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Government agencies are under growing pressure to deliver better benefits and services to the public.
Evan Davis, executive managing director for strategic growth at Maximus, says agencies need to fundamentally rethink how they approach customer experience to keep up with these rising expectations.
“The way services will be delivered in the future — how agencies interact with the people they serve — will become less expensive, quicker, simpler to navigate, and far more anticipatory,” Davis explained.
Shifting to anticipatory services
Anticipatory services can significantly ease the burden on the people who reach out to agencies. This is particularly important given that many individuals contact government offices during difficult or stressful times.
“People call because they have no choice — they’ve been prompted by some kind of official letter or notice. They feel compelled to get in touch with the government about an important matter,” Davis noted.
The issues customers raise are often complicated, wrapped in technical legal or policy terminology. Since agency staff understand these processes far better than the average person, Davis argued, “it really falls to agencies to take the lead in lightening that load.”
“When agencies understand a customer’s history — what steps they’ve already taken, what their situation looks like, and what typically follows — they can say, ‘Based on what you’ve shared, I have a clear sense of where you stand right now. I understand not only what you’ve been going through, but also what’s likely to happen next.’ And if you can stay ahead of what’s coming next, you’ve found one of those rare game-changing opportunities in service delivery: the ability to dramatically lower costs and boost efficiency while simultaneously improving the customer experience,” he said.
Reaching customers on their terms
One of the most frustrating experiences — for both the public and agencies — is having to make repeated calls or send multiple messages to resolve an issue.
“It’s an extremely aggravating experience for people, especially when they face long hold times to reach an agency or struggle to figure out how to get in touch through the website. Having to go through that multiple times a day only drives up costs,” Davis said.
To deliver smooth, seamless service, agencies should rethink how they share information with the public.
“When someone is stressed and needs a lot of information, what they really need is to understand the next three or four steps ahead. Is it truly the best approach to have someone verbally walk through those next few steps? Or would it be more effective to say, ‘How about I prepare a form that covers everything you need, and then I’ll text you a link to it? I can also email it to you,'” Davis suggested. “As more tools are developed to address these specific scenarios, agencies can start offering them directly to callers. ‘I see you need to complete this complex form — we have a step-by-step guide to walk you through it.’ Maybe it’s a short video showing how to handle the next parts of the process.”
Creating a ‘digital front door’
Many agencies are adopting a “digital front-door” approach for their online services, making it straightforward for people to locate what they need on an agency’s main website.
“The concept is simple: no matter what issue you’re dealing with — whether it’s with a specific agency, a subagency, or even across multiple agencies — there’s one central place to begin,” Davis explained.
A digital front door expands self-service options for the public and lessens the need to seek help by phone or in person. Davis said these options are about meeting people where they already are and communicating through the channels they prefer.
“Let’s lean into what the vast majority of the government’s customers and citizens carry with them every day — digital access, especially through smartphones and tablets,” he said.
These digital-first services also enable agencies to send proactive updates to customers, keeping them informed about where they stand in a process and how long the next step is expected to take. Davis said these updates help ease customer anxiety and cut down on unnecessary follow-up calls.
“The moment you submit a form, for instance, once the agency receives it, you’ll get a notification: ‘Yes, we’ve received it. It will take approximately six to eight weeks. You can check the status here anytime, and I’ll send you a push notification or text every Monday at noon to keep you updated on the progress,'” he said.
Maintaining consistency across all channels
In a digital-first environment, Davis emphasized that agencies must deliver an omnichannel experience — ensuring customers receive the same high-quality service whether they interact by phone, in person, or online. A key part of that omnichannel commitment is providing uniform, consistent information across every channel.
“One of the biggest pitfalls agencies encounter is inconsistency. Laws change, policies evolve, and circumstances shift, introducing new terminology and procedures. For many agencies, there’s no single, centralized repository for all of that knowledge,” Davis said.
Artificial intelligence tools can help agencies deliver accurate, dependable information across all their platforms.
“One of the most fitting applications of AI in the service delivery space is the ability to examine the many different information sources an agency may have, identify where contradictions exist, and quickly help the agency build a unified, comprehensive knowledge system.”
These AI tools can also guide customers toward the most effective way to get assistance from an agency, depending on the specific task they need to accomplish.
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