How can we improve customer service?
The City of Kingston is in the process of reviewing and updating our Customer Service Strategy, which was first introduced in 2016. As part of this effort, we want to hear directly from you — our residents, businesses and visitors. Your input will help us understand current service challenges, identify opportunities for improvement, and explore ways to enhance service through modern technologies. The updated strategy will reflect our commitment to aligning with the City’s mission, vision, and values, with the ultimate goal of improving customer satisfaction and making our services more efficient and accessible.
Your voice matters, and we appreciate your participation in shaping the future of customer service in Kingston!
What is customer service?
Customer service is the process that helps community members get answers to questions they have about City services and help accessing them.
Whether you call, email, submit a service request or visit a City facility when you ask a question of the City of Kingston you're interacting with our Customer Experience team. Our online systems and agents are the first point of contact for everything you need from the City, whether you're looking to apply for new permits, get a question answered about a recreation program, buy garbage bag tags and much more. Often questions and requests can be resolved in one interaction, however, sometimes they need to be referred to another department in the City. Our current goal is to provide an initial response within two business, days if it's not something that can be immediately addressed during that first interaction.
What's your idea?
CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.
Who's Listening
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Project Coordinator
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Manager, Customer Experience
Email ecaird@cityofkingston.ca
Have people that care about the citizens… apathy has no place in “customer service”. And keep personal opinions to themselves.
Being able to cancel your pre-registered swim time online would 'convenient-ize' the whole process.
Well I could go on and on as over the years I have had different results with different issues. However, in the last 24 months we had an issue with a neighbour using the park in behind to access their back yard. It was extensive work in preparing for a large cement deck so heavy trucks for days. I was promised the lane way would be returned to its original condition. The contractor who was responsible did a half- assed job. I contacted the by-law and he came down to check and I subsequently received an email (my preferred contact method) that they would be coming to spray that stuff that is green and grows grass. As the lane behind my house continues to be the main ENTRY AND EXIT it gets deeply rutted when wet - there is another entry and exit ?? Which no one seems to care to use!! Our park has not been the same since. Yes there is straggly grass, but my email message has still gone unfulfilled. As well WHY ON EARTH PLANT SO MANY TREES in such a small area - the giant riding lawn mowers can't drive around to properly mow the grass. As well as witnessed this last week when a neighbour had a very large shed delivered to his small back yard - the big truck and trailer had a difficult time pulling forward and backing up because of the City trees? These types of issue seem to be ones the City has no time to FOLLOW THROUGH on, and that comes down to lack of BY LAW EMPLOYEES.
I have often dealt with city staff who treat the city as a business and citizens as a customer. On a superficial level this is ok and citizens should expect good service and response times when engaging with the city.
The problem develops when I have been trying to get information to help community groups and programs moving in Kingston. The city keeps its data secret and is not willing to share, they move things slowly and are only obsessed with liability protections not moving great ideas and projects forward. I believe this stems from a culture of running the city as a business and treating citizens as customers. We should be treated as citizens who are actually the owners of the city, we fund all the operations and all city data should be completely open accessible and easy to access by anyone. The city staff should be working with citizens to make things better not acting as a giant red tape barrier slowing down the progress of great changes that this and all cities need.
Require each City employee to update their extension in the internal employee directory so that Customer Experience staff can connect the public with whom they are trying to reach. Additionally, staff voicemails should be set up as there are City employees where their voicemail service is not active.
Use computing facilities to monitor the time between service request and complete resolution. Post the information for each department and capture it for each employee involved in it's eventual resolution. Some requests get delayed by debates among city staff in different departments or even external agencies. Empower employees to make decisions based on expected inputs from these other departments or agencies. Formalize rules that these other departments or agencies require to approve the request where numbers warrant.
Provide a staff directory and an organization chart on the website.
Many years ago, when I first started in retail work, my boss served as a mentor to me, instilling basic principles of Customer Service, i.e. "the customer is always right". They have followed me throughout my career(s). Perhaps it's time we educate our store managers on how to be a mentor to their employees. Also, employee orientation has gone out the window. How can an employee follow basic principles if no-one has never taken the time to tell them what they are? Perhaps the business associations or KEDCO could help with the overall education. If business want repeat customers, they need to have consistency and respect for their customers (and each other).
Some other cities use a central service centre (like a 311 number). This service/person will try to answer your question and/or will redirect your call to the appropriate sector/department. Instead of trying to find the right phone number from your web site. This service will help lots of seniors without internet or knowledge of using a computer. This is my feedback... Thank you!
You really need to hire more bylaw officers. It can take weeks for a problem to be resolved. It is not acceptable for Customer Service to mark a ticket as complete and send out a customer satisfaction survey when all they have done is forward the complaint to bylaw. Bylaw is seriously understaffed, so they can take weeks to address an issue.