08.10.13
Demand management can improve access and cut costs – Socitm
Local authorities must use demand management to reduce “unnecessary” enquiries and pressure on services, Socitm has advised.
A new briefing, ‘Demand management: the key to reducing costs?’, focuses on customer access and highlights how investment in self-service and digital channels could save money.
Extending demand management to include activities that anticipate future demand for services could help to identify and prevent contacts caused by poor service design, process and communications failures, or for services the organisation does not actually deliver.
Better demand management will depend on adequate data and access to data, the briefing states.
Martin Greenwood, Socitm’s Insight programme manager, said: “Our work with councils leading in the areas of customer access, channel shift and digital working show that routine data capture and reporting is still work in progress.
“However, developing a comprehensive corporate baseline of data – about customers and the way they consume services – is an essential first step for managing demand and shifting to a lower cost ‘digital first’ approach.”
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