Article 6 of 8
Economy

Customer Satisfaction:
Survey Measures Satisfaction With Federal Services
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Most Government Agencies Say
They Have Set Initiatives
To Please Their `Customers'
By Sarah Lueck
 
12/13/1999
The Wall Street Journal
Page A2
(Copyright (c) 1999, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration's six-year effort to "reinvent government hasn't yet turned most citizens into satisfied customers, although some perceive that government services are improving.

That insight is based on the latest reading of the American Customer Satisfaction Index , a survey conducted by the University of Michigan Business School in partnership with the American Society for Quality and Arthur Andersen Consulting.

Since 1994, the ACSI has produced quarterly surveys that measure how consumers feel about the products and services they purchase from U.S. businesses. But this year, a survey was added to measure how citizens rate federal-government services.

The results, which are scheduled for release today, give Uncle Sam an overall ACSI score of 68.6 out of a possible 100. But there was disparity among the 30 federal agencies measured. Health and Human Services' Administration for Families and Children (which runs Head Start, the early-childhood-development program) posted a strong 87 score, while the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which enforces federal workplace guidelines at large companies, had one of the lowest at 51.

The Internal Revenue Service -- generally considered the agency that citizens love to hate -- actually had a mixed score. Traditional tax filers gave the agency a 51 and electronic filers gave the agency a 74.

When compared with the private sector, the federal scores were generally lower, but not substantially so. The ACSI for the private sector averaged 73, and ranged from 53 for Northwest Airlines -- which angered customers after it left passengers stranded for hours in January due to a snowstorm -- to a high of 86 for luxury-car maker BMW of North America, a unit of BMW Group. Northwest said it was unfamiliar with the survey. The scores for private companies were released in previous surveys.

Claes Fornell, the professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who designed the index, says the public and private sectors have a long way to go before they can achieve overall high levels of customer satisfaction. In the past year, he notes, corporate scores have fallen.

"We have seen a cost-cutting push in the private sector, Mr. Fornell said. "As you do that, certainly in the labor-intensive parts of the service sector, it is very difficult to keep up the quality.

Meanwhile, the government agencies appear to be doing a little better than expected. "Expectations were often lower than the perceived quality of the service, said Barbara Everitt Bryant, managing director of the ACSI. "It's almost as if people were pleasantly surprised by what they got from the government.

Indeed, when those surveyed were asked whether service provided by a given federal agency had improved in the last two years, 60% said it had.

Customer satisfaction has become a catchphrase in the halls of government since Vice President Al Gore launched a task force in 1993 to oversee his reinventing-government initiative. To chart the government's progress, the President's Management Council, a group made up of the chief operating officers in each agency, funded the collection of the ASCI data.

"Our goal is to get up to the private sector, at least, said Morley Winograd, director of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government and senior policy adviser for Mr. Gore. The group aims for an overall score of 72 next year, putting the government within striking distance of private-sector companies.

To come up with the ACSI ratings, researchers questioned people who used each agency's services. They were asked about perceived quality, expectations, satisfaction and complaints. In presenting the scores, researchers grouped the agencies by type -- those providing services, for example.

Some researchers chalk up the gap between scores for the public and private sectors to differences in their missions, especially in the case of the IRS. "They are selling something no one wants and they are a monopoly, Mr. Fornell says. "That makes it very difficult to score high.

Overall, enforcement agencies and regulators got the lowest scores. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's score may be attributed to the segment it surveyed -- safety and health staff at large companies that have been inspected and in some cases reprimanded.

Nevertheless, the agency plans to improve its responsiveness, one of the main complaints in the survey, said Charles Jeffress, assistant labor secretary. "We're tough in our enforcement stance and sometimes people aren't going to be happy with us, he said. "But sometimes OSHA takes a while to review its positions before answering inquiries.

Sharon Cranford, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Enrolled Agents, Gaithersburg, Md., an organization for licensed tax professionals, said she was "stunned by the low IRS score. Since Senate hearings in 1998 exposed accounts of improper raids of businesses and homes and other IRS abuses, the atmosphere has changed, she says. Her membership reports a more-pleasant attitude at the IRS, reduced time waiting on the phone and fewer mistakes.

But confusing tax forms and delays in obtaining refunds irk taxpayers. "Taxpayers struggle with getting tax returns prepared correctly the first time, IRS Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti said. "We can't solve the problem of complicated tax codes, but we can offer support to help them get through that process.

