This article is part of a comprehensive report published by the International Foundation for Customer Experience in Government, which aims to enhance the global dialogue on Customer Experience (CX) in the public sector. Drawing on innovative practices from around the world, the report establishes benchmarks for governments to improve their CX initiatives.
UNDERSTANDING GOVERNMENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Customer experience (CX) may have started as a private-sector marketing tool to boost customer value and gain a competitive edge, but it has evolved into something far more powerful—especially for governments. Today, CX is transforming how governments deliver services, driving measurable improvements across key strategic priorities by applying service improvement strategies and achieving real, tangible benefits for citizens.
This report dives into how these cutting-edge CX strategies are reshaping public services and explores the growing body of research behind government CX. If you’re interested in understanding how these practices can unlock better outcomes for citizens, this is a must-read.
Defining Government Customer Experience:
The notion of Customer Experience was first introduced in 1998 in a paper titled: “Welcome to the Experience Economy” by Pine and Gilmore, outlining the key role of “experiences” in enhancing strategic differentiation and economic value 1. While a variety of definitions of CX persist in this nascent field, the literature is moving towards standardization.
At its root, the word ‘experience’ originates from the Latin ‘experienti’, which means the ‘act of trying’. The term “Customer Experience” refers to a set of interactions between a customer and a product or provider, as well as the feelings and thoughts resulting from this act of interaction. This experience is strictly personal and implies the customer’s involvement at different levels (rational, emotional, sensorial, physical, and spiritual).
The dynamic encounter is inherently personal, embodying the customer’s engagement on various dimensions— rational, referring to the logical assessments made during the interaction; emotional, relating to the sentiments elicited by the encounter; sensory, encapsulating the physical sensations experienced; physical, concerning the tangible aspects of the interaction; and even spiritual, touching upon the intangible or transcendent aspects of the engagement. The significance of CX lies in its capacity to shape perceptions, influence behaviors, and ultimately define the overall quality of citizens’ interactions with government entities.
Importance of Government Customer Experience:
Public services are not only an integral component of people’s everyday lives but are also powerful tools for driving wide-scale improvements within nations. Tapping into the largely unexplored potential of Government CX in the public sector is a novel, creative, and potent approach for elevating the performance of government entities and countries at large.
Research in this area has largely focused on the private sector, reporting that positive customer experiences were associated with greater customer satisfaction and customer loyalty2,3. Further reported impacts have extended to word-of-mouth brand advocacy4. It was proposed that these experiences were central to building emotional bonds with customers that have a pronounced effect on macro-level outcomes5.
A recent study has revealed that government agencies offering better CX also deliver measurable positive impacts; perhaps to an even greater magnitude than observed in the private sector6. The research project, which studied more than 20,000 citizens across 140 government services revealed that adopting customer-centric principles in the end-to-end reimagination of public sector services has important implications in several priority areas.
Firstly, customers who were satisfied with their experience in using a public service were at least 9 times more likely to express trust in the government7. Therefore, encountering a seamless and satisfactory experience showcases a commitment to addressing citizens’ concerns; heightening mutual respect and fostering a positive relationship between the government and its constituents. The findings underscore that enhancing customer experience is not just about improving service quality, it also plays a pivotal role in fostering a trusting and collaborative society.
Secondly, if customers are unsatisfied with a service, they are 2 times more likely to call back over three times to follow up on questions or request additional support8. This places additional strain on budget and time, greatly impacting internal organisational processes and efficiency.
Furthermore, a customer-focused culture enables higher employee engagement, resulting in a 50% increase in organizational health9. Setting clear strategic objectives for employees in alignment with the broader government CX mission establishes a framework for performance and goal setting, boosting morale and engagement. A steadfast focus on customer experience; therefore, not only benefits citizens and governments but also fortifies the organization in multiple areas.
Thus, CX enhances citizen perceptions of government competence, raises pride and optimism in one’s country, and supports the attainment of developmental goals. However, the value of focusing on CX does not end at the customer interaction and the outcomes at each touchpoint. A good government CX practice also pays attention to the back end of services and employee experience while delivering the services, generating several domains of impact.
