NEWS RELEASE from Hutt City Council

29 November 2001

HUTT CITY CONTINUES TO IMPROVE

Results from a recent ACNielsen survey show that overall, 92% of customers are satisfied with the standard of customer service they received at Hutt City's Customer Service Centre.

The figure compares with 90 percent satisfaction in 2000 and 89 percent in 1999.

Manager Customer Relations, May Haines says there has been an improvement since last year's measure in all statements relating to the standard of service.

"Nine out of ten people who visited the Customer Service Centre rated Hutt City Council's overall standard of customer service as very good or good, and one in two rated Hutt City Council as very good," said May Haines.

"We're really pleased with our rating, which has come about through a lot of hard work by many people, and we will continue to look for ways that we can improve even more." Excellence in customer service has been an area of focus for Hutt City Council for a number of years.

"We encourage a culture where staff gain satisfaction from putting the customer first," May Millar said. "This is confirmed in the survey with customers, when asked, saying that Hutt City Council has staff who:

* act in a professional way (92% agree)

* are always courteous with customers (92% agree)

* are always easy to approach for assistance (90% agree)."

ACNeilsen analysed 316 exit interviews completed at the Customer Service Centre in September 2001.

"We want to know how well we are performing overall, how well we are performing on specific aspects of service, and seek feedback on how we can improve," May says.

The survey identified which aspects of customer service are important in driving overall customer satisfaction, and what are the priorities for Hutt City Council to help improve the standard of service it delivers. One key area identified to focus on for improvement is to deliver in the time promised.

The extremely good survey results continues an excellent showing by Hutt City's Customer Services Group, which won the local authority category of the prestigious 2001 Performance Excellence Awards earlier this year.

A copy of the executive report is available on the council's website www.huttcity.govt.nz http://www.huttcity.govt.nz.

ENDS
For further information please contact:
Name: Kirk MacGibbon
Position: Communications Manager
Hutt City Council
DDI: 04-570 6940
Fax: 04-570 6964
Email: kirk.macgibbon@huttcity.govt.nz

Website: http://www.huttcity.govt.nz

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