Improving Services to Businesses

Rita WilsonStrategic Director Lichfield District Council

West Midlands Business Matters Project Lead

Brian HiggsCorporate GIS Unit Manager

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Why this work is important ………

Date of birth

Gender

Language

Marital Status

Ethnicity

Disability

Segment group

Preferred communication channel

Property ID (LLPG)

Length of residency

Property typeHousehold income

Liquid assetsProperty value

Postcode

Households with children

Benefits

Library

Waste

Cou

ncil T

ax

We are developing Customer Knowledge in relation to citizens…..

.

NNDR

Building Control

Head office

Segment group

Name

Property ID (LLPG)

AddressRegulations

Turnover

Postcode

SectorSize

But know little about businesses and their needs!

.

Businesses are more complex in terms of multiplicity of locations, facets and contacts

Also the level of churn – as much as 20% in a year

EnvironmentalServices

Jones & Son1 High Street

Trading Standards

R Jones & SonNo 1 High St

Planning

R J JonesHigh St B96

Licensing

PROSECUTIONPENDING !!

Jones LtdOne High St

Economic Development and Business Link Supporting Mr Jones!Fire & Rescue need specific addressing for emergency call out

and for planned inspections

Workshop Session 1

What information is held about businesses in your organisation?

Is any of it matched and shared to create a single view of businesses and their interactions?

Business Matters Project

A partnership of authorities in the West Midlands including Lichfield, Dudley, Solihull Sandwell, Birmingham and Business Link who share a passion to improve services to businesses

Started off focused on how we get a single view of the business - taking account of complexities of multiple locations, facets and owners

Developed standards for identifying and sharing information around business including looking at how to use Government Connect for sharing data securely

Also in receipt of funding from CLG Transformation Fund, managed by the IDEA, to better understand the customer experience of businesses

Business support, enforcement and inspection services, licensing, business rates, planning and building control requirements….do we really have a comprehensive view of how we interact with businesses as a whole?

We know how to segment citizens….

But how do we segment businesses?

Segmentation Framework

Small Local Employer

Small Local Employer

Medium Local

Employer

Medium Local

Employer

Business at Home

Business at Home

Major Local Employer

Major Local Employer

Large National

Company

Large National

Company

Medium Subsidiary

Medium Subsidiary

Large International

Company

Large International

Company

Medium chain with multiple West Mids sites

Medium chain with multiple West Mids sites

Large Chain with few

West Mids sites

Large Chain with few

West Mids sites

Large Chain with many

West Mids sites

Large Chain with many

West Mids sites

Medium Chain with one West Mids site

Medium Chain with one West Mids site

Small ChainSmall Chain

Medium LargeSmall Medium LargeSmall

Firms with a direct stake in

West Mids

Public\Third Sector

Public\Third Sector

Head Office in West Mids

Head Office outside

West Mids

Life Stage(demographics)

Workshop Session 2

What would be useful to know about a business to better design and deliver services to them

What can we do to develop real Insight about businesses preferences and needs

Service Delivery

What is the Business Customer Experience ??

Need to start somewhere……….• Focus on businesses less than

2 years old in partner areas

• Started to look at sectors but quite small numbers involved – does cover regulatory and none-regulatory though

• Carrying out structured survey to find out the customer experience - 300 businesses

• Follow up with focus groups

• Use the Insight gained to make services more targeted

• Work with partners and others to capture and share learning

Businesses do not operate in isolation… neither does our project!

Businesslink.govHMRC

Business Link (regional)

Local authorities

Companies House

Office of National Statistics

BIS(Business Innovation

and Skills)

Our Outcomes……………………

How To Guides:Get started on segmentation for business customers

Determine where a business is in its life stage

Map a business customer journey

Improving Business Contact:Improving services at the point of contact with Customer Services

Improving business support services through using Customer Insight

www.workingwithbusiness.org.uk

Questions and Comments???