The establishment of a new Customer Service and Administration Section is enabling Bega Valley Shire Council to provide a more consistent approach in its dealings with customers according to section manager Kylee Cowgill.
The section was established in early 2004 as part of Council’s Corporate and Community Services Department to meet the organisation’s growing customer service and administration needs.
Ms Cowgill said the section was enabling Council to provide a consistent approach across its administration centre in Bega and branch offices in Bermagui, Merimbula and Eden.She said this had been achieved through the development of standardised documentation and procedures.
Rotation of staff within the section was helping to ensure a diversity of knowledge and at the same time was reducing the need to employ temporary staff at significant cost to Council.
“An additional advantage has been that staff have become more focused and professional in their approach and service to Council’s customers,” Ms Cowgill said.
Counter staff are now able to deal with a range of different enquiries relating to everything from rates to development applications, while all telephone enquiries now go through a central call centre. Call centre staff are dealing with 50 per cent of telephone enquiries without the need to transfer the caller to another Council officer.
She said a new corporate promotions unit had been established to ensure a Council presence at major events such as fairs and festivals, with a tent, flags and special uniforms purchased for such a purpose.
Council’s internal newsletter has been reborn with a new name and a fresh new look while it’s first external newsletter, Community Matters, was distributed late last year. The newsletter – another way of keeping Bega Valley Shire residents informed and up to date on issues affecting them – will be produced biannually and delivered to every household by mail.
In addition, staff are currently finalising a set of information sheets to assist customers in areas such as energy efficiency and inspection requirements. These will be available from Council offices and over the Internet.
Ms Cowgill said feedback to the new section from Council staff and from the wider community had been extremely positive. It has also attracted the attention of other Local Governments, with one NSW Council already having used it as a model on which to base their own customer service restructure.
