Enhancing Customer Relationships
Aim
To understand and address our customer and stakeholder needs by creating a consistent and centralised approach to communication across the organisation.
Approach
- Working with our customers to understand what they need and value
- Ensuring consistent communications
- Seeking to improve our customers’ experience
- Demonstrating a proactive, whole of government approach to transport outcomes.
Key Performance Indicators
| Target | Actual | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % Overall satisfaction with our performance | 90 | 91 |  |
| % Customer Charter Index | 90 | 99 | |
| % Customer Centre enquiries resolved at first point of contact | 80 | 86 | |
Key Achievements
- Winner of the Customer Contact Centre Award (Under 30FTE) in the Auscontact Association National Awards.
- Increase of Facebook following to over 26,000.
- Improved access to information on key projects.
- Improved access and information sharing through the use of images and alternative text on our Twitter accounts.
- Continued high results in our Community Perception Survey.
- Introduced self-service function at the Customer Information Centre.
Introduction
Our goal is to provide consistent communications and services of value to our customers by understanding their needs. We strive, through profiling and segmenting, to understand how our customers use the network and what their information requirements are. Our new strategic customer research and analysis area improves data management ensuring customer-centred solutions for operational and strategic decisions. During the next 12 months we will be defining our customer segments and what each segment values in terms of transport outcomes. We will then be reviewing our information sources and channels with the aim of developing a revised customer engagement strategy.
How we stay on track and accountable
Customer Service Charter and Index
Our Customer Service Charter sets out our commitments to all Western Australian road users. It outlines minimum levels of service we provide and how we will work with members of the community to provide world class outcomes through a safe, reliable and sustainable road-based transport system. The Customer Charter Index measures how we are performing against our commitments and will be reviewed during the coming year to further meet customer needs. We track our performance against our standards each month and report publicly on these measures quarterly. This year’s overall result is 99 per cent.
Community Perception Survey
Our Community Perception Survey conducted annually since 1994 gives us customer focused information on how the community perceives our overall performance and our performance in the areas of safety, maintenance and the provision of cycleways and pedestrian facilities. Our target for each measure is 90 per cent. This year’s results range from 83 to 91 per cent, and are shown in the table along with previous three year’s results.
| Satisfaction with: | 2014 (%) | 2015 (%) | 2016 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our overall performance | 94 | 96 | 91 |
| Road safety | 95 | 94 | 91 |
| Provision of cycle ways & pedestrian facilities | 85 | 76 | 83 |
| Road maintenance | 90 | 95 | 88 |
Congestion and demand for real time journey planning information remains a high priority in 2016.
Key Achievements
Customer Information Centre
We provide a 24 hour 365 days a year service through the Customer Information Centre (CIC). The CIC plays an important role in state-wide incident response and management providing timely and accurate information to the public. Our front-line customer service area is also an important information source for road network activity. Introducing self-service options on the phone continues to improve services for customers. While call volumes continue to increase, our reach to the community also continues to grow through our social media channels and online services. Refining the channels we use to engage our customers continues to be a priority
In September our CIC team won the National Customer Contact Centre Award (Under 30 FTE) in the Auscontact Association National Awards 2015. This award recognises the efforts of the CIC through measuring areas such as customer experience, value to the business, training and coaching, centre performance, staff engagement and systems used in the centre. This is the first time our CIC centre has won this award.
| Customer Contact Statistics | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telephone calls | 117,105 | 119,400 | 124,664 |
| No of calls self-serviced * | 22,817 | ||
| Email enquiries | 21,118 | 21,270 | 21,046 |
| %Customer Centre resolving of enquiries at first point of contact | 84 | 91 | 86 |
*Introduced mid 2015 first year full reporting is 2016
Customer Feedback
We value customer feedback and regularly report on and investigate trends and issues, to provide insights in helping to improve our business areas. We continue to see a large increase in the number of customer requests and a growing but smaller increase in complaints.
| Feedback Type | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complaint | 2,912 | 3,232 | 4,247 |
| Customer request | 1,712 | 3,450 | 6,349 |
| Compliment | 273 | 254 | 242 |
| Business improvement | 38 | 47 | 57 |
| Total | 4,935 | 6,983 | 10,895 |
The top areas for complaint in 2016 were:
- traffic signals
- construction and projects
- safety issues
- speed zones
- website.
For more information on our Complaints Handling Process, please refer to our Governance section.
Journey Planning
When we asked our customers what their primary source of information is for journey planning as part of this year’s Community Perception Survey they told us:
Incident Management
Managing incidents is a key function we play in providing a safe and efficient road network for our customers. Our Crisis Management Team is activated during incidents and emergencies to:
- provide traffic management at vehicle control points established by police, including closures and detours
- manage resources to rotate and relieve crews at the vehicle control checkpoints
- manage maintenance works to restore access and reinstate signs and guideposts damaged during an event
- communicate closures, detours and other crucial journey planning information to customers and stakeholders.
