BECOME A
Small Business Friendly Council
BY PUTTING THE CUSTOMER AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING YOU DO
How to be a
Small Business Friendly Council:
The five-step approach
In partnership with the Office of the Queensland Small Business Commissioner, we created the Five-step approach to becoming Small Business Friendly.
It sets out a clear path for Councils of all sizes to put in place the necessary actions and energy to set them up for success.
To make it even easier for Councils to get onboard with the SBF program, we’ve created a simple range of solutions, depending on where you are in the journey, to meet the needs at each step.
Our three-step plan is based on our experience across government in customer-centric transformation and provides the solid foundation to help you on your Small Business Friendly journey.
Be a Small Business Friendly Council:
Start with customer
Free up your Council's resources to focus on what matters + deliver greater impact
Council is a key catalyst to region recovery.
Now more than ever, Councils need to understand their customers, beyond faceless statistics to who they are + what they need to thrive in these uncertain times.
This increased pressure is generating greater strain on Council resources. With a larger volume of enquiries, a need to attract new investment, higher demand for development approvals + a struggling business community, now is the time to make a bigger difference.
How do you do more with the resources you have? How do you ensure you’re making the greatest impact for your community + your region?
At Customer Frame, we believe the key to economic recovery lies in customer. Why? Because the customer is the ultimate reason organisations + businesses exist.
Councils are not a monopoly + customers have a choice. They can leave (+ take their economic value with them) or worse, they can stay + undermine all that you are trying to achieve.
Focus on customer + do more with less.
Councils that are truly Customer-led enjoy greater community trust + confidence, lower avoidable contact + resource waste, enhanced public reputation + higher employee satisfaction + engagement.
For the community, it helps to develop civic pride, a greater respect for Council + a better quality of life.
Increase trust
Satisfied customers are 9x more likely to trust the agency providing the service
Achieve stated missions
Satisfied customers are 9x more likely to agree an agency is delivering on its mission
Meet or exceed budgetary goals
Dissatisfied customers are 2x more likely to reach out for help 3+ times
Reduce risk
Dissatisfied customers are 2x more likely to publicly express dissatisfaction
Boost employee morale
Long-term organisational success is 50% driven by organisational health + is mutually reinforced by customer experience
Source: Global results from Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, United Kingdom, and United States, McKinsey Public Sector Journey Benchmark Survey, 2018.
Play Video about Customer Frame Landing Page - Become a Customer-led Council Small Business Friendly Main Video
Your simple, three-step solution to becoming a Small Business Friendly Council
We understand the challenges you face in Council
You’re operating in a complex environment with increasing expectations + often competing priorities from a variety of stakeholders.
By mobilising your people around the customer, you improve collaboration across departments + break down the silos in your Council.
Becoming a Customer-led Council + keeping everyone happy can seem like an enormous task. But it doesn’t have to be.
Our proven, simple, three-step approach has been specifically designed for Councils who want to become Customer-led but don’t know how.
Our approach delivers the first two steps of the Five Step Approach to being Small Business Friendly.
Simple. Effective. Impactful.
GET YOUR FREE COPY
Your Three-Step Plan for how to be a Small Business Friendly Council
Achieve more with your existing resources for a stronger economic recovery
MORE EFFICIENT
- Reduced avoidable contact
- Lower cost to serve
- Improved cross-function working
- Reduced waste
- Faster delivery of Council services
MORE EFFECTIVE
- Deliver more with existing resources
- Enhanced advocacy + sentiment
- Happier more engaged staff
- Happier more supportive communities
- Better stakeholder reputation
Sueanne Carr + Peter Turner
Founders, Customer Frame
50+ YEARS COMBINED EXPERIENCE IN
PUBLIC SECTOR
TRAVEL + TOURISM
RETAIL + COMMERCIAL
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Why us?
We help government organisations improve their customer experience
As leaders in customer centric-transformation, we partnered with the Queensland Small Business Commissioner + her team to build out the How to be Small Business Friendly program for Councils.
We bring deep sector expertise, with Customer-led change + transformation projects for Councils + government agencies across the world.
By putting the customer at the heart of everything they do, we’ve proven that government agencies can have:
- Happy customers – who are connected to your vision + purpose + are active advocates who appreciate + value your efforts + impact
- Happy staff - who stay longer, work smarter, feel empowered, go the extra mile, live your values + take care of your customers
- Happy leaders – who achieve sustainable outcomes, greater impact, better efficiencies, lower costs, higher customer sentiment + long-lasting positive change.
As a Local Buy panel supplier, we can mobilise quickly to help you accelerate your journey to becoming a Customer-led Council.
GET YOUR FREE COPY
Your Three-Step Plan for how to be a Small Business Friendly Council
STEP 1: FIND
Initial Diagnostic
Create the mandate for change + get the resources you need
Are your results not where you want them to be + you’re unsure why? Do you want to unlock new levels of efficiency, effectiveness + engagement for your Council?
Without a roadmap, it is difficult to know what to do + where to focus your effort for the greatest impact. As your customer is the ultimate reason your Council exists, it pays to start here.
