We’ excite to launch the all-organisation framework to provide guidance to our people to align our customer interactions with best practice. By providing structure for our organisation when managing customer interactions, this allows Council to be transparent in the way we will deliver this.

Having an aligned framework with our customers has a direct influence on the level of trust and knowledge of what they can expect from us. This increases confidence in customer perceptions and builds awareness with the community about the services and activities Council provides. A higher level of satisfaction results in less complaints.

Within the framework development, a cross-organisational project team has provided a pivotal role in ensuring the objectives are achievable for all our staff, and we underpin this with our Waipā Values and Pou Tataki.

A key part of the success of the implementation is the adoption of the Customer Charter that defines what we expect from our customers, what we expect from them and the expectations of working together.

What we aim for excellence in all that we do:

• Ensure we have a high-quality consistent customer experience across the organisation.
• Raise the level of trust and confidence within our community for the services and activities Council provide
• Empower everyone to work on behalf of the customer
• Raise transparency of a customer request journey - record of how all queries were dealt with
• Get it right the first time.

• Waipā District Council is recognised as having a people first culture.
• The delivery of our customer experience aligns with our organisation values and the Pou Tātaki organisational charter.
• Our customer interactions are people focused.
• We demonstrate consistency in how we interact with our customers.
• People talk positively about their experience with Council.
• We keep ourselves safe and well when interacting with customers as we align with our Customer Charter and Code of Conduct.

• Reduced complaints and escalations to the Mayor, Chief Executive and Executive members
• Timely action and closure of customer requests
• An increase in community perception and compliments
• Better understanding and resolution of customer pain points.

Training support for our customer experience framework and how we support customers. Customer feedback – we’ll be surveying to see how we are achieving this and reporting on this.

Why is customer experience important?

Improved customer satisfaction: By managing requests effectively and resolving issues quickly, we can enhance our reputation and build trust with customers, resulting in higher satisfaction levels.

Increased efficiency: By managing requests effectively and resolving issues quickly, we can enhance our reputation and build trust with customers, resulting in higher satisfaction levels.

Better communication: It enables a central point for customer communication, ensuring that responses are consistent, accurate, and personalized.

Data-driven insights: Customer requests systems collect valuable data on customer interactions and request trends, helping us identify recurring issues, areas for improvement, and opportunities.

Our values and Pou Tātaki

The customer experience framework aligns with Council's values and Pou Tātaki, our organisational charter.

Pou Tātaki and Our Values help guide our strategic and operational decision-making and set clear standards for how we represent our Council and interact with each other, our community and customers.