Government Customer Experience in Practice:
Numerous approaches have been developed for modelling theoretical understandings of Government CX in the most effective manner. Experiences are co-created through the bidirectional interaction between the government machinery (e.g., products, services, processes, policies) and the customer who encounters these operations with personal needs and expectations. These encounters create value for both the organisation and the customer10.
The experience component in CX; however, is perceived solely from the perspective of the customer. It is therefore inherently personal and often experienced through emotions (e.g., happiness, surprise, frustration, sadness, anger). The gains customers obtain from this experience is largely dependent on their perceived benefit from their interaction with a government and how well their requirements in the form of needs and expectations have been met.
Practices can therefore be measured using two different, yet complementary approaches: operational and perception measurements. The former refers to an assessment of the organizational internal CX capabilities and the success of its programs, initiatives, and policies that are designed and cultivated to elevate its CX maturity. Successful performance on operational measures does not, however, guarantee success in the perception measures unless they were designed to meet customers’ needs and expectations.
The latter encompasses the customer’s opinion and personal judgement of their experience, including measures such as satisfaction, exerted effort, and trust11.
An understanding of this process has led to the development of various frameworks and tools for the design, assessment, and enhancement of CX. This has included practices such as creating “servicescapes”, customer journey mapping, service walk-through audits, and customer experience analysis12,13,14,15. More recent practices have involved the development of functional frameworks to guide the design and implementation of Government CX practices.
Government CX Management Model:
Governments today face contradicting challenges, which complicate the enhancement of service delivery. On one hand, the importance of CX has gained increasing recognition for its central role in people’s lives. Whether it be in the sectors of education, healthcare, or transportation, governments play a pivotal role in delivering services or orchestrating their delivery through regulation and policy making. By significantly contributing to key life events such as getting married, starting a family, and caring for a loved one, government machinery contributes heavily to unleashing the potential of societies, cities, and entire countries.
On the other hand, the government increasingly faces bureaucratic, structural, and financial barriers. This makes reinventing services and unlocking their potential quite uneasy and unintuitive, causing the public sector to fall short of citizens’ expectations.
Despite these challenges, there is strong reason for optimism as governments are taking leaps in their efforts to advance and serve citizens. The use of technology has become more common and other sectors such as the private sector have tested, refined, and improved numerous concepts and tools that the public sector can leverage. There is also a growing body of CX knowledge to utilise and increasing documentation of leading practices.
The International Foundation for Customer Experience in Government has engaged in an extensive exercise to study CX with respect to the public sector. The journey began with an exploration of insights from the private sector and academic literature spanning the last 15 years. This was enhanced through conversations with CX professionals, service designers, technologists, public servants, and influential leaders from various governments, including NSW, the UK, Estonia, Denmark, Singapore, the USA, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Libya, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
The initiative was supplemented by delving into global CX strategies and examining a substantial 80 strategies and frameworks from over 20 different countries. This wealth of findings underwent a rigorous review by an international team of experts, ensuring all conclusions are validated. As a result of this exercise, the first draft of the International Model for Customer Experience in Government – also known as The 4D’s Framework was shared with a consortium of academics for final review before its publishing in mid-2020.
While researching an array of practices encompassing over a hundred government agencies, a clear realization emerged: the attainment of lasting CX outcomes within government bodies necessitates a dedicated investment in establishing a comprehensive and systemic institutional CX approach that runs systemically and holistically. The findings underscored the prevalence of service transformation efforts across nearly all government entities.
However, the pivotal distinction between CX pioneers and those lagging behind lies in the sustained momentum of CX transformation over the long term—irrespective of shifts in leadership or instances of team fatigue. Sustainable results depend on the degree to which CX efforts are institutionally integrated. The following model developed by the International Foundation for Customer Experience in Government; therefore, focuses on 4 dimensions to ensure that CX activities adhere to the above conditions for success.
The 4D’s Framework is underpinned by the philosophy that CX must become everyone’s responsibility by impacting the entire value chain from Direction, Design, Development, to Delivery.
The 4D’s Framework captures the entire end-to-end cycle of Customer Experience Management in governments as four dimensions or groups of practices.
