Minimising visit failure; maximising visitor satisfaction

Dave Hylands, Chief Information Systems Officer, with responsibility for Customer Access

Wrexham County Borough Council

About Wrexham

North East Wales • WCBC created in 1996 (Local Government (Wales) Act 1994)

• Population 132,900 (2008 mid year estimate)

• Largest Town in North Wales• Wide catchment area for shopping

(Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy and Gwynedd and Shropshire)

• Manufacturing / Industrial base• International Football Ground (Conference league)

• Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (UNESCO World Heritage site)

1999 - 201019

9920

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Wrexham.gov.uk

Background information• Web moved to Information Systems in 1999• Redesigned web with customer as the focus

(key drivers: accessibility & welsh language)

• Site re-launched end 2000 (web team established) • No CMS, site managed via web team• Web developed in-house, 4 FT employees

(working with IS dept – systems integration team)

• SOCITM Best website in Wales (2002/4/5/6/9/10)• Website Accessibility Award 2009 (Good Communications)

Our Vision (2001 eGovernment)

Our Vision (2010 CAS)

Focusing on our Customers• Initial customer access strategy 2005• Digital TV (Oct 2006)• Pride in your Streets (Sept 2007) • Contact Wrexham (Jan 2008)• Ask customers what they want• Make it easier to access our services• Use info provided to improve services • Customer Access to Services (web, phone, F2F)

(CAIS) Half-yearly review (Dec 2009)

Customer Access Improvement Service• Web is the main customer access channel

(In Sept 2009, according to data for 56 councils, 70% of interactions came via website; 17% via telephone and 13% from face-to-face.)

• Wrexham highlighted as “best in Wales” (for ‘Success in Finding Information’)

• Wrexham 1 of only 5 Council’s with a net overall satisfaction rating > 50%.

Increasing take-up (2001 – 2010)

010,00020,00030,00040,00050,00060,00070,00080,00090,000

100,000110,000120,000130,000140,000150,000160,000170,000180,000190,000200,000210,000220,000230,000240,000250,000260,000270,000280,000290,000300,000310,000320,000330,000340,000350,000360,000370,000380,000390,000400,000410,000

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Bad weather

SiteAnalyzeWebTrends

Customer Satisfaction (2010 so far)

Very satisfied

Finding information on site (2010)

Example first slide text:• Followed by bullet points• Like this…

Yes, completely

Likelihood of returning to site (2010)

Example first slide text:• Followed by bullet points• Like this…

Very likely

Web Adds Real Value to WCBC

Automated payments + Payments as % of total Revenue

£0

£1,000,000

£2,000,000

£3,000,000

£4,000,000

£5,000,000

£6,000,000

£7,000,000

2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

Channel migration

How much money does your website save the Council?

2009/10: 216,335 transactions

Channel costs:

Web (£0.39) = £84,370

Phone (£3.21) = £694,434

F2F (£8.23) = £1,780,433

WCBC Saving (theoretical)

£1,153,063

What’s our Secret?

It’s quite simple really…• Good team • Strong Coffee• Bacon Sandwiches & Donuts• Strong Leadership• Tenacity, long hours &

hard work

Minimising Visitor Failure

Proactive & Reactive• Routine website checking & updating

(resilience, links, accessibility, Plain English…)

• Monitoring feedback & customer

satisfaction (Take-up service, GovMetric)

• Monitoring website (web activity, resilience, search enquiries etc.)

Minimising Visitor Failure

Proactive & Reactive• Publish Information (feedback & reports to Chief

Officers, Cllrs and making it available to staff via Intranet)

• Encourage updates / Embarrass departments

• Listen e.g. School Closures- Jan 2009 “Missing information regarding school closures - Denbighshire has it on the front page of its website!” (Female, 18-29) - Jan 2010 “Excellent Website, Regular Updated information on bus routes, bin collections and school closures during the snow and icey conditions.. well done!!” (Male, 30-39)

Maximising visitor satisfaction

Proactive & Reactive• Content – reflect your Council’s wide variety of services

– currency

• Readability – Plain English, clarity, No Jargon, Structure and level of detail

• Performance & Availability• Use Better Connected and other

resources

Maximising visitor satisfaction

The secrets? – There are none• Do the basics all the time• Joined up working

(Contact Wrexham [F2F / Phone], Digi TV & Web)

• Be a follower of fashion,

not a ‘Trend Setter’• Build on success• Listen to customers, watch

the competition and NEVER sit back and relax!

Any questions?

Dave HylandsChief Information Systems OfficerWrexham County Borough Council01978 292300Dave.Hylands@wrexham.gov.uk

Rob GriffithsWeb Development ManagerRob.Griffiths@wrexham.gov.uk