The agreement is a cornerstone of Scotland's National CRM Project - co-ordinated by the Improvement Service and the lead council, West Lothian Council - that aims ‘ to increase the intensity of collaboration around Customer Relationship Management across Scottish local government that will result in demonstrable improvements in customer and organisation outcomes. ‘
The national project's support extends beyond supporting councils using the Lagan solution to include other Scottish councils that have standardised on other suppliers' CRM solutions.
North Lanarkshire Council joins a growing number of Scottish councils ( 10 to date ) using Lagan's Enterprise Case Management solution and takes to 1.5 million Scottish citizens whose transactions, service and information requests are handled using Lagan's solution.
Councillor John Pentland, Convener of the Finance and Customer Services Committee at North Lanarkshire Council says the new system will provide more efficient and effective services for local residents.
" We aim to provide a first class service to all our residents, and our new Customer Services Strategy will help us do just that. As part of that strategy, we are developing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System to manage all enquiries, complaints and compliments that the council receives. The system will ensure that our staff have all the relevant information to hand to deal effectively with each enquiry, and give a seamless, one-stop service to our customers. "
Colin Mair, Chief Executive of the Improvement Service adds " The Improvement Service welcomes a further opportunity to work even closer with North Lanarkshire Council, a council which has done considerable work in improving services to customers. Through the deployment of a new case management solution, the council will be well placed to build further on its existing achievements. "
In partnership with Scottish councils and Lagan, the National CRM Project anticipates the collaborative partnership to realise significant efficiency savings combined with improved service delivery.
Martin Brown, Improvement Service Programme Manager, says " the growing take up by Scottish councils of, an interest in, the nationally-negotiated framework agreement reflects Scottish councils ongoing commitment, where practical, to standardise, simplify and share systems and processes as a means of providing a number of benefits to customers and to councils.
North Lanarkshire Council's involvement helps build a critical mass able to influence suppliers on product development, licensing and integration solutions. "
The partnership between the Improvement Service, Scottish councils and Lagan expects the project to allow for sharing of development and expertise; sharing knowledge, standards and processes and saving costs that can be used to improve customer service.
