Page 4 - CARAHSOFT, January/February 2020

Elevating Government Services with Cloud
Transforming
government services
Government customers, employees and partners are the focus of modern service delivery
Casey Coleman
Senior Vice President, Global Government Solutions, Salesforce
For example, one large city in Australia had a dozen ways to lodge a complaint about graffiti. Graffiti on a park bench? Report that to Parks and Recreation. Graffiti on a city bridge? Talk to the Transportation Department. Each one seemed reasonable internally, but you
can imagine the confusion that created externally.
So this city started with its customer, the resident, and broke down departmental silos to consolidate graffiti removal management (and eventually all city services) on Salesforce. Instead of 12 confusing reporting options, the city now has one — as well as happier residents and less graffiti.
Help people do the job well
Employees are customers, too. Giving employees the tools they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences gives them the ability to see the impact of their work instead of just enabling them to check the box. I have seen such trailblazers do this by:
• Connecting frontline employees with contact centers, IT teams and partners in the mission. For example, intake specialists have the ability to log notes, ask questions and monitor results versus manage all that offline, through another team or not at all.
• Integrating legacy IT, third-party
and other systems. This reduces manual processes and repeat logins while increasing visibility and insight.
• Developing applications that help employees address/adapt to new expectations — all in compliance with security requirements.
GOVERNMENT IS FUNDAMENTAL to the latest zeitgeist, the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals that, when achieved, ensure a prosperous future for
all countries — goals that inspire us here at Salesforce because of their strong alignment to our own core values. We value good health and well-being; sustainable cities
and communities; and progressive industry, innovation and infrastructure.
Achieving these values-centric goals requires organizations to (A) treat each citizen as a customer, (B) move from employee enablement to employee empowerment and (C) build strategic partnerships. And though there are significant barriers that make it difficult to meet these objectives, there is reason for optimism.
In the past year, I’ve had the privilege to work with officials in the U.S. and abroad. During my travels, I’ve seen firsthand how teams around the world are achieving these objectives and meeting these goals, and I’ve found that there are three strategic components common across these trailblazers.
Create a ‘coalition of yes’
Government tends to operate inside-out, where programs and services are delivered according to how the bureaucracy is structured versus the customer experience. Organizations that treat citizens as customers operate outside-in, creating an environment where any employee has the tools, structure and visibility needed to turn a “no” into “know” — from “no, that’s not me” to “I know how to help.”
davooda/Shutterstock/FCW Staff
The end result: happier employees, who
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