Why the US government lags behind private firms in customer experience

This is despite initiatives to develop customer service plans.

The US government continued to lag behind the private sector in terms of improving customer service despite efforts to develop customer service plans. 

Citing the Forrester’s Customer Experience (CX) Index, Deloitte said the government’s average is 11 percentage points behind the private sector. 

In a separate survey, conducted by Deloitte, the US government was also ranked the lowest amongst industries in terms of service quality. This is despite the majority of federal managers (70%)  surveyed saying their agencies deliver a customer experience that has same quality as the private sector. 

“Apparently, federal managers are enacting the letter of executive and Congressional leadership’s directives on CX but may be missing its spirit,” William Eggers, Executive Director, Deloitte Services LP’s Center for Government Insights, said.

“Federal managers often view CX as a compliance task rather than as a fundamental shift to seeing the customer at the heart of government services. This could lead managers to overestimate the quality of their CX: ‘We are in compliance, so we must be good’.”

Deloitte surveyed more than 150 US government leaders across 25 federal agencies. Of whom, 29% strongly agreed and 41% somewhat agreed that they provide service equal to the quality of the private sector. 

The federal government, however, scored 68.1 in the ASCI Benchmark Score 2020, far behind the manufacturing sector for nondurable goods and durable goods which scored 80.4 and 78.3, respectively. 

“Our research also suggests that budget constraints and outdated technology are some of the largest barriers to improving CX within the government,” he said. 

“However, cultural issues are an often-overlooked factor. Culture and changing mindsets play an important role in moving organizations beyond incrementally improving customer service to transforming the customer experience.”