Through our work with diverse federal agencies, we’ve identified three types of federal Customer Experience (CX) organizations, each with a unique service delivery model. Understanding which type your organization fits into helps us focus on the right priorities in our CX Capability Model. This targeted focus enables us to craft a tailored roadmap that drives your Capability Strategy and Action Plan toward measurable success.
Three Types of Service Providers
We differentiate government CX organizations as Direct Providers, Agency-Level Enablers, or Service Sponsors. In complex agencies, these roles often overlap, sometimes even within the same office or team, though all three types work together to deliver service solutions.
Direct Providers
- Deliver services to the end-customer within specific agency programs and are responsible for service recovery.
- Draw resources from service/program budgets.
- Focus on both service design and recovery with direct access to program-level decision makers.
Examples of Direct Providers include the Social Security Administration (SSA), the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA).
Agency-level Enablers
- Work across programs to support agency customers.
- Provide policy and advice or develop and deliver CX capabilities to support programs and service providers.
- Often serve as a hub for best practices, expertise, support, and training.
- Help to ensure the adoption of CX mindsets and consistent implementation solutions and tools.
- Use models such as Centers of Excellence, Innovation Incubators, and Customer Advocacy Offices.
Examples of Agency-Level Enablers include the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Experience Office (VEO), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Taxpayer Experience Office (TXO), and the United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) Office of Customer Experience (OCX).
Service Sponsors
- Provide resources to external mission executing entities (via grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts).
- Architect and govern a service ecosystem.
- Define service policy, performance goals, and desired customer experience.
- Typically delegate service recovery to external entities that execute the mission.
Examples of Service Sponsors include the Department of Labor Veterans Employment and Training Service (DOL VETS), the United States Departmentof Health and Human Service (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
How Type Can Impact Your CX Journey
Knowing your organization type enables you to:
- Spend your precious time and attention on activities that positively impact performance.
- Identify the right quick wins for customer-centered improvements in service delivery.
- Prioritize the right ‘big rocks’ and long-term investments for sustainable service delivery and continuous improvement.
- Achieve unity of effort by setting a clear vision and aligning your team and partners.
Benefits of Knowing Your Type
Understanding your CX organization type simplifies the complex journey of building and maturing CX capabilities. Our assessment offers targeted recommendations to support strategic planning and fosters a culture of continuous improvement. This approach enhances customer experiences, drives better outcomes, and builds greater trust in government services.
Read more in our next blog about the first component in the model, Understanding Your Customer.
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