Customer Questionnaire Summary

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Report on Issue of Customer Questionnaires

Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board

Year 2005

SUMMARY

1. General

The decision to issue customer satisfaction questionnaires was taken as a result of Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board’s commitment to Best Value and creating a customer focus. This is the second report; the first was published in 2003.

This report is a partial extract and summary of the analysis carried out on the returned customer questionnaires. The full report is available at Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board’s public counter, or by contacting Alec Syme on 01292 612511 or Elizabeth Paton on 01292 612516 and will shortly be available on the Website.

In line with the recommendation made in the previous report, the same question format with minor amendments was retained, as it appeared to be acceptable to customers and would allow comparison to be made with future reports.

A further recommendation to extend the customer base to include other customers of the organization resulted in the inclusion of customers who had settled their appeals against their Council Tax Band or Rateable Value, in addition to appeals against entries in the Electoral Register. This resulted in the production of an additional questionnaire based on the existing questionnaire but adapted to meet the specific requirements of this distinct group of customers.

2. Questionnaires were issued to the following:

1. Customers who have telephoned the office.
2. Customers who have visited the office.
3. Customers who have received a visit from a member of staff.
4. Customers who have made contact with the office by letter, E-mail or Fax.
5. Customers who have settled an appeal / proposal.

It was accepted that customers may have had contact by one or more of the above and this is reflected in the results.

The questionnaire was issued on a regular basis over a period of one year i.e. November 2004 to November 2005.

Number of questionnaires issued to the general public	= 469
Number of questionnaires issued to appellants	= 189
Total number of questionnaires issued	= 658
Total number of questionnaires returned	= 203

This gives an overall return of 31% detailed as follows:

Telephone		Counter		Survey		Letter		Appellants
Issued	Returned	Issued	Returned	Issued	Returned	Issued	Returned	Issued	Returned
148	51	20	20	181	34	120	39	189	59
34.4% Return		100% Return		18.8% Return		32.5% Return		31.2% Return

The number of customers who stated which service their contact with the office related to is as follows:

Electoral

Registration

Council

Tax

Valuation for

Non-Domestic Rates

Other

After detailed analysis of the returns, the following conclusions and recommendations were made. A copy of the customer questionnaire is attached (See Appendix …).

3. Conclusion

The level of response to the issue of the customer questionnaires is good, with a return rate of 31%, compared to the return in the last report of 33%.

The rate of return has been consistent from those issued from telephone, letters and appellants, with 33% from these categories. The return from those issued at the counter has been 100%. It was disappointing to note the poor return from surveys at 18.8%.

The good percentage of return overall, would seem to indicate that the format and questions continue to be acceptable to all customers, including the additional targeted group i.e. appellants.

It was encouraging to note that the majority of customers were at least satisfied with the level of service received. However, there has been a slight increase in the number of customers who were dissatisfied with the level of service.

75 out of 203 customers took the opportunity to make comments, the majority of which were of a very positive nature.

A comprehensive list of all comments forms part of the full report.

4. Recommendations

Staff should be made aware of the existence of the report and given the opportunity to read it. In addition, it should be made available to the public and all stakeholders.

Staff should be reminded to identify themselves when answering the telephone.

Staff to be reminded to identify themselves and clearly explain the purpose of their visit.

A supplementary question will be introduced at question 2c, in order that the customer can identify any facilities and information that are unavailable.

Staff should ensure that initial contact is made with customers who have made contact by letter, including those who have lodged invalid Council Tax proposals, if it envisaged that the response would be longer than seven days.

Staff to be reminded that it is important that appellants are given a clear and understandable explanation during appeal discussions. Staff should, in all instances, specify when re-contact will be made.

Question 5c of the appellant’s questionnaire will be supplemented with a question to determine whether the time taken to settle an appeal/proposal was acceptable to customers.

In order to address the poor return from surveys, staff will be asked to explain to customers that the purpose of the customer questionnaire is to improve our level of service; therefore, customer feedback is important.

The wording of questions relating to complaints within the “overall impression” section will be reviewed for the next issue.

It is the intention to extend the customer base further, to include other customers of the Board.

It is recommended that the same question format be retained, as it appears to be acceptable to customers and will allow comparability with future years.

Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board is committed to providing very good customer service and staff will be reminded to endeavour to achieve this.

View / Download the full report.

This page last updated : October 2007