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Joe Supervielle:

Welcome to Voices in Local Government, an ICMA podcast. My name is Joe Supervielle. Brittany Carter, welcome to the show.

Brittany Carter:

Thanks, Joe. Thanks for having me.

Joe Supervielle:

Where are you joining us from today?

Brittany Carter:

So I'm joining you from the lovely State of Washington, King County area, which is where I work. I work for the Office of Performance Strategy and Budget for King County.

Joe Supervielle:

All right. That incorporates the Seattle area, correct?

Brittany Carter:

Yeah, so if you think of all those tech giants, so you think of Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, right? King County houses all of those big names.

Joe Supervielle:

Yeah, and so pretty big population, pretty big budget as well, I would think.

Brittany Carter:

Yeah, just shy of about two and a half million residents.

Joe Supervielle:

What is your title there, but maybe more importantly, what impact do you have working for the people of King County?

Brittany Carter:

Yeah, so my title is research analyst, and the work that I do is much more comprehensive. I work in customer experience management, which basically means that it's my job to make sure that we as a government entity are easy to do business with and that folks can get what they need from us since we regulate them to come to us. It's my job to make sure that that process is easy and equitable and fair.

Joe Supervielle:

Which is not an easy job, I don't think, as listeners probably know. It's tough. Local government kind of has that thing where the citizens kind of don't even know you're there until something has gone wrong and they're not happy about it. And then it's kind of an uphill battle. But people like you and plans that you've put in place, which we're going to get into, can make it easier and can improve customer service, which we will get to just in a minute. But quickly, I wanted to ask, tell us a little bit about your background right before local government. In the notes there, it said you were a surrogate hippo mom. So tell the audience about that.

Brittany Carter:

Yes. So my background is actually in psychology with somewhat of a specialization in animal behavior. I had always kind of wanted to be a wildlife biologist, and behavior was always super intriguing. I actually spent several weeks in South Africa on a rehabilitation farm working with juvenile rhinos. At this time they had a baby hippo there who had been stuck in a water well. So then they came and brought her here, or brought her there where I was and, yeah, she was like my little puppy. We did everything together. We hung out together. We did bottle feeds together. We did not sleep in the same area because hippos are gross. But yeah, so that happened. Then I ended up kind of continue to pursue that kind of human behavior, human interest track, and found myself in higher education, and then looking more into how to make processes easier for students. So that really kind of continued my track into the public sector and landed me where I am now in King County.

Joe Supervielle:

All right. I will try and refrain from making a joke comparing juvenile rhinos to angry citizens there in local government. But I will say the psychology and the behavior in general definitely transfers over to what you're doing. I think maybe there's a myth, maybe there's not, about how analytics and math don't always cross over with people skills or understanding behavior, but they're not mutually exclusive. I think they do. It seems like you're kind of proof right there in having both skillsets.

Brittany Carter:

Yeah, there's definitely a nexus there that allows some really good process improvement opportunities.

Joe Supervielle:

So let's get into it. Customer service analytics, let's start with this. How do you standardize when collecting customer feedback? I think especially across departments, across whatever the citizen is trying to get done, there might be surveys, there might be this or that, but how do you just start with standardizing so this data is kind of uniform and then you can measure it from there?

Brittany Carter:

Right. Yeah, I think that's one of the biggest questions, is how do you standardize a customer, right? Because there's so many different types of customers. There's so many different types of businesses. So standardizing them doesn't necessarily seem like something that can happen when you're trying to interact with humans. Humans are, we don't come in a standard. So really when you're thinking about standardizing customer experience, where I started with was standardizing the questions that we ask them when we're talking, when we're asking them for feedback. So really it just comes back to the standardizing the metrics that we'd want to gather. So what we really look at in King County is building this model and this framework for asking the same questions on the same scale.

So what that looks like is we ask questions around satisfaction with the service that they received. Do they trust King County? Was it easy to do? Was it efficient? Were the people kind? Were they treated fairly, right? So those are standard questions that we are able to ask and really can be copy and pasted in any environment. So whether that's a front facing customer entity or whether that's kind of an employee facing customer entity, those questions can be standardized. So we standardize that process in which we are gathering that feedback. Then where the beauty is, is when we collect that data and we look at it, we then use the voice of the customer to design and personalize those touchpoints, which is not part of that standardization. So those touchpoints on those businesses are able to really personalize it for the customer.

Joe Supervielle:

How do you test all that?

Brittany Carter:

So actually, when we started this framework, we slow rolled it. We did a couple of pilots, maybe seven to 10 pilots, of just testing to make sure that the measurement worked. Then we changed it at every iteration. So with the first pilot, we learned a lot. We changed the framework, tested it again with another pilot, changed the framework. So now we are at a place where the framework seems pretty consistent through implementation. Now we're able to use those insights to gather that information from the customer to really change the experience. Then we validate it with them. We were able to watch the data to see if those changes made necessary impacts, and we've been able to see that through a couple of different lines of businesses now who have been requesting feedback and making changes, and they see that and their satisfaction scores are increasing.

