Service NSW drives digital agenda

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Dr Rachna Gandhi, CEO, Service NSW, shares magic ingredients for successful citizen engagement at the FST Government Victoria conference in held in Melbourne.

Placing customers at the core of service delivery is a critical ingredient for success, according to Dr Rachna Gandhi, CEO of Service NSW, and a key architect of frontline service reforms in NSW.

Dr Gandhi, a keynote speaker at the FST Government Victoria’ conference held in Melbourne, said this award-winning agency’s one-stop shop program is coming to fruition three years after launch.

“When we talk about government, this is more than just getting your licences renewed. This is about having a consistent transactional experience that builds trust in government.”

 

E-concierge model

Service NSW leverages a concierge meet-and-greet model. “So you’re greeted by a concierge as you come in,” Dr Gandhi said. “This is similar to a bank. You feel good that someone is at the door to greet you. The minute you create a one-stop shop, you need to be able to offer the full suite of services. They can come in and ask for anything to do with government.”

An onsite concierge takes the inquiry from a designated meet-and-greet ‘dance floor.’ Where Service NSW cannot help, staff can direct enquiries elsewhere. This service uses an e-concierge model to track transactions. Records around these transactions are also used for customer feedback.

 

Replacing grey furnishing

The old shop-front format featured glass partitions and grey furnishings. “There was no-one to greet you,” recalled Dr Gandhi. “We spent three months in industrial relations just arguing to get the glass partitions down. The redesign is like a bank branch and this is completely open.”

Since creating a new look-and-feel, Service NSW has not reported “one incident of a customer throwing a chair at us, or attacking one of our staff.”

One benefit is every initiative is built around a prototype. “We’re continually upgrading this. This means we’re not going to wait until this is a perfect solution or that we’ve got to bed this down.”

This engagement is not about one or two good experiences, noted Dr Gandhi. “This is about offering a consistent look-and-feel with how you transact with government.”

Customers have no choice, and cannot go elsewhere for a much-needed service. “Our plan was moving from a product-centric to a customer-centric organisation.”

This has focused on offering a one-stop shop. “We found that a lot of jurisdictions were struggling because they were coming at services from one channel. These were either digital or contact centres. If you really put customers at the heart of services, then you have got to give them choices.”

 

New Android payment system

This August, Service NSW became the first agency in Australia to adopt Google’s cashless Android Pay service.  This latest contactless payment service is available to Android users across all Service NSW centres.

Nearly 90 per cent of people have a mobile phone. Android Pay is a mobile wallet that stores credit cards, debit cards and loyalty cards on compatible Android smartphones. The service is available to customers who bank with a growing number of participating banks and credit unions.

Android Pay is the latest offering to simplify payments through the Service NSW Payment Services Platform. This forms a single government-payments gateway to cut red tape and remove old legacy payment systems, including cheques.

Android Pay becomes available in every Service NSW centre. There are plans to bring this offering to Service NSW’s digital stores, website and other apps before year’s end.