Go beyond gut-feel + opinion to get an expert view on where you are today + where you need to focus to fulfil your objectives + become a Customer-led Council.
- CEO
- Senior leaders who want to improve the customer experience
- Customer Service Team Leader (or equivalent).
WHAT IS THE INITIAL DIAGNOSTIC?
The perfect place to start, this quick diagnostic process provides a snapshot view of the current situation within your Council + provides the mandate for becoming Customer-led. It is conducted through three targeted interviews set within the context of the Customer Strategy Framework™,️ processed into a succinct report.
WHO’S INVOLVED?
Three key people from your Council who provide the best perspectives into where customers sit today, such as:
WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
Conducted via three in-depth interviews, held onsite or on Teams, we get to the heart of your issues through an intentionally crafted set of questions to reveal:
- where you are today
- the potential roadblocks to becoming a Customer-led Council +
- the next steps to get you on track.
WHAT DOES IT GIVE YOU?
The Initial Diagnostic is your focused plan-on-a-page to kickstart your journey to becoming a Customer-led Council by:
- providing a solid mandate for allocating resources + budget for customer experience improvement
- highlighting the specific roadblocks that are holding you back
- harmonising the different viewpoints + perceptions within Council
- charting a heatmap of the customer areas to focus on to make the biggest impact.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST + WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?
For a fixed cost, your Council will receive:
- three interviews with key people (up to one hour each)
- a one page ‘Initial Diagnostic’ report that highlights where you are today, your potential roadblocks + what you need to do
- presentation of findings to the CEO + key decision makers.
$2,500 +GST
Pricing excludes travel costs.
GET YOUR FREE COPY
Your Three-Step Plan for how to be a Small Business Friendly Council
STEP 2: FOCUS
Customer Kickstarter
Get the senior team aligned + focused around the ultimate reason you exist – your customer
Does it feel like your Council is delivering band-aid solutions instead of addressing the core issues? Are you unsure where to start to make the most impact?
A ‘customer-first’ mindset is not about having a snappy slogan – it is a structured, planned + strategic process that is a whole-of-Council capability.
WHAT IS THE CUSTOMER KICKSTARTER?
Our Customer Kickstarter is a half-day intensive session where we help you identify where you are today, your strengths + gaps, + what you need to focus on to make the greatest impact for your region.
WHO’S INVOLVED?
As a strategic planning tool, the Customer Kickstarter is most suited to senior leaders + decision makers, typically the CEO, Senior leadership team + Functional Managers.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
Through an engaging, educating + energising half-day workshop, our team will:
- explain how being Customer-led helps to improve your Council
- identify your key customer groups + what they need from you
- assess your Council against the Customer Strategy Framework™, examining current performance versus best practice, with a robust benchmark for future comparison
- identify your gaps in customer knowledge, tracking performance + team alignment
- facilitate collective action plans for improvement + change.
WHAT DOES IT GIVE YOU?
The Customer Kickstarter is the strategy focus + action tool providing the solid
foundation for becoming a Customer-led Council, through:
- a reframed + consistent view of who your customers are today, what they need from the team + how that impacts on Council operations
- a direct + succinct expert analysis of the strategic health of your Council, from a Customer-led view, with the critical strategic priorities identified
- a diagnostic of existing capabilities, identifying strengths + deficiencies, benchmarked against best practice examples
- a practical action plan to transform your Council + move up the Customer Maturity Scale, driving customer efficiency + effectiveness across the team.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST + WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?
Your Council will receive:
- a half-day facilitated benchmarking + workshop session
- all session materials + our signature Customer Kickstarter Workbooks
- a comprehensive benchmark analysis, across functions + team perceptions
- consolidated action plans + recommendations for next steps
- a summary report that bring it all together.
$9,950 +GST (Up to 12 participants)
$12,950 +GST (Up to 20 participants)
Pricing excludes travel costs.
GET YOUR FREE COPY
Your Three-Step Plan for how to be a Small Business Friendly Council
STEP 3: FIX
‘Customer First’ sessions
Engage + energise the whole team on becoming a Customer-led Council
Are your teams operating in isolation, disconnected from your purpose + strategy? Is apathy holding you back from achieving your goals? Has your team lost sight of what you do + who you do it for?
The customer is everyone’s business – not just the ‘Customer Services’ team. From boardroom to back-office, the key to becoming Customer-led is to engage your people at all levels + get them collectively focused on putting the customer first.
WHAT ARE THE ‘CUSTOMER FIRST’ SESSIONS?
Our 90-minute working sessions bring your people together around the Why, What + Who of being a Customer-led Council. We give them a voice + reconnect them to why they come to work everyday.
WHO’S INVOLVED?
Everyone. ‘Customer First’ sessions are for the whole organisation – all levels, all functions, internal + external facing, field + office based.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS?
We host a series of highly engaging + interactive 90-minute sessions that bring together your people to actively explore:
- why Council exists + its role within the community
- why happy customers are so important to Council
- who your customers are + what they need from you as Council
- what it means to put ‘Customer First’ + be a Customer-led Council
- how their individual roles collectively make a difference to the customer.
