Customer service feedback invited

MANAWATU District Council is to seek public feedback next month as it continues to develop a new customer service strategy.

A customer service survey form, containing a number of council-focused questions, will be available at the Feilding Public Library and Community Libraries, Makino Aquatic Centre, the council’s public office in Manchester Street and the Feilding Information Centre.
The public are invited to fill in the form and return it before Friday, January 29.

Customer Services and Democracy Manager, Janine Hawthorn, said the strategy would provide a framework to build excellence in customer service and to become a fundamental part of the council’s day-to-day organisational culture.

“Before council can do this, however, we need to get an idea and understanding of what our residential and business customers value the most when they do business with council and to also address any customer dissatisfaction.”
Mrs Hawthorn said some of the questions carried an agree/disagree option, and if the latter was ticked, then clarification was requested to alert council as to where its delivery of service could be improved.

“Council has given an undertaking it wants to involve its public more and in order to do that we need to reach them to find out how they believe we are currently performing, particularly in the area of customer service.”

She said council aimed to make the survey, which was the first of its kind on a district-wide basis, as simple as possible.

“We want people to see that it will only take a few minutes to complete and that they don’t have to sit down and write a novel. And if they do that it will give us the feedback we require.”

Mrs Hawthorn said the strategy involved external and internal customers and was an organisational-wide initiative and not just centred on the public office.