Customer surveys in the public sector

Customer surveys for government departments, public authorities, ministries and other public-sector institutions

Ministries, public authorities and government departments – in short, the public sector – naturally want to involve their customers, who in this case are citizens. An online customer survey tool is indispensable for this purpose. One particularly important consideration in the public sector is data protection in customer surveys.

Below, we present an outline framework for conducting customer surveys in the public sector. It was developed by the City of Hamburg. Process model for the City of Hamburg’s use of LamaPoll

Please note that the City of Hamburg example involved a US company that stores your data in the United States of America. The data protection laws there are not compatible with the strict requirements of German law. We recommend that the data protection officer assess any potential customer survey tools.

1. Customer survey planning phase

1. The Ministry of Culture wants to use the LamaPoll survey tool to conduct a customer survey on the topic ‘What do you like about our city or municipality?’ The management team forwards this idea to the press office for assessment and further development.
2. The press office develops the idea into an outline concept that enables the proposed use to be assessed quickly and easily. Questions concerning the following aspects are important:
   • Objectives
   • Participating support units (public authority, ministry, specialist department, etc.)
   • Use of resources
   • Legal framework
3. The support units review the available resources and assist the press office in preparing the outline concept. Where necessary, they name the responsible contacts. The press office’s contact is communicated at the same time.
4. A draft of the outline concept is sent to everyone involved. At a joint meeting, such as a meeting of department heads and, where appropriate, with the involvement of the State Councillor, the affected departments, public authorities and ministries are informed about the proposed measure and invited to participate.
5. The outline concept is submitted to the management team for approval in a memorandum. In addition to a recommendation on the next steps, the memorandum contains an account of the circumstances and the press office’s assessment of implementing the idea using a suitable survey tool.
6. Once the management team has approved it, the memorandum is returned to the press office. The press office initiates the ‘Concept and implementation’ phase and requests support from the public authorities, ministries and specialist departments. The approved memorandum is sent to the relevant units at the same time.

2. Concept and implementation phase

The detailed concept is developed under the leadership of the press office of the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, in consultation with the participating units. Questions concerning the following aspects are key:

Prepare the plan

• Objectives
• Target audience
• Selection of the online software tool for the customer survey
• Editorial concept
• Outreach concept
• Success metrics
• Marketing strategy
• Resources and costs
• Risks
• Training concept
• Legal framework and data protection

Prepare the operating model

• Responsibilities
• Project organisation

The detailed concept is submitted to the management team for approval in a memorandum. In addition to a recommendation on the next steps, the memorandum contains an account of the circumstances and the press office’s assessment of implementing the detailed concept.

The management team reviews the content and either approves it or requests changes.

The press office then implements the detailed concept with support from the participating units. This involves survey-tool-specific steps such as selecting the pricing plan, choosing question and answer types, drafting the questions, defining the answers, selecting participants, and contacting or notifying them.

3. Communication and evaluation phase

1. Participants complete the survey ‘What do I like about our city or municipality?’
2. The press office and the departments, public authorities and ministries receive the survey results and evaluate them against the specified metrics for further use. One significant finding from such a survey in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg was the high level of satisfaction with the expansion of children’s playgrounds in the city centre.
   The evaluation results are presented to the management team in a memorandum. In it, the press office proposes measures for acting on the results, such as continuing to expand leisure activities for children in the city centre.
   The management team receives the memorandum and approves the proposed measures.
3. The departments, public authorities and ministries implement the management team’s instructions in consultation with the press office. The press office publishes a press release on the survey results and the resulting measures.