Traffic incidents and unwanted debris on the road network can cause congestion at any part of the day. As Perth continues to grow so too does the demand on existing emergency services to aid in the management of these incidents. Our Incident Response Service provides quick clearance solutions to help keep traffic moving by safely reinstating roads back to normal conditions as quickly as possible after an incident
Our operating hours, coverage areas, and vehicle types will all be considered as part of our expansion of the Incident Response Service. In addition to the management of incidents in the metropolitan area the following is a summary of incidents from across the whole of the State over the last 12 months that we managed as part of the safe and efficient operation of the road network.
| Goldfields Esperance | Great Southern | Kimberley | Metro | Mid West Gascoyne | Pilbara | South West | Wheatbelt | Grand Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road Crash | 13 | 32 | 6 | 1,376 | 29 | 18 | 69 | 48 | 1,591 |
| Debris / Trees / Lost Loads | 2 | 19 | 1 | 833 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 23 | 921 |
| Break Down / Tow Away | 0 | 5 | 0 | 659 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 687 |
| Bushfire | 2 | 4 | 19 | 38 | 9 | 48 | 15 | 7 | 142 |
| Flooding | 5 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 88 |
| Hazmat (including spills) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 64 |
| Animal / Livestock | 2 | 2 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 48 |
| Vehicle Fire | 0 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 39 |
Social Media
In addition to our regular radio reports and early morning television crosses we also provide travel journey information on a range of digital channels. We continue to support various business areas, such as incident management, and find the best ways to reach our customers. The following is an overview of our existing methods and approaches.
We continue to grow our following for both our Perth Traffic and WA Roads accounts with both used by other agencies and the media for real-time traffic updates. We now use images on Twitter for special event messaging and boosting customer engagement. Twitter continues to be a successful method of notifying road users of incidents or disruptions on the road network.
- Perth Traffic – 47,767 followers
- WA Roads – 10,727 followers
Our Facebook account now provides updates on what we are doing around the State, keeping in touch with the WA community. In the past year our Facebook ‘likes’ increased from 3,106 to 29,301. We attribute this increase to the sharing of road information with a wider audience during significant incidents but also the wide range of topics covered ranging from road information to driving tips and the always popular ‘Throwback Thursday’ photos. During the year, our posts reached 6,675,184 customers.
Highlight: Our South West Bushfire post reached 1,304,342 people
YouTube
YouTube showcases some of our services, network changes and fantastic images of some of our construction projects. Our YouTube subscribers increased by 121 in 2016 and we expect this to continue as we grow our content and continue to promote this service across our other mediums.
Our Instagram account complements our existing suite of digital channels reaching our socially connected WA community. In January, we initiated an Instagram account to widen our communication reach during the Waroona Bushfires. We have 1,121 followers and will continue developing our Instagram engagement with the community.
Looking Ahead
- Review and deploy the Customer Charter and Customer Engagement Strategy.
- Define and agree on customer segments and what they value.
Case Study: Incident Management Plays a Key Role in Safe Customer Access
This year, we have experienced some of the most catastrophic weather conditions seen in decades. Smog, fires and flooding throughout the State have highlighted just how important timely intervention is to restore access and essential services, protect the community and environment and ensure safe and efficient travel for all road users.
Crisis and incident management forms one of our key functions as a vital Essential Service Network Operator for State emergency management. Made up of highly trained organisation leaders and specialists, our Crisis Management Team is activated during incidents and emergencies to:
- provide traffic management at vehicle control points established by police
- manage resources to rotate and relieve crews at the vehicle control checkpoints
- manage maintenance works to restore access and reinstate damaged signs and guideposts
- communicate closures, detours and other crucial journey planning information to customers.
The bushfires that hit the South West in January had a devastating effect on the Shires of Waroona and Harvey and were some of the most catastrophic seen in Western Australia for decades. The South West Region responded directly to the fires and managed traffic for road closures, including a major detour between Perth and Bunbury. The Region’s Incident Management Team was activated for 24/7 operation to support the Waroona Command Centre. Traffic management support was also provided by Metropolitan, Wheatbelt and Great Southern Regions due to the large scale of the fire.
As the fires came under control, the South West crews worked with Department of Parks and Wildlife to clear fire affected trees in danger of falling onto roads and organise repairs to guideposts and traffic signs. They established a side track around Samson Brook Bridge which had collapsed to allow access for traffic along South Western Highway, and within two months the old bridge was replaced with a large concrete culvert. At the Corporate level the Crisis Management Team met twice daily during the fires to provide support where required and ensure a coordinated response and recovery effort.
Regular crisis management meetings, de-briefs and reviews with State and local agencies allow us to share lessons learnt and review processes to ensure continuous improvement. These improvements help us put in place measures that will prevent and mitigate impacts of commonly occurring incidents such as road covering smog that reduces visibility, leading to potentially dangerous driving situations.
All road users, regardless of experience, are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions and major incidents on the road network. When dealing with these incidents and emergencies, our Crisis Management Team consider and balance the road user experience with their responsibility to provide a safe and efficient transport network.
Case Study: Northbridge Tunnel Multi-Agency Emergency Exercise
We work with our stakeholders to minimise the impact of potential major events and incidents in the Northbridge Tunnel.
On Sunday 1 November 2015 between 4.30am and midday we closed the Northbridge Tunnel in order to conduct a multi-agency emergency training exercise. We simulated a three car crash resulting in seven casualties.
One of the vehicles involved was transporting dangerous goods canisters, which began to leak, resulting in additional casualties. As part of the exercise, emergency crews were not aware that the damaged canisters were releasing a toxic gas due to the vehicle not being fitted with dangerous goods placards. The discovery of dangerous goods requires a specific Hazmat response.
Together with 50 of our staff, we worked with Lend Lease (Northbridge Tunnel operator), the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Department of Environmental Regulation, Western Australian Police, St John Ambulance and the Department of Mines and Petroleum in responding to this simulation.
The emergency exercise in the Northbridge Tunnel was a great success and successfully tested the capacity of first responders, emergency crews and government agencies, preparing us for real life incident.
This was the third time that a multi-agency emergency exercise has taken place in the Northbridge Tunnel. These exercises improve how we communicate with our stakeholders and the timeliness of our response to ensure the safety of the public and minimise the resulting impacts on the community in the event of a major incident in the tunnel.