A hotline for questions, periodic open houses for people with problems and frequent surveys have been part of the IRS effort to improve, Mr. Rossotti said.

As evidence that recent improvement efforts are working, IRS officials pointed to the 74 score from electronic filers. Only one-quarter of all tax filers used the electronic method and most of them did so through accountants who are familiar with tax laws. Nevertheless, they reported being very satisfied, especially because refund times are generally cut in half.

Government agencies that scored high tended to provide helpful services or benefits. That includes the top-scoring Administration for Families and Children and its Head Start program, which parents ranked high because they like the quality of care and education the program provides. Mr. Fornell says some of the positive sentiment about Head Start, which serves low-income families, is attributed to the fact that the program is free for most families.

The Social Security Administration scored 82 among people who began receiving retirement benefits in the year ended March 1999, the same score that PepsiCo Inc., Purchase, N.Y., received in an earlier survey. And coin collectors gave the U.S. Mint an 86, the same rating consumers gave Hershey Foods Corp., Hershey, Pa., in an earlier survey.

Researchers said the Social Security Administration received high marks for timely receipt of benefits and courteous customer service, and coin collectors believe they get reasonable prices for products that have a high perceived value.

The Veterans Benefits Administration was rated by people whose claims were accepted and by those who were rejected. Veterans who filed for benefits reported having difficulty gaining access to the agency and finding out the status of their claims. The agency tied at 61 with McDonald's Corp., Oak Brook, Ill., which had the lowest score among fast-food restaurants in a previous survey. Nora Egan, the deputy undersecretary for management at the Veterans Benefits Administration, said the agency is changing to be more customer-friendly.

The score for the Federal Aviation Administration was 58. While the commercial pilots surveyed gave the agency high marks for safety and certification procedures, they said the language in regulatory literature should be made more simple, FAA administrator Jane Garvey said. She said rules written in clearer language will be issued as soon as this week.

Some agencies were afraid of what a public survey would do to their image, said Philip Diehl, director of the U.S. Mint and chairman of the Committee on Excellence for the Customer Satisfaction Initiative. But in the end, it will probably do them good, he said. "So many government agencies have no idea how their performance ranks with any outside measurement, Mr. Diehl said. "This is a wake-up call. Embarrassment can be a very powerful force for change.

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           American   Customer   Satisfaction   Index :
                     The Government

  The National Quality Research Center annually surveys customers of
175 companies and 30 government agencies, but each quarter only a
selected group is updated. Here are the index scores, out of a
possible 100, for government agencies that provide consumer and
business services.

                                                   1999
Group/Manufacturer                                 Score

AGENCY/DEPARTMENT
Overall Federal Government Score                    68.6

FAMILY SERVICES                                       80

Administration for Families & Children, HHS           87
Food and Nutrition Service, Agriculture               83
Department of Housing & Urban Develop.                69

CLAIMS, BENEFITS, PAYMENTS                            77

Social Security Administration                        82
Veterans Health Administration, VA                    79
Office of Personnel Management                        75
Health Care Financing Administration, HHS             71
Veterans Benefits Administration, VA                  61

PUBLIC INFORMATION                                    75

Education Publications, Education                     80
National Aeronautics & Space Admin.                   80
General Services Administration                       77
Bureau of the Census, Commerce                        70
Environmental Protection Agency                       69

RECREATIONAL SERVICES                                 72

National Park Service, Interior                       73
National Forest Service, Agriculture                  70
Bureau of Land Management, Interior                   64
Patents, grants & assist.                             71
U.S. Mint, Treasury                                   86
Federal Emergency Management Agency                   73
Student Financial Assistance, Education               63
National Science Foundation                           57
Patent & Trademark Office, Commerce                   57

TRAVEL SERVICES                                       68

Consular Affairs, State                               73
Immigration & Naturalization Svce, Justice            69
Customs Service, Treasury                             66

FOOD SAFETY                                           63

Food & Drug Administration, HHS                       66
Food Safety & Inspection Svce, Agriculture            62

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE                              57
IRS (electronic filers)                               74
IRS (traditional filers)                              51

REGULATORY SERVICES                                   55

Federal Aviation Admin., Transportation               58
Occupational Safety & Health Admin., Labor            51

  Source: The  American   Customer   Satisfaction   Index  is produced through
a partnership of the University of Michigan Business School, American
Society for Quality, and Arthur Andersen.