkit, Scottish Councils have developed a set of tools and standards to improve council web content organisation, search and navigation, and support consistent self-service for citizens.

Read more about the A-Z / Knowledgebase project.

Lagan has been appointed as partner to the National CRM Project. Its CRM solution, Frontline, will be deployed in participating councils. The framework agreement with Lagan also offers the potential for extension to the wider public sector within Scotland. The initial phase of the National CRM Project, which starts in August 2007, is being implemented across four councils; Aberdeen City, Inverclyde, Scottish Borders and West Lothian. The project is being co-ordinated by Customer First with West Lothian as lead council.

Read more about the National CRM Project.

Further information

Contact: Martin Brown
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it