Customer Services
We asked about experiences and expectations of contacting the Council to develop the Customers First Strategy - which focuses on improving customer service and access to Council services.
The majority of Panel members (69%) contact the Council less than once a month and around one third (31%) never contact us. Most want to alert us to things that need our attention, such as a streetlight fault, or need information. Environmental & Consumer Protection, Transportation, Planning and Leisure are among the most commonly contacted services.
85% agreed that there is a good choice of methods for contacting the Council. The phone is, and will remain, the most popular way to contact us, but use of the web and email is growing strong. With 70% of respondents having access to the internet and more now using it every day, we've also seen a large increase in usage of boroughofpoole.com (now 74% of internet users) and will continue to develop this key service to meet growing demand future. We will also be looking at options to provide local contact points for those people who find it hard to get to the Civic Centre.
When contacting the Council, you want
- queries to be resolved effectively
- to be clear who you need to contact
- consistent levels of customer service from Council Service Units
- feedback on progress with ongoing queries
- information on how quickly queries will be dealt with
- awareness of previous contact if a follow up call/visit is made
Overall 67% are happy with the level of service received when they contact the Council – an increase of 3%. 60% feel that queries are dealt with effectively and 56% feel that 'it is easy to get enquiries sorted out to their satisfaction'. Fewer people are being passed around having to repeat their details over again - a decrease of 5% to 20%; and there is a 5% increase in the number of people who agreed that 'if they make a follow-up call, they are aware of my previous contact.'
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