The document discusses the differences between customers and citizens. Customers seek to fulfill individual interests through private decisions and express dissatisfaction passively, while citizens seek to fulfill community interests through public participation and decision-making, expressing dissatisfaction through public voice. Governments serve all members of a community, including unwilling members, whereas markets allow individuals to choose what to buy. Citizens must also consider values like representation, equity and individual rights, rather than solely focusing on value and cost like customers. The document argues that viewing one's relationship with government solely as a customer can devalue the public service aspect of government work.

1. What is a Customer Defines a relationship between a willing buyer and willing seller A person who willingly purchases goods and services to maximize individual benefit from a seller in a competitive market of sellers What is a Citizen Defines a relationship between individuals and their government Designed to produce collective decisions for community benefit that are fair to individuals Differences between Customers and Citizens Markets consist of unlimited buyers and sellers vs. Government is a monopoly Sellers compete for buyers and try to meet buyers/customer's needs because their ECONOMIC survival depends upon it vs. Government does not have to compete for customers; incentive for customer satisfaction is POLITICAL legitimacy Customers can choose what to buy, when, and from whom vs. Citizen have no choice in what, when, and from whom (Diversity) Sellers choose niche and customer base vs. Governments serve all including victims and prisoners and the otherwise unwilling (Diversity) The market place efficiently allocates resources vs. Government responds to an array of values including representation, equity and individual rights Customers focus on value to buyer as well as cost vs. Citizens focus on value to community as well as cost; taxpayers focus on cost Markets meet individualized needs of customers vs. Government meets collective needs of citizens Loss of customers indicates seller has undesirable product vs. Citizens cannot leave; public voice indicates service delivery problems (Conflict theme) Customer reinforces private choice, individual freedom, and personal responsibility vs. Citizen subordinates individual interests to array of interests and individual decision to majority rule; Citizen builds sense of community through individual participation and collective responsibility; Citizen's sense of personal fulfillment comes through collective action; Citizen builds critical reasoning thinking deliberately and publicly Customers have no obligations to other customers or to sellers vs. Citizens have obligations to majority rule and collective good Markets maximize individual cost/benefit vs. Citizens invest without expectation that return to them individually will equal their investment Summary Customers seek to fulfill individual interests through private decisions and express their dissatisfaction passively Citizens seek to fulfill community interests through public participation and decision-making and express their dissatisfaction through public voice Are the differences important? This issue has nothing to do with the way we lead our lives. When you approach government as an individual, can YOU think and talk as a customer AND a citizen? Don't you do this? DMV hours? Why not in supermarket? Recognize need for traffic control and licensing of drivers? Can YOU treat people like a customer AND a citizen? Utility calls residents customers and charges according to use Collectively decides where wastewater treatment plant will go We can manage these differences in our daily lives. But when we search for the meaning or value in what we are doing, the conflict takes on a mighty significance. Questions our work as public servants. Who experiences the dissonance? What is our objection? Frustration? It is solely and ideological matter where ideology expresses value of what we do.
Customer
devalues government work by extolling business. Emphasis moves from the public part of public servant to the servant part. What is the
story
of customer service? Political stories combine reason and emotion in a captivating way. Powerful stories deal with meaning in our lives They are simple, speak to us deeply, tell us what we want to hear; they are compelling compared to counter-stories To show power of stories ask if IRS reform is data driven or story driven How many people x how many tax returns = opportunity for abuse. How much abuse has actually occurred? Story of government abuse and the underdog; it is a story people are receptive to today Customer service story is part of a bigger one Business is efficient and caters to customer needs Government is inefficient, wasteful and disregarding of citizen preferences If government were more like business it would not only be more efficient; it would produce more customer satisfaction Turn the syllogism on its head and say
if we can satisfy our customers, we will have become more efficient.
Another story is about power and who is in charge. Citizens see a gap between the way they struggle to lead their lives and how imperious government seems to be to them. This is the underdog story. Another story is about the inability of government to produce what it sets out to, e.g. police protection; race relations; education. Responses All are political. Politics is about stories Disregard the story Try to produce counter-story Business is not that efficient Resident as citizen Government can produce; compelling story of government today has to be connected to results Integrate the story into your own purposes
Customer service as a value has helped our image
David Watkins, Lenexa Customer service and threat of privatization provide stimulus for internal change in entrenched departments: Eric Anderson, Des Moines Turn resident/customer loyalty and trust into obligations as citizen Subsume customer/citizen into one story Community Building as a Compelling Counter Story Strong communities require self-reliant, independent people (Private) who are willing to think and act in ways that acknowledge that their private lives do not constitute the universe (Public).