The American people deserve a Government that is responsive to their needs. Whether they call the IRS for an answer to a tax question or visit a Social Security Administration office to adjust their benefits, they should expect high-quality interactions with the Federal Government. Yet despite some important strides to improve customer service during the past fifteen years, customer expectations continue to rise. The Federal Government must keep pace with the public’s expectations and transform its customer services – soliciting regular customer feedback, streamlining processes, and delivering consistent service across customer channels.

To that end, the President issued an Executive Order requiring each agency to develop a customer service plan that identified implementation steps for their customer service activities, including a "signature initiative" that uses technology to improve the customer experience. These plans also prepared agencies to integrate specific customer service goals into annual agency performance plans and reports. Agencies posted the plans on their Open Government websites in October 2011, and they continue to implement enhancements to streamline and improve service delivery.

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Thanks to a joint effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, veterans and Medicare recipients can click a simple “blue button” and download or print their personal health records so they have them when they need them and can share them with their doctors. Learn More

Putting More Citizen Services Online

Too often, the conveniences Americans expect in their daily lives are not available when they interact with the Government. To improve service and reduce costs, the Federal Government must adopt faster, more convenient ways of interacting with the public. Several services are leading the way, including: allowing applicants for citizenship to check their status online; simplifying the student aid process so applicants can pre-populate the online application with IRS data; and creating one electronic health record for members of the military to use as they move out of the Armed Forces and into veteran status.

Adopting Customer Service Best Practices

Private sector organizations regularly monitor customer satisfaction and improve service delivery to stay competitive. Customers demand new ways to access products, services, and support; innovative companies anticipate these demands and improve their customer-facing operations accordingly. From online check-in for a flight to instant messaging with a sales representative about a product, many methods that improve customer service also lower costs. New advancements can deliver products and services both more efficiently and more effectively. With many private sector models, the Federal Government can foster new ideas and leverage technology and innovation to improve customer service delivery.

Agency Customer Service Plans

In response to the President’s Executive Order, agencies developed plans on how to improve customer service in the future, including "signature initiatives" that leverage technology to improve the customer experience. Click on the links below to view individual Agency Customer Service Plans:

 
Department of Agriculture  Department of Transportation
Department of Defense  Department of the Treasury
Department of Commerce Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Education General Services Administration
Department of Energy National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Department of Health and Human Services Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Department of Homeland Security Office of Personnel Management
Department of Housing and Urban Development Small Business Administration
Department of the Interior Social Security Administration
Department of Labor Department of Veterans Affairs
Department of State U.S Agency for International Development