Joe Supervielle:

So this program's been in place long enough to kind of get some of that measurements and success really, like you can prove it that it's working.

Brittany Carter:

Yes. We're on the other side now or headed towards the other side now, I should say. We've been kind of testing this framework for going on over three years now, and now we're really able to start to see those trends and what's changing as businesses implement different process improvements.

Joe Supervielle:

So next question. That all makes sense. I think people can follow, and maybe they've tried similar things at their jurisdictions, but what about that question of actually how? So you explained the what and what you're doing, but how in terms of resources with people, yourself, like you were hired to do this, but maybe even the software programs or the tools, resources, because it's not that easy? You can't just magically do that. The day-to-day is tough, and as we all know, because the question I ask almost every episode, how is it paid for, which we'll get to, but budgets are tough. So whether it's people, the products, the software, how are you actually doing this day-to-day?

Brittany Carter:

I think we all understand the constraints of government and what might get a budget, what might not. Those are just kind of tough decisions that have to be made. So the initial investment was in my position, getting an analyst on board to create this measurement framework. When I started developing this framework for measurement, it became very clear that we can measure and collect the data all day long, but if we're not doing anything with the process or we're doing anything with that information, then we're not truly investing in this process. So really what it meant for me was being able to find small and big wins to be able to show the value of this work. That's really where the pilots came in.

We started with departments and agencies that were willing and ready to test this, that wanted to implement some type of feedback system for their customers. For me, what I would do is I would go into the agency, help them form a core team, what I called the CX core team, to really be the people that are going to carry this through when I've removed myself from this situation. So that is just using the resources that are already there and the hands that are already willing to be able to do this work and just being able to show the value in these small pockets that are, small and large pockets, that are testing this methodology to get that leadership interest and to get that buy-in so that we can then later on start having conversations about resourcing.

So it's really finding those small quick wins, whether that's highlighting what good customer service or good customer experience is and making that part of the organizational communication so that people are starting to hear this word "customer experience" often, or it's doing things like testing or piloting a measurement methodology in small areas that are willing and want that information so that you can gather those insights and move that information upwards to leadership so that their interest is now piqued as well. So it really started with starting small and going from there.

Joe Supervielle:

I think that's encouraging to hear because that's what we talked about earlier. King County is big. The budget's big. But it sounds like you all didn't have this perfectly figured out years and years ago. They brought you in somewhat recently to get going. So there's always first steps to take regardless of what location or what budget or what scale any local government is at.

Brittany Carter:

Correct. Yeah. It's a matter of just deciding how you're going to start and what that looks like. Even as far you had mentioned, Joe, the technology solution, we didn't have this glorious feedback system for customers, and so really it was asking the questions of what is available, what do we have currently, what are people using? And forming those relationships with our IT department to be able to help me understand what is currently available that we don't have to make a large investment in. There's always something. It might not be the biggest and the best and the flashiest, but when you're needing to get started, you get started with what you have to show the value so that you can really make an investment later on.

Joe Supervielle:

Right. That goes back to the people skills. You're working with IT directly, or whoever else it might be, to come up with the best you can to take the incremental steps, which is something I think that's repeatable elsewhere. So one other question on the data. How do you reconcile that situation where it's a lot of low-end feedback, high-end feedback, some people are maybe pleasantly surprised or just had an amazing experience and happy to give you all those fives out of fives. On the other end, despite the best efforts, things just didn't go well, people are frustrated, they want to vent about it, and they're going to give you the zero or the one. Coming from someone who has that difficulty when we're even looking at marketing data, but I'm not really the number expert, how do you figure out, or what kind of sample sizes are needed to make sure that it's not only the loud extremes clouding the overall numbers?

Brittany Carter:

Right. Yeah, so I think starting off with sample size and understanding the volume. So one of the biggest things is understanding the volume of your customers, and that's what we work with a lot of departments in, is that first collection of data. When they come to you, they're often filling out an application or making a phone call. So just understanding that volume that's coming in, and you're able to juxtapose that against the amount of responses that are coming in and really trying to understand sample size in that way. The other question that you asked is one that comes up very often. We have high scores and we have low scores, and that's very much true. You also do have the in between. I think it's even more important, because with government it's not like our customers have anywhere else to go. You can't go get a permit in another county, right?

Joe Supervielle:

Unless I up and move, yes.

Brittany Carter:

Unless you move, exactly. It's not like, "Oh, the Vehicle and Vessel Registration is down today. I'll just go over a county away and do that," right? So what we're-

Joe Supervielle:

I'm sorry to interrupt, but that's also I think part of the frustration from the citizen's point of view. It's like, "Hey, these people aren't doing what I need and maybe they don't have to because they know, 'What is the alternative?'" I'm not saying that's true. That's the stereotype that people like you have to overcome in customer service.

Brittany Carter:

Yeah, that's the feeling. Part of my job is to remind folks we regulate them to come to us. They have nowhere else to go, so at the bare minimum we can make that process easy and efficient. So what you are going to see, what you can see in the data, is we have those highs and we have those lows, but we can't let that scare us from asking the feedback anyway. Because what I found most valuable is, they answer the questions and we have our scales and our matrix, and we also have some open comments and some open texts that people can just free-fall and dump everything that they have in there. In that comments is where that rich information really comes from and those ideas about process improvements come from.

