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Customer Experience at USDA

Customer experience defines interactions, determining the level of trust from customers. At USDA, we aim to deliver the best customer experience to earn and maintain the trust of all customers. Customer experience is vital to strengthening our commitment to earning and maintaining the trust of the public and our colleagues. Additionally, improving customer experience is the cornerstone of the new USDA Voice of the Customer Policy.

Creating a Shared Customer Experience Vocabulary
  • Customer Experience (CX): Customer experience means the public’s perceptions of and overall satisfaction with interactions with an agency, product, or service.
    • At USDA, external customer experiences are addressed with sincerity and efficiency to provide the best outcome for everyone.
  • Employee Experience (EX): The way in which employees internalize and interpret the interactions they have with their organization, as well as the context that underlies those interactions.
    • At USDA, internal customer experiences are handled with the same eye for helpfulness for our colleagues as we do any request from an external customer.
  • Customer: Individuals, businesses, and organizations (such as grantees, state and municipal agencies) that interact with a Federal Government agency or program, either directly or via a federal contractor or federally funded program. Federal government customers also include public servants and employees themselves in their interactions with Federal processes.
    • At USDA, Employee Experience is an extension of Customer Experience. Our colleagues throughout the department are our internal customers, and we aim to provide the same level of professionalism and helpfulness as our external customers.
    • Your customers have many names: “partners”, “users”, “stakeholders”, “friends of...”, and more. These terms are important in establishing mutual respect and working relationships with customers. At USDA, we encourage the use of specific terms for specific customers.

Service versus Experience

Consider the last time you were on the receiving end of a customer service call about a bill or product. Was the person (or chatbot) friendly? Were you satisfied with the proposed solution? If a pleasant person provides an unsatisfactory solution, the experience is likely negative. Customer experience considers the full scope of the interaction with the customer from their perspective.

Service refers to a single point of contact with a customer. Examples of service include a phone call, an email, physical mail, or a website interaction. Experience refers to a set of events made up of several points of contact. Examples of experience include finding information and asking questions about a loan program or going through the interview and hiring process.

Customer Experience and Communication

The foundation of customer experience is built on effective communication between USDA and our customers. We view communication as the combination of active listening, adaptability, empathy, and problem-solving to reach effective solutions with customers.

Empathy is understanding, being aware of, sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another. Adaptability is being able to adjust to new or changing conditions. Active listening is applying empathy to identify the needs and barriers of a customer through listening. Problem solving is the process of addressing customer barriers by working with customers to identify the best solution.

Where can leadership use customer experience?

Leadership builds and promotes the customer-centric culture of the USDA. Every approved message, press release, and staff interaction is an opportunity to promote this culture and lead by example. Furthermore, building trust with staff allows everyone to do their jobs more efficiently and focus on the customer’s needs.

Where can supervisors use customer experience?

Supervisors provide internal customer experience when empathizing and understanding their staff so they can properly advocate for their needs during decision-making.

Additionally, supervisors can be responsible for a wide variety of external customer experiences, from a call transferred from the USDA contact center to meeting with other government departments or external organizations to coordinate partnerships. Customer experience is important for everyone’s day-to-day work at USDA.

Where can staff use customer experience?

Everywhere! Our staff are typically those who have the most direct interactions with customers, from our contact center to our frontline staff to the reception at state offices. Staff meet customers where they are and provide a personable face to what can seem like a nebulous entity.

Whether speaking with external customers (members of the public, USDA partners, etc.) or internal customers (USDA colleagues): the better the experience, the higher the level of trust in our work, and the more effective we can be as a Department.