Online
Customer Service Policy

Background

The Department of Commerce is committed to providing superior customer service by delivering accurate, relevant and usable information that responds to the needs of its customers.  As Commerce’s digital presence continues to expand and evolve, so does the need for the Department to reach out to its audiences and to actively listen to and incorporate customer feedback as part of the agency’s continuous efforts to improve overall service delivery.   Developing strategies for measuring satisfaction and performance through customer feedback is critical to ensuring that the Department’s digital services remain relevant and that improvements to Commerce’s digital presence are driven by improvements to the customer experience.
This policy conforms to and implements the following:

Policy

All public-facing Commerce Websites shall identify their audience and analyze qualitative and quantitative data about their customers, establish service standards against mission critical goals, track performance against those standards and benchmark customer service performance in order to improve the customer experience.

Scope

This policy applies to all public Commerce Websites.

Purpose

This policy is designed to ensure that all public Commerce Websites and digital services measure customer satisfaction, respond to the needs of their customers, and adapt to improve the delivery of those services based on customer feedback.
All operating units must provide performance and customer satisfaction measurement data to the Department’s Chief Information Officer as needed. For additional information on recommended tools and resources for measuring performance and customer satisfaction on federal Websites, see the Guidance and Resources sections.

Effective Date

January 22, 2013                                                                                                                                                

Guidance/Discussion

The Department of Commerce uses the Internet to share valuable content and resources with its customers.  In order to ensure that the Department’s digital presence continues to be of value, it is critical that Commerce Web services measure customer satisfaction by listening to the needs of their customers and adapt accordingly. Furthermore, the Digital Government Strategy requires agencies to implement common performance and customer satisfaction metrics for all federal executive branch .gov Websites.  In order to comply with Digital Government Strategy requirements, all federal executive branch agencies must measure performance and satisfaction internally as well as implement a federal-wide tool that will provide critical data and increased transparency to help improve online services across the federal government. 

To help agencies establish a minimum baseline set of performance and customer satisfaction measures, the General Services Administration (GSA) has defined a set of required common metrics that provides agencies with a consistent means of collecting data.  In-depth guidance on measuring online performance and customer satisfaction using these metrics is available through GSA’s Digital Analytics Program, a hosted shared service provided by the Digital Services Innovation Center (DSIC) that offers advanced, easy Web analytics to federal agencies.  The Digital Analytics Program has also made available a government-wide analytics tool for federal agencies.  This Google Analytics (GA) Premium custom solution is a user-friendly tool that will provide a federal-wide view of .gov Websites and work seamlessly with other GA code already in place on federal Websites.

GSA also provides excellent guidance and Best Practices for Government Websites on how to implement customer satisfaction measuring tools as well as on management and governance, content and usability, design and accessibility, and improving and evaluating your site.  All Commerce sites can benefit from following these best practices to improve service delivery.  In addition, all Commerce sites should adhere to the Department’s Web Policies.  

While gauging customer satisfaction, all Commerce Websites must also comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to ensure that information collected from the public minimizes burden and maximizes public utility.  Before collecting information from the public, Commerce operating units must obtain Departmental and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for the use of information collecting tools, such as forms, general questionnaires, surveys, instructions and other types of collections. In order to simplify this process, OMB worked with agencies to create the Generic Fast Track Clearance Request, which allows a generic clearance for some information collections related to customer service delivery. Additional information on this process and the required clearance forms can be found on the Paperwork Reduction & Information Collection section of the OCIO Website.

In order to improve the customer experience, Commerce Websites can also use analytic tools to track Website visitors through the use of either session or persistent cookies. For additional guidance on the use of cookies, please see the Commerce Web Measurement and Customization Technologies policy.  All operating units must address their use of cookies in their privacy policies. 

Additionally, when using social media or Web 2.0 services to interact with customers and/or collect customer information, all Commerce employees must adhere to the Department’s Social Media and Web 2.0 and Privacy policies.

Resources

GSA - Digital Analytics Program
GSA - Digital Metrics for Federal Agencies (Digital Metrics Toolkit)
GSA - Customer Service in Government
GSA - How to Collect Customer Feedback
GSA - Customer Experience Model
Usability.gov - Analyze the Effectiveness of Your Website

Commerce Contacts for Additional Information

    • Mike Kruger, Director of Digital Strategy, Office of Public Affairs, (202-482-2556 or mkruger@doc.gov)
    • Linel Soto, Office of IT Policy and Planning, OCIO (202-482-4990 or lsoto@doc.gov)
    • Jennifer Jessup, Office of IT Policy and Planning, OCIO (202-482-0336 or jjessup@doc.gov)

Department of Commerce Web Advisory Council (WAC)
U.S. Department of Commerce

Send questions and comments about this page to WAC@doc.gov
Page last updated January 31, 2013