Customer experience (CX) is a shared responsibility in every organization, from top to bottom. Recently, a panel of agency communicators shared tools, strategies, and predictions on how the federal government approaches CX in outreach, marketing, and other different areas.
Here are a few things we picked up from the discussion:
Ban the word “general public” from your vocabulary.
Drafting content and communication strategies that target the general public is no longer an option. To optimize CX, every audience needs its own approach. Targeting your specific customers will not only increase engagement but improve their experience. Your message and approach should be tailored depending on your audience.
Embrace new technologies.
CX is changing everyday. In some cases, almost as fast as technology evolves. The government can’t take a back seat to innovation; it must adapt with the times and with its customers. We’re increasingly seeing .gov sites become mobile accessible in response to the ever-increasing traffic from smartphones, a clear sign of the government’s efforts to be in step as new technologies become available.
Other innovations in this area are new tools and ways to interact with your customers. Emma, USCIS’ virtual assistant is a great example of government embracing new technology. The system answers questions based on your own words, not in agency terms or “government speak.” Even though Emma is not a computer learning system, it does provide automatic, real-time answers for customers in need of immigration information from the comfort of their computer.
Keep up with the times.
Making sure your brand speaks to all of your audiences is key. USCIS’s Emma is an example of that.
In USAGov’s case, the challenge is unique because our intended demographic includes a larger, less targeted audience. We also provide services to other agencies, so creating a brand that speaks to both groups is a major challenge not only in terms of service, but of communication. USAGov’s new branding and image hopes to attract both audiences without having to drastically change its look and ways to communicate with them.
It’s a team effort.
CX is something that goes beyond the communications team. It involves a cultural shift throughout the agency, and many other aspects beyond marketing and outreach. Good CX is a responsibility that belongs to everyone in an organization
You can watch the full “Good Communication is a CX Imperative” panel and learn about the tools and strategies shared by Leilani Martinez of USAGov, Dave Hebert of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Jeffrey Levy of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, DHS) and Victoria Wales from USAGov.
Edgardo Morales is a member of the USAGov Outreach Team.
