Simon Pollock is the Head of Customer Service at Surrey County Council. The document discusses Surrey's channel shift strategy to move customer contacts online. It notes that channel shift is about designing effective channels that are appropriate for the type of contact and customer, not just moving contacts online. There are three speeds of channel shift: turning internal systems outward, hopping between channels, and using the public website more. Channel shift has led to fewer phone calls and contacts at Surrey County Council while increasing website visitors and total contacts, reducing the cost per contact by over 25% since 2007.

1. Simon Pollock
Head of Customer
Services
Surrey County Council

2. Simon Pollock
Head of Customer Service
Surrey County Council

3. Authors
Sarah Fogden, Cabinet Office
Bob Kamall, Cabinet Office
Carolyn Cho, Cabinet Office
Stephen Dodson, DC10plus
Marin Herbert, Student Loans Company
Simon Pollock, Surrey County Council

5. Surrey’s Channel Strategy
5

6. “…..channel shift DOES NOT mean simply moving an
organisation’s customer contact online….

8. The internet is not
always the best
channel

9. “…..deliberate channel shift is the design and
marketing of effective and efficient channels
because they are the most appropriate channel for
the type of contact, customer and organisation….”

10. Three Speeds of Channel Shift

11. Channel Hopping

13. 1. Who’s in Charge?

14. 1. Who’s in Charge?

15. Customer Services
Contact Web
Centre Team
CSI
Team

16. 2. Good Housekeeping

17. 3. Why Use the Public
Website?
17

18. The Top 3

19. The Top 3

20. Turn Of Your Internal Systems
 Less internet users shifting to other channels
 Less calls
 Better 24 hour offering
 More citizen empowerment
 Less or no Contact Centre licences
 Less Contact Centre training
 Ability for partners to take your calls
 Easy to upscale operation with untrained staff
 The beginnings of a “unified public sector” ??

22. 100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
Jan-06
Mar-06
May-06
Jul-06
Sep-06
Nov-06
Jan-07
Mar-07
May-07
Jul-07
Sep-07
Nov-07
Jan-08
Website Visitors
Mar-08
Channel Shift at Surrey
May-08
Jul-08
Sep-08
Nov-08
Jan-09
Mar-09
May-09
Jul-09
Sep-09

23. Channel Shift at Surrey
Phone Calls
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
2007
20,000 2008
2009
10,000
-
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

24. Falling Cost Per Contact
Calls Web Emails Total Contacts Increase YOY
2007/08 590,238 3,342,611 43,429 3,976,278
2008/09 540,677 4,871,192 47,298 5,459,167 37.3%
2009/10 490,537 5,890,088 54,783 6,435,408 17.9%
61.8%
Budget Cost per Contact Reduction YOY
2007/08 £ 3,135,348 £ 0.79
2008/09 £ 3,355,020 £ 0.61 -22.1%
2009/10 £ 3,631,438 £ 0.56 -8.2%
15.8% -28.4%
****Update**** Cost per contact for October 2011 has dropped below 40p

25. Simon Pollock
Head of Customer Service
Surrey County Council