WHAT DOES IT GIVE YOU?
The ‘Customer First’ sessions are guaranteed to engage, educate + energise your teams, acting as the catalyst for Council-wide culture change. Leave with:
- everyone on the same page, with a conscious shift to becoming Customer-led
- a renewed energy + commitment to working together to deliver Council’s objectives
- a greater connection + empathy for customers, each other + Council’s role in the region
- shared ownership of the vision + a commitment to making it happen
- a solid platform + momentum for starting your journey to becoming a Customer-led Council.
Delegates leave with a clear message of the importance of customer, how their roles play a crucial part in region success + that ‘customer’ is everyone’s business.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST + WHAT DOES IT INCLUDE?
Facilitated by the Customer Frame Founders, your Council will receive:
- 90-minute facilitated staff engagement + working session(s)
- all session materials + worksheets for up to 50 participants per session
- a two-page summary observations report per session
- a session unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.
$4,950 +GST (One session)
$11,950 +GST (Three sessions)
$14,950 +GST (Five sessions)
Online delivery options also available.
Pricing excludes travel costs.
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Your Three-Step Plan for how to be a Small Business Friendly Council
Councils already on the journey
Scenic Rim Regional Council had been through an immense period of disruption + change. The Executive Leadership Team engaged Customer Frame to help them to create the Customer-led vision, strategy + action plan required to address their challenges + become a truly Customer-led Council.
Through extensive engagement with Councillors, customers + staff, our team undertook a series of internal + external focus groups, staff engagement events + customer surveys to reveal the needs of customers + the roadblocks within Council to meeting those needs.
A key catalyst was establishing a Customer Charter outlining Council’s promises + commitments to customers, setting the direction for the whole team + creating the foundation for the first ever Customer Experience Strategy.
The work, one of the first of its kind in local government, has been regarded as the ‘gold standard’ approach by Council + key stakeholders.
Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC) recognised that region economic success is directly linked to Council becoming more business responsive. That is, understanding who customers are, what they need + what Council needs to do to close the gap.
To create a solid foundation for Council’s vision for a ‘Bigger. Bolder. Brighter.’ region, the MBRC senior leadership engaged Customer Frame to put customer front + centre in the rollout of their new Regional Economic Development Strategy.
Through our Customer Kickstarter + ‘Customer First’ sessions, we helped Council identify the gaps in their operations, enabling teams to focus on collective action, all around the ultimate reason they exist – their customer.
The outcome for your Council
Accelerate your economic recovery by investing in your customers + your people
Get started on your journey to becoming a Customer-led Council + enjoy the benefits of having your people, your Councillors + your customers aligned + focused to grow your region.
Through our proven, three-step approach, your Council will come
away with:
- a benchmark of the strategic health of your Council that highlights the critical customer capability gaps + the priority focus areas for greatest impact
- a reframed + consistent view of who your customers are today, what they need from you + where to focus effort
- an aligned understanding of how being Customer-led drives impact, results + sustainability, well beyond traditional customer service, as a driver of efficiency + effectiveness
- a renewed energy for change within teams + across Council, with a willingness + drive to engage in future cross-functional customer improvement projects
- a series of agreed actions for functional teams to make positive change to become a Customer-led Council
Get on board – go beyond economic recovery to sustainable region prosperity by putting the customer at the heart of everything you do.
GET YOUR FREE COPY
Your Three-Step Plan for how to be a Small Business Friendly Council
What your peers have to say
"The session was excellent in encouraging thinking in leaders on customer experiences and provided guidance through this thinking. It was a good starting point to initiate development strategies for improving customer experience by the department."
Moreton Bay Regional Council
“Workshop was an awesome session. I learnt that putting the customer at the top of our decisions is key - we create our offerings thinking we know what the customer wants, but we really don’t – the session totally flipped it for me!”
Southern Great Barrier Reef
"I believe that participating in yesterday's workshop enabled me to be really honest, and identify where we really are at the moment, but as a team the knowledge that we are all at the same point, but want to move forward together. This then becomes quite empowering."
Moreton Bay Regional Council
"I found the workshop informative, it really made me think about where we actually are, rather than where we think we are. It was good to see that even though we have work to do, we're all aligned in where we are + where we want to be."
Scenic Rim Regional Council
“CF understand us. Their workshops receive rave reviews + have set the industry benchmark moving forward. They always strive to exceed our expectations + live by the customer ethos they deliver.”
Tourism Sunshine Coast
How to make it happen
NEED TO GET BUY-IN?
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PREFER TO DISCUSS?
Book a call with us to discuss your
Council’s specific needs + how our
program can help
READY TO GET GOING?
Call us direct or email us to book
in + start your journey
Call: 1300 162 997 Email: [email protected]
GET YOUR COUNCIL'S THREE-STEP PLAN
Download your three-step plan to becoming a Small Business Friendly, customer-led Council to reduce costs, increase impact + accelerate recovery.
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