The first dimension, Direction, guides entities through the process of assigning their CX leadership, identifying CX priorities and formulating a CX action plan based on a thorough understanding of their as-is state, and the intended CX aspiration point. This dimension has an institutional outlook and helps create a contextual understanding of where the entity stands today and where it wants to be in the future by considering its strategic context, agenda of priorities, available capabilities, and future action plan.
The Direction dimension is divided into three sub-dimensions, including:
Next is the Design dimension, which focuses on realizing the aims defined in Direction by taking the entity through the step-by-step design process required for effectively addressing top priorities. The design dimension is divided into four sub-dimensions, including:
Service designs are further addressed in the Development dimension which guide the implementation of a human- centred approach to the actual process of building a service solution.
The development dimension is detailed through five sub-dimensions, including:
Finally, the Delivery dimension delineates the internal and external requirements for the successful execution of customer-facing services.
It is detailed through three sub-dimensions, including:
In the next article, we’ll dive deep into the trends of practice in government customer experience. You won’t want to miss it!
1 Pine II, B. Joseph, and James H. Gilmore. “Welcome to the Experience Economy.” Harvard Business Review, 1998, 97–105. https://hbr.org/1998/07/welcome-to-the-experience-economy.
2 Liljander, Veronica, and Tore Strandvik. “Emotions in Service Satisfaction.” International Journal of Service Industry Management 8, no. 2 (1997): 148–60. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564239710166272.
3 Mascarenhas, Oswald A., Ram Kesavan, and Michael Bernacchi. “Lasting Customer Loyalty: A Total Customer Experience Approach.” Journal of Consumer Marketing 23, no. 7 (2006): 387–405. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760610712939.
4 Dumitrescu, Luigi, Oana Stanciu, Mihai Țichindelean, and Simona Vinerean. “The Importance of Establishing Customer Experiences.” Studies in Business and Economics 7 (2011): 56–61. https://magazines.ulbsibiu.ro/eccsf/articole/vol71/716dumitrescu&stanciu&tichindelean&vinerean.pdf.
5 Pullman, Madeleine E., and Michael A. Gross. “Ability of Experience Design Elements to Elicit Emotions and Loyalty Behaviors.” Decision Sciences 35, no. 3 (2004): 551–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0011-7315.2004.02611.x.
6 D’Emidio, Tony, Sarah Greenberg, Kevin Heidenreich, Julia Klier, Jonah Wagner, and Thomas Weber. “The Global Case for Customer Experience in Government.” McKinsey & Company, September 10, 2019. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Public%20and%20Social%20Sector/Our%20Insights/The%20global%20case%20for%20customer%20experience%20in%20government/The-global-case-for-customer-experience-in-government-vF.pdf.
7 Ibid Pine II, B. Joseph, and James H. Gilmore. “Welcome to the Experience Economy.” Harvard Business Review, 1998, 97–105. https://hbr.org/1998/07/welcome-to-the-experience-economy.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Johnston, Robert, and Xiangyu Kong. “The Customer Experience: A Roadmap for Improvement.” Managing Service Quality: An International Journal 21, no. 1 (2011): 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604521111100225.
11 Abu Al Haj, Sarah. “The Holistic View of CX Measurement.” International Foundation, July 28, 2023. https://govcx.org/the-holistic-view-of-cx-measurement/.
12 Bitner, M. Jan, and Robert A. Hubbert. (1994). “Encounter Satisfaction Versus Overall Satisfaction Versus Service Quality: The Consumers’ Voice,” in Rust, Roland T., and Richard L. Oliver, (eds), Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, USA, 72-94.
13 Zomerdijk, Leonieke G., and Christopher A. Voss. “Service Design for Experience-Centric Services.” Journal of Service Research 13, no. 1 (2010): 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670509351960.
14 Fitzsimmons, James A., and Mona J. Fitzsimmons. Servicemanagement for Competitive Advantage. New York: McGraw Hill, 1994.
15 Johnston, Robert, and Graham Clark. Service Operations Management. 3rd ed. Pearson, 2008.