More than a press release

In a business communications programme, a company influences prospective customers and retains existing customers by presenting itself as 'better than the alternative' -  better service, better knowledge, better position in the industry, better delivery, better employees, better systems, better integrity, better support and, overall, better for your business.

It does this by differentiating not only what it does, but also the way it does it and how it thinks.

Given the challenges facing local authorities - and the public sector in general - and the number of changes being implemented across most departments, there is never going to be a shortage of relevant material from which to draft a proactive communications programme.

In these times of austerity, everything seems to be changing at once - new policies, new procedures, new qualifying criteria, etc. All to be delivered through a reduced public sector infrastructure.

The communications challenge is to move beyond the presentation of statutory, factual and procedural information to offer insight into each area of service delivery, eg perspectives, opinions, guidance and instruction, clarification, case studies, etc.  

Writing about the real things that matter and, more importantly, to be seen as doing something about these issues on the customers’ behalf is a great way of boosting your reputation.

This knowledge is held within the service areas themselves, and the service area should draft the content in a contemporary manner, which means adopting a conversational, 'unofficial-like tone and expressing honest and thought-provoking views.

Change the dynamics of your web promotion

When constructing your web promotion plans, step back a bit and look at the wider issues of web engagement. 

How's your usability? 

Does the website have a contemporary look & feel that promotes the brand? 

Do you have a steady cycle of interesting and thought-provoking content from across your service areas over and above the procedural or instructional? 

Do you signpost (billboard!) new or topical content on the homepage to attract / distract attention?

How's your presentation? 

Do you present even the most obscure topic as compelling? 

Do you make best use of eCRM and digital comminications tools to profile all your customer groups and proactively invite them to the website when there is new and relevant content?

There is always something that can be tinkered with to make the website better or more contemporary, there should be a never-ending supply of good quality content from across the service areas (which you should manage / demand) and the cycle of proactive digital communications continues to bring people to the website instead of sitting back and waiting for them to come.

And if usability, presentation and content are all fine, then skip to the sharp end which is the task of building the proactive digital comms programme.

Keeping all these balls up in the air does require a whole host of skill but the result will be improvement in quantity of visitors and quality of the engagement.  With these improvements, people are more likely to follow where you'd like to lead.

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Re-think your channel migration expectations

The rationale behind the drive for local authorities to encourage more people online and to deliver more services over the web is that it is a less expensive fulfillment option which can achieve significant savings.

The reality, though, is somewhat different. 

While there may be the opportunity for cash savings to be achieved at some point, the real benefits of channel migration come through the creation of a better environment for engagement with customers.

SOCITM tells us that a face-to-face service delivery costs £8.23 per transaction, that a telephone call costs £3.21 and that online delivery costs pennies. The generally accepted business case is that, if you can shift cost-bearing interactions to cost-free online options, the resulting savings can be significant.

Management loves to hear this kind of talk and is often the stimulus behind digital communications programmes being given the green light.

The problem is that, while online delivery of services is more convenient for both the customer and the authority, these efficiencies do not necessarily translate into immediate cash.

Shifting 10,000 telephone calls to web self service will not result in £32,100 in your pocket; the saving would only be achieved over time by reducing staff and fixed infrastructure or asset costs such as premises and systems.

Some aspects of channel migration can achieve immediate cash savings; eg sending communications by email or appointment reminders by SMS instead of by post where the financial requirement for print and delivery is reduced. Or discouraging payments to be made by cheque.

A dedicated programme of digital communications and social engagement will encourage more customers to visit your website more regularly and, over time, will enable more services to be delivered through the low-cost rather than the high-cost fulfillment options.


In addition, you will build the foundation for longer-term customer engagement - which brings a whole host of collaborative and service-oriented benefits.

Customers will believe in your ability to work on their behalf; to better understand and have respect for your decisions; and to think more favourably of you.


This is the true value of channel migration.


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The lifetime value of customer relationship

SOCITM is advising that Top Tasks be at the forefront of local authority website design. And they will be awarding - and taking away points - for the 2012 version of Better Connected.

And this will have Directors worried because nobody up on the top floors likes to see 'could do better' in their review, regardless how lacking the criteria by which the assessment was made. This then puts pressure on the web and communications teams to work towards getting a good score on Better Connected, which doesn't much help address the underlying issues of audience engagement.

