Building Trust in Government via CX Excellence

Author: Beth Schultz, Vice President of Research & Principal Analyst

Not available for licensing.

Understanding the CX Landscape for Government Agencies

No matter whether operating at the local, state, or federal level, government agencies often face one of the thorniest of customer experience (CX) challenges: distrust. That is, many customers—in this case, citizens and constituents—have a lack of faith in government entities, even as they rely on them to provide essential services. The relationship between government agencies and the people they’re entrusted to serve is often tenuous at best, perpetuated by necessity rather than preference.

Any number of factors contribute to this dilemma, and a bad experience when engaging with an agency is among them. Even the most loyal citizens or constituents will lose patience with an agency that consistently delivers suboptimal customer service experiences. A homeowner reeling from a catastrophic weather event should not suffer the additional pain of a having to provide the same information to a live agent as they’ve just shared in a webchat because the agency hasn’t enabled a seamless omnichannel experience. Nor should parents, students, or retirees find conflicting or out-of-date information about respective financial or well-being support programs because the backend knowledge bases agencies use to support their self-service offerings are a mess. At a federal level, breaking points are so commonplace that the current administration has made CX improvement an imperative as it seeks to rebuild trust among and service excellence for its customers.

In late 2021, the Biden administration issued a series of executive orders under the umbrella of a five-pronged “Citizen CX Mandate,” with the aim of improving life experiences such as described above. Designated high-impact service providers, such as departments overseeing agriculture, education, housing and urban development, social security, and veteran affairs, must particularly work to improve service delivery, enhance citizen experience, leverage data and technology, strengthen the federal workforce, and promote equitable and inclusive policies to meet needs. In large part, the initiative builds on three core tenets for CX leaders to follow:

  • Have a digital-first strategy – Executive Order 14058, signed in December 2021, directs agencies to enhance the quality, accessibility, and timeliness of government services while emphasizing customer-centric approaches, transparency, accountability, and the use of digital technologies
  • Gather and analyze customer feedback – OMB A-11, Section 280 guides agencies on implementing effective CX strategies per Executive Order 14058, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs, measuring customer satisfaction, and continuously improving service delivery
  • Modernize the contact center – From the previous administration, Digital IDEA Act of 2018 outlines a goal of improving digital interactions between the government and the public and requires federal agencies to enhance digital services, improve accessibility, prioritize user experience, streamline online forms, and ensure compliance with modern technology standards

Although the CX Citizen Mandate is a federal initiative, all CX and IT leaders, including those at local and state agencies, should be taking heed of these efforts and mirroring them within their own jurisdictions. Government CX/IT leaders don’t get a pass on optimizing the customer experience. Citizens should be able to expect the same level of service when interacting digitally with a government agency as they do when engaging as a consumer with healthcare providers, retailers, travel companies, and any other type of company.

Table of Contents

  • Understanding the CX Landscape for Government Agencies
  • Government Agencies & the State of CX Transformation
    • CX Transformation Projects
    • Contact Center Architecture
  • Fulfilling the CX Citizen Mandate
    • Broadening Engagement Channels & Embracing Journey Management
    • Introducing More AI and Automation
      • Conversational AI/Virtual Assistants for Helping Citizens
      • Agent Assist for Anyone Interacting with Citizens from a Contact Center
      • Workflow Automation for Agent Efficiency
      • Self-Service via a Citizen Portal
      • Generative AI for Agents and Citizens
  • Gathering and Acting on Citizen Feedback
  • Addressing Security and Compliance Sticking Points
  • Improving Agent Efficiency
  • Conclusions & Recommendations