Stats Show Council Offers Exceptional Customer Support
Published on 12 March 2024
Always There When You Call: Stats Show Council Offers Exceptional Customer Support
12 March 2024
In 2023, Northern Grampians Shire Council Customer Support Team attended to more than 22,800 phone and counter enquires across the council’s Stawell and St Arnaud offices; a figure equating to more than 1,900 enquiries per month and a minimum of 90 per day. The team successfully managed 70 percent of these without diverting to individual department staff, a figure which is considered exceptional for local government, where enquiries can be complex.
The duties allocated to the Customer Support Team at Northern Grampians Shire Council include phone, counter and email enquiries, receipting, facility bookings, accessible parking permits, general organisation administration and managing the day-to-day responsibilities of the VicRoads Agencies in Stawell and St Arnaud.
Across the year, 6800 customer requests were recorded, an average of 27 per day, with 6000 of these listed as having been completed on time. Northern Grampians Shire Council CEO Brent McAlister emphasised that this is an exceptional standard and one the council is proud of.
“The figures provided to us through departmental reports and programs illustrate that the council currently offers an exceptional customer support service standard. Seventy to ninety percent is highly commendable and well above state averages. I've worked for councils in Victoria, New South Wales and in New Zealand and these figures are better than the other councils that I've worked at. It is a great result, and I am proud of the commitment to customer support that the Customer Support Team and staff as a whole show,” said Mr McAlister.
“We are not perfect but are constantly improving. We’re working on furthering our customer centric focus moving forward and I am confident that our commitment to continuous improvement is consistent across the whole council. Our achievements can be seen through the number of requests handled per year and the response percentages; we are doing well. We do have a small minority of customers that have been aggressive in their interactions with council staff, and we have a zero tolerance for this. Our staff do an incredible job, and they are striving consistently to answer your enquiries. Just think, of an average 92 phone enquiries per day, only 2.6 of these divert to voicemail,” he added.
The total of 22,872 enquiries made to Northern Grampians Shire Council Customer Support in 2023 represents 16,240 phone enquiries and 6,632 counter enquiries. These statistics do not include enquiries made directly to individual council staff.
For further information contact:
Media & Communications – Lauren Shipman
E-mail: lauren.shipman@ngshire.vic.gov.au