Top Tasks is all about people coming to your website, finding what they want and leaving as quickly as possible a 'satisfied customer'.  

We concede that this is not a bad thing. However, this also does nothing to build engagement with your customer base - each day you are starting all over again with a fresh set of visitors and then letting them go. What if those customers who came to your website today do not have reason to return again for a year? That's an opportunity lost.

Publish more interesting content from across the authority more of the time. Make it look good - professional and credible. Invite people to the site through digital communications.  And repeat.

Monitor the results, analyse the topics that achieve the best response and begin to build a picture of what your customers are interested in. And respond accordingly.

Constructing your website to deliver Top Tasks is but one aspect of true audience engagement.


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Favourability is your currency

Public sector customers do not have the same choices as they do for their utility provider, restaurant or car insurance policy.  They are a relatively captive audience and, in being so, local authorities do not have to worry too much about losing them. 

Which is perhaps one of the reasons that the public sector has been historically lacking in their marketing and communications.

In today’s app driven, social networking Big Society, it is not enough to deliver required services. Customers will voice their dissatisfaction if their expectations are not met, but will not think anything special when they are. And you won’t really know what those expectations are until you find out that you didn’t meet them!

One of the difficulties in building a positive reputation is that the overwhelming majority of residents consume council and local authority services on an arm’s length basis. Their bins get collected, the street lights work, the grass gets cut, etc. 


There only seem to be with the local authority if customers are on benefit, need housing, are building something or something major is planned for their area. Or if there's a problem.

Given that the successful delivery of services to a majority of customers goes unnoticed - and there is little direct communications to say what has been done - it is no wonder that local authorities generally have a low perception among their residents.

How do you turn this perception around?  Well, for a start, begin to get yourself noticed.

Be proactive in your communications; tell customers what is being done on their behalf; and that a considerable amount of time, effort, logistical coordination, etc goes into each aspect of service delivery.

Put forward the position that you are actually pretty good at looking after them; explain the complexities and challenges that are part of every decision made. Begin to give insight into how you work and, more pointedly, what people are getting for their money.

The benefit to being regarded favourably is that customers are more likely to be accommodating of your requests; more accepting of your explanations; and more collaborative in their interactions with you. 


www.game6.co.uk

A business communications model for the public sector

Good commercial organisations know who their customers are; they know who they would like to do business with but currently are not; and they know the affect that third party regulators and opinion formers (ie the media) can have on their business environment.

And they structure their communications accordingly.

At the heart of all their communications is an established corporate brand – the one theme that defines the nature and the personality of the business – and identified brand guidelines that are strictly followed.

This helps to establish a cumulative build where, over time, the frequency of messaging combines with the brand proposition (eg we’re the one that you want!). This works to position the company not only for their ability to provide products and services in a competitive marketplace but also to differentiate themselves from other suitors.

The communications objective is not necessarily to sell straight away, but to build a sense of familiarity with the prospective customer base that will lead to a long-term business relationship.  

There is an understanding that the lifetime value of the relationship is far more valuable to the company than the satisfaction of any short-term need.

Public sector bodies need to better understand this basic principle.


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Customer

Customer.  It is the word that councils, authorities and public sector bodies now use to describe the people for whom their services are delivered.

The word “customer” in this context has crept into the vocabulary of public sector bodies to reflect a desire to be more in tune with their audiences.

Before they were customers, the people served were, well, just people. And because of this lack of recognition, the public sector bodies didn’t much consider how their services were perceived.

After all, the most that a dissatisfied recipient could do to was to write a letter of complaint, or tell their friends, which was great for gaining sympathy, but ineffective to initiate a better alternative.

The current management trend is that we call our residents “customers” – but this was more for internal effect rather than to represent a desire to be more commercially astute.  Times are changing. 

Following a business model is exactly how councils, authorities and public sector bodies should focus their communications efforts.

When you think about it - you receive revenues through general taxation and you deliver services in return. This is the model of basic commerce. You are a business.

But, think about this too – if you were a business and your “customers” had alternative service provider options available to them, would they still choose you?


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