^®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week

President Signs New Executive Order on "Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service"
On April 27, 2011, the President of the United States signed Executive Order 13571. This new Executive Order is entitled "Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service." It requires that each federal agency:

"Within 180 days of the date of this order…, shall develop, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), a Customer Service Plan (plan) to address how the agency will provide services in a manner that seeks to streamline service delivery and improve the experience of its customers. As used in this order, the term 'customer'' refers to any individual or to any entity, including a business, tribal, State or local government, or other agency, to which the agency directly provides significant services. The plan shall set forth the agency's approach, intended benefits, and an implementation timeline for the following actions:

(a) establishing one major initiative (signature initiative) that will use technology to improve the customer experience;

(b) establishing mechanisms to solicit customer feedback on Government services and using such feedback regularly to make service improvements;

(c) setting clear customer service standards and expectations, including, where appropriate, performance goals for customer service required by the GPRA (Government Performance and Results) Modernization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111- 352);

(d) improving the customer experience by adopting proven customer service best practices and coordinating across service channels (such as online, phone, in- person, and mail services);

(e) streamlining agency processes to reduce costs and accelerate delivery, while reducing the need for customer calls and inquiries; and

(f) identifying ways to use innovative technologies to accomplish the customer service activities above, thereby lowering costs, decreasing service delivery times, and improving the customer experience."