These National Projects will help councils to provide citizens with better access to local government services through the Internet, by SMS, phone, face-to-face and through their TV. It also aims to help local authorities make the most cost-effective use of their staffing and resources. Broadly speaking, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) enables councils to understand, anticipate and manage the current and future
Local government individuality
Understanding that each local council has a diverse range of services and, in turn, has individual priorities and needs from a CRM solution, the CRM National Programme recognises the difficulty in creating a one-size-fits-all product to help local government work through the CRM implementation process. From producing a business case through to developing the software, each council’s priorities need to be accommodated.
The CRM National Programme saw that councils were wasting time and resources by individually undertaking the implementation process and, effectively, reinventing the wheel. To tackle this, the CRM National Programme has produced products, tools and best practice standards, which can be used by local authorities at all stages in their development of CRM solutions.
Twenty-six tools, products and standards have been created by the Programme and have been rigorously tested by more than 80 councils. They have been designed specifically for the public sector and include roadmaps, blueprints, guides and technical specifications to make implementing CRM easy.
The Roadmap – learning by example
One of the key products coming out of the programme is the Integrated e-Government Delivery Roadmap Framework.
The Integrated e-Government (IEG) Roadmap is a consolidated delivery framework, which has been designed around the governance processes and requirements of local authorities. It builds upon the substantial intellectual capital embedded within public sector best practices, such as the OGC’s Managing Successful Programmes, PRINCE 2 and ITIL, including Gateway Reviews; to facilitate touch points between these approaches and, where appropriate, leading private sector methodologies.
In addition, the framework encompasses, Technology Development, Organisational Change Management, Relationship Management, Business Process Re-engineering, Procurement, and Benefits Realisation. It combines these elements in a flexible and modularised way that is descriptive not prescriptive.
The framework facilitates a common vocabulary, structure and the building blocks that allows councils to define the steps, summary level activities, key deliverables, crucial milestones, and critical paths for more consistent, effective and efficient delivery of integrated solutions and organisational change.
Herein lies its real strength, as it allows councils to obtain a clear and concise holistic understanding of what is really happening and not what is thought to be happening. It helps break down complexity into a series of more manageable challenges that can be explicitly understood and thus addressed.
This product has already, before its official launch in March, become a success story.
It enjoys the support of many local authorities across England, including North Lancashire, West Lancashire and North Somerset who have been involved in helping to evaluate the product. The Programme has received requests from more than 45 local authorities wanting to use the product and has generated strong interest from police and fire services and health authorities.
John Pye the Executive Manager Customer Relations at West Lancashire District Council, where they have successfully implemented a CRM solution, says:
"The Roadmap is an invaluable tool for any council planning to implement CRM to streamline its service to its citizens and provide more cost-effective resources internally. We've benefited hugely in terms of customer satisfaction from having implemented CRM, but know that it was a daunting decision to make. I'd recommend the Roadmap to any council, big or small, looking for guidance. It smoothes the way and points you in the right direction. I wish it had been available eighteen months ago when we were starting out.”
Geoff Connell, Deputy Head of ICT at Newham Council, says:
"The CRM Roadmap is an excellent mechanism for visualising the full scope of activities required to implement a CRM system in local government. Had the Roadmap been available when Newham carried out its CRM solution, I'm sure it would have helped us to save time and money throughout the implementation process."
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