Council makes big strides in customer satisfaction

Nelson City Council stocks are up after receiving a great result in a recent stakeholder snapshot of customer service. Two years hard work by Council is paying off with a big positive swing in stakeholder satisfaction revealed in independent research by Concordia New Zealand Ltd.

Replicating an earlier 2008 survey, the research included depth interviews with 19 major stakeholders ranging from Government departments to commercial enterprise, community and sporting bodies, and others including the Residents' Association,. The feedback stretched across five broad areas; staff accessibility, decision making, communication, leadership and performance, and overall stakeholder perceptions.

The results revealed a big improvement in every indicator.

Nelson Mayor Kerry Marshall said he is a satisfied man. "Providing great service is Council's absolute priority, so this is a very good result for us. We challenged ourselves to make a difference, placed an emphasis on making progress, and made some changes. Our Customer Service Centre is an example - we reached a milestone of 10,000 service request just last week. This result really backs our decisions."

Chief Executive Keith Marshall is similarly pleased, "We've made a clear, active commitment to be more cohesive and work smarter throughout Council. Still those changes, the vision and cohesion, are not always evident for ratepayers to see and identify. So for stakeholders to report a strong improvement across every indicator, very clearly confirms the big strides we've made. And we haven't finished yet, this isn't a flash in the pan."