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FEDERAL
SECTOR REPORT
December 2003
IN THIS ISSUE
Listening to
Your Customers
The Services
Acquisition Reform Act
Link of the
Month: Web Surveys
Consulting
Services
Home Page
(c)
2004
by the P2C2 Group, Inc.
LOOK FOR THE
DIAMONDS IN CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
Customer
Satisfaction Surveys have become popular in the Federal Sector. Many
government websites ask the public to provide feedback:
- Did the user find what
he or she was looking for?
- Was the information clear?
- Are there suggestions for improving the
content?
Federal surveys
of customer satisfaction became common during the years when Gore was
intent on reinventing government, and the trend has burgeoned under the
Bush Administration. Today, customer results are at the heart
of e-Government strategy and embedded in the Federal Enterprise
Architecture. You can find questionnaires on just about any service
imaginable. Use Google to search for "Customer Satisfaction
Surveys" + Federal for current Web-based surveys.
Improving customer service is important to all stakeholders in the
Federal Sector--agencies, contractors, and grantees. Over the long
term, our budgets, revenues, and organizational existence all hinge on
delivering value to customers.
Whatsa Customer? A customer may be
as close as the person down the hallway who uses your program, system,
product, service, or information. It may be John Q. Citizen, or
managers in the Idaho State government, or exporters who use Department
of Commerce data. We all are customers and also have customers, and
being aware of the importance of these relationships is revolutionizing
both the private and public sectors.
My team got interested in customer
satisfaction surveys because we won a federal contract to design a
sample survey, analyze the results, and develop an evaluation report of
findings about a federal program. The project focuses on trends and
results--and is required by the agency's annual performance plan. When
properly designed, such surveys advance the intent of the Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
Beyond the Fluff. The results of
such surveys can be used glibly to proclaim the happiness of agency
customers, serving as grist for the public relations mill. However,
we're excited about their potential for improving program performance
and results. Customers can help you:
- Understand the characteristics of whom
you're serving
- Find out how to target your service
delivery to achieve high
levels of satisfaction and program results
- Identify services
and information NOT needed, enabling you
to redirect resources to better investments
- Monitor trends and issues
- Detect problems in service delivery that
need attention and corrective action.
Mining for
Gems. Findings of surveys are usually packaged in summary reports
with charts, cross-tabulations, and analyses. But we highly recommend
that you dig for the diamonds. A sole respondent may offer the seed of
an innovation that can change the way you do business. So dig beyond
the summaries, and you may be able to mine diamonds!
Of course, public surveys require
clearance by the Office of Management and Budget since these are
considered "Information Collections" as defined by the Paperwork
Reduction Act. The good news is that some federal departments have
developed broad (blanket) customer satisfaction surveys, and an
important new survey may be covered by the blanket OMB clearance ...
provided that it is confined strictly to the scope of the approved
collection.
Alternative for Data Mining. If
you don't want to undertake a formal survey, there are other means for
obtaining valuable customer feedback. Talk to the people who work in
your call center or other customer service unit. Complaints and law
suits can provide valuable hints, however difficult and unwanted. Even
relatively benign data sources are useful ... such as the most frequent
queries on your agency's Web search engine.
So take the time
to listen to your customers. And get the consulting and analytic help
you need so the "diamonds in the rough" are polished and shaped into
gems of excellence.
ACQUISITION
REFORM
The New
Economy. The profile of federal acquisition has changed
dramatically over recent decades. Originally, procurement was more
focused on products ... from nuts and bolts to airplanes and munitions.
Today, much of the emphasis is on buying technology and services. For
example, the federal government spends $135 billion yearly on services
alone.
Faster and Cheaper Procurement.
Service contracts can be awarded a lot faster now, particularly in
civilian agencies, and this may encompass such items as software
development and management consulting. Key provisions of the
legislation include:
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Carefully
designed and analyzed surveys offer feedback that can strengthen
performance and results.
Key Points
for Survey Design
- Begin by defining what
you hope to accomplish
- Develop a research design that defines
your study questions, your population, your sampling strategy, data
collection procedures, and analytic plan
- Determine the best way to reach your
respondents (Web, phone, paper questionnaire, in-person interviews)
- Emphasize methods
for achieving a high response rate
- Be sure to include key demographic
characteristics or other factors that are relevant to your research
design
- Develop question items that are clear and
address a single issue
- Pretest your questionnaire
- Track response rates and be prepared to
intervene (follow-up reminders, etc.)
- Check early for characteristics of
respondents to make sure you're getting representative responses
- Emphasize the accuracy of the data
collection, coding, and tabulation process
- Divide your quantitative analysis into
several phases - an exploratory step followed by a more detailed step
of intensive, issue-specific analysis
- Use reliable statistical software that
estimates confidence levels of responses
- Don't reach for conclusions that are
beyond the statistical limits
of your survey
- Review open-ended
responses carefully -- looking for unique
"gems" in addition to code-able responses.
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- Streamlining of contracting practices
- Authorizing telecommuting for federal
contractors
- Broadening the rules for acquisition of
Commercial Items to include more services
- Authorizing additional contract types
- Emphasizing performance-based contracting
for services
- Establishing the position of Chief
Acquisition Officers within federal agencies
- Major funding for training federal
acquisition personnel
- Recruiting acquisition professionals
LINK OF THE MONTH: WEB SURVEYS
For survey research, the Internet has
removed most of the tedium of questionnaire construction and data
collection. Go to
http://www.collectdatanow.com/,
and you can "test drive" your own Web survey for free ... for 30 days
on a limited basis.
Paying customers can even issue passwords
to respondents--so a controlled probability sample is feasible. Of
course construction of the questions (called items) is an art, but the
online service can generate a wide range of formats ... from yes/no and
multiple choice ... to open-ended items. The resulting data can be
downloaded for tabulation and statistical analysis.
WHAT CAN WE ACCOMPLISH FOR YOU?
Ahem ... we write this newsletter to
bring attention to our management consulting practice. Our team wants
to attract new business, and we would like to hear from you.
Consulting to senior management is our
cup of tea, and we have results and references to back up our marketing
promises. Our deliverables are first class. We excel in areas like
Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC), new initiatives, major
acquisitions and performance work statements, performance improvement,
and evaluation (including surveys). We're available as subcontractors
through outstanding companies with GSA schedules for MOBIS and IT
Professional Services.
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HOME PAGE
Elena and I look
forward to the holiday season, and we hope to spend a little more time
than usual with our twenty-something kids.
May peace and
joy be
your companions in the year ahead!
Jim
Kendrick
4101 Denfeld
Avenue
Kensington,
MD
20895
kendrick@p2c2group.com
301-942-7985
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HOME FOR THE
HOLIDAYS
An Army Military
Policy Company, based in Owings Mills MD, will be home for the
holidays, following duty in Baghdad. The Company is an Army Reserve
unit that has served on active duty for nearly two years. Many members
of the Reserve and National Guard have seen extended active duty
following mobilizations concerning 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
We wish
returning Reserve, Guard, and Service members a happy homecoming,
reunion with families, and re-connection with their civilian careers.
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