Customer services standards

Approach to channels

Customer service is not the responsibility of one department. Every member of staff in every service has a responsibility to provide quality customer service.

All staff across the council should adhere to the following customer contact standards:

Digital and online

  • Provide up to date information on council services.
  • Provide access to online services that are easy to find, simple to use and only ask for information we need.
  • Be clear about delivery timescales and next steps.
  • Keep the customer updated with progress.

Telephone

  • To ensure all telephone calls are answered within the council’s working hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and are not diverted to messaging services.
  • To provide a responsive telephone service during office hours and always call back customers within the agreed timeframe if required.

Social media

  • To respond to social media enquiries in a timely way (within 60 minutes) during office hours.

Email

  • To acknowledge all email enquiries in a timely way ensuring all emails have an automatic bounce back outlining when a customer can expect a response.


Written correspondence and complaints

  • To respond to all letters within 10 working days.  If we are unable to respond to enquiries in this time, we will tell them who is dealing with the enquiry and when they can expect a response.
  • To acknowledge complaints within four working days and provide a full response within 20 working days.

Face to face

  • Provide a face to face service to customers who need it
  • See customers within an average of 10 minutes of arriving at the customer service centre