Joe Supervielle:

Yeah, that's my favorite part of the ICMA membership survey that I... way above my head how they get that done. But when it does and we get to see it, I like the comments section, try and get some nuggets out of there. So next topic, equity in customer service and even this data analytics, it's a complex human dynamic. It's messy, as we all know, for good and for bad. How does that fit into an otherwise kind of math or process heavy situation? Because again, I don't think mutually exclusive, there are ways you can do it, but practical applications or tips, how do you actually get that in to your work in this?

Brittany Carter:

Yeah. Equity is in everything. It's a part of everything. You can find ways. There are ways that we go about our processes, and making sure that we're adding that lens and that mindset of equity is really important. Customer experience is one of the most important ways that we need to infuse equity. I think what often happens is that we get the data. So what we offer on our surveys is we request demographic information. That's optional. So age, gender identity, race, ethnicity, disability identity. So when we get the data back, we're able to look at data through the lens of those varying groups so we can see who's having a hard time with the process, who's having an easier time with the process. That's kind of the end bucket. So we're able to look at that information with the demographic data.

However, if that's the only part of the process that we are including equity, then we are missing a lot of other important facets. So in the Measurement Guidebook that I've published, you'll see that there are opportunities to incorporate equity from the beginning. The moment you decide to do some type of feedback framework or feedback measurement, equity should be infused in who's on that team deciding what questions that you are asking, how are you handling the positional authority, those power dynamics within that team.

Joe Supervielle:

Yeah, more input up front.

Brittany Carter:

Exactly. So there's going to be a lot of information that needs to happen before and during and after the data collection.

Joe Supervielle:

So that equity piece is part of the bigger King County Customer Experience Guidebook, which is available online.

Audience, you can Google King County Customer Experience Measurement Guidebook, or we'll have it linked on the podcast page and whatever app you might be listening to right now.

But Brittany, can you just tell us a little bit more about what and why this is?

Brittany Carter:

Yeah.

Joe Supervielle:

Then we'll get to how this can help someone else listening to replicate what you're doing, where they're working.

Brittany Carter:

Yeah. So this came out of, we had talked about how do we operate with the constraints of government, and this and resourcing, and this guidebook was produced because I couldn't figure out a way to clone myself. So this guidebook was literally, it's literally my brain and the way that we improved this process, this experience measurement process, in a document. So really the idea was that if I'm not available or folks are wanting to go ahead and start out, what does it look like for them to take up that this is a guidebook and do the work? That's really what this guidebook is, is the step-by-step process of how to implement a measurement framework to get customer feedback.

Joe Supervielle:

That goes back to wherever someone might be listening, "Hey, we don't have the budget King County does, so what are we supposed to do about this? We can't hire a Brittany." But it sounds like this is a viable alternative to at least get started.

Brittany Carter:

Yeah.

Joe Supervielle:

On that guidebook, if there is no one with your role or skillset at a location, who is the best or most approximate job type title, whatever it might be, that it might not be the city county manager, be it department head or someone else, but who's the closest version that could understand this guidebook and start implementing it or at least kind of incorporating it as part of their job?

Brittany Carter:

Yes. So immediately I think of anybody with a continuous improvement background or a lean background, that would be a really great person to take this up and run with it. And the guidebook is written in very detailed, it's very detailed about the process, and there's templates and everything available within the guidance document too. The idea was that if anybody in a department decided they wanted to do this work, how would they start? So really while it's a continuous improvement person or maybe a manager of customer experience or customer service might be the best candidates, I would say that the importance of this guidance document is that somebody who has this interest, who notices this gap, would like to start but doesn't know how to start, this guidance document is for them.

Joe Supervielle:

Okay. I think most places do have some version of customer service, but this is a little bit like a longer time horizon. Instead of just a daily grind of trying to keep up with what's coming in, this is a bigger picture, how we can improve the process for the future. Is that accurate?

Brittany Carter:

That's accurate, yeah. That's correct.

Joe Supervielle:

Okay. That's I think the goal and why we are talking today, so thank you, Brittany, for sharing your expertise on analytics and testing and customer service for local government.

Brittany Carter:

Thank you for having me.

 

Episode is sponsored by

Guest Information

Brittany Carter, research analyst, customer experience, King County, Washington

Episode Notes

Brittany Carter, research analyst, customer experience, King County, Washington joins Voices in Local Government to discuss analytics in customer experience, including:

• How to standardize customer data and experiences across unique departments and situations.
• What resources are needed to implement this kind of program. And why it's important to find small and big wins to show the value of the work.
• Forming "CX Core Teams" to keep the framework and process sustainable even without constant support from an analyst.
• Working with IT to figure out software solutions.
• Reconciling how a disproportionate percentage of feedback is extreme positive or negative compared to the silent middle.
• Equity in CX and data analytics.

• Customer Experience Measurement Guidebook for a replicatable step by step process about how to implement a measurement framework to get customer feedback.

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