Did we keep our promises in 2007-08?

At m-four we are 100 per cent dedicated to improving the services we provide and welcome any feedback from our customers.

We monitor all responses via our online and hard copy feedback forms, and ask our customers whether through our service delivery they feel we kept to our customer promises.

We feel this is an excellent way of gathering information, as it will help us to continually improve our service. Feedback requests are sent out all year round by our account managers and front-line staff across the full group. Throughout the period April 2007 to end of March 2008 we received 139 replies to our customer feedback forms.

From the 139 responses, an average of 97.9 per cent of customers agreed that we keep all our customer promises (against an average target of 80 per cent). The results are as follows:


Feedback Results for 2007-08 for all service areas

Reviewing our responses
Our target for last year was to receive ten feedback forms for each of the five service areas each quarter. We are delighted to say that we are achieving our targets on all our promises, with an improvement on the previous year's results.

We contact all our customers when they disagree or strongly disagree with one of our promises and treat those promises with a higher target with a greater priority.

Although we did receive a generous number of 139 feedback responses, we will continue to circulate the feedback forms, guaranteeing we grasp a full and thorough impression of customer perspectives. We will continue to monitor our feedback and act on the results where appropriate. Following a recent management meeting, it was decided a review of the above targets was required in line with responses received over the calendar year. A decision was made to increase the following categories: for categories five, eight, nine and ten, an increase to 90 per cent is required. This change will be reflected in our next available promises update and is also apparent in the new performance data results shown above.

m-four management also decided to reduce the quarterly targets of forms being returned to five per service from ten.

Our research has shown that repeat customers, particularly in Advertising and Design, are reluctant to return feedback questionnaires on a more frequent basis than one per year. This obviously limits the responses we are receiving and makes the targets for responses unachievable in some areas. While our front-line staff are sending out the requests to customers, the overall response has fallen. Because of these changes, we will be trialling the process for the next 12 months, with a review in 2009.

We really appreciate those who take the time to reply to the feedback requests, as it is nice to know we are doing the majority of things right, and when we get negative feedback it gives us a chance to improve our service to our customers. So, please keep those feedback forms coming.

Compliments, complaints and suggestions

Compliments
Customer compliments invariably motivate our staff and we share good practice as part of our feedback procedure. It is great to know when we're getting it right and we thank you for your praise. We receive the compliments either as emails, or when people complete the Tell Us More section of our feedback form.

The types of compliments we receive show that there are distinct trends in the way we deliver our services. Customers are impressed with our staff's polite attitude and calmness. This may be during the delivery of a tight turnaround design and print job, or when an interpreter working between an anxious service user and a provider tries to explain a complex issue. Our ability to manage tight deadlines is a recurring theme for compliments, as are our staff's listening and general communication skills.

This is what our customers say*:

"Manchester Advertising staff are a credit to the m-four service. They are professional, efficient and always willing to help meet any deadline." Kelly Reynolds, Waste and Recycling Team

"The m-four Copying Service have been efficient in carrying out their work. Staff are very helpful and friendly. Many thanks." Naseema Hanware, Manchester Advice, Adult Social Care

"m-four understands our often complex requirements and always responds helpfully, efficiently and effectively to whatever requests we make." Jill Lewis, Elections

"We asked for an urgent job and m-four pulled out all the stops. Our business cards were printed and delivered by 10am the following morning. Excellent service!" Lesley Domnitz, Oppositions Members Service

"m-four were able to understand our brief and produce the work under very tight timescales. They listened and assisted in creating our solution, which helped immeasurably." Robert Brants, Manchester Improvement Service

"m-four Translations worked to our tight deadline without any fuss. What we asked for is what we got, and in a speedy and efficient manner ? very impressive." Glenn Street, Carers Strategy Team, Adult Social Care

*Comments received from feedback forms

Complaints
We treat complaints very seriously as we always try to ensure that our customers are satisfied with the service we are providing. We aim to resolve all complaints as quickly and efficiently as we can and to this end we have a policy of continual improvement. The number of complaints we received between April 2007 and March 2008 was seven across all our service areas. This compares with 21 complaints for the previous 12 months, which demonstrates our service has improved immeasurably. A reduction of 62 per cent in the number of complaints received is something to celebrate.

We treated all the complaints seriously, because if a customer provides us with negative feedback, we want to use this feedback to rectify problems and to improve our services.

Treating people fairly and sensitively, on-time delivery, effective communication, and excellent work are our key service drivers, and we treat complaints about these areas extremely seriously. A key issue we identified last year was that we were not treating complaints consistently. Our managers have worked hard over the past 12 months to address this and we hope we have improved in closing the loop and feeding back to customers following a complaint.

We have a robust procedure in place and we address all complaints; however, in two recent cases, our own target timescales were not met and this has been attributed to pressure of operational activity. Encouragingly, compared to the previous 12 months, the overall response time has also improved.

We would like to thank customers who have taken the time to complete our feedback forms and hope we have been able to resolve any problems you faced. m-four aims to deal with customer complaints in a professional and consistent manner and to each customer's satisfaction. In doing so, we hope this will enable us to retain business with customers who were not 100 per cent happy with the service they received.

Complaint outcomes

Print Services

We received two complaints about our Print Services.

Complaint 1
One of our customers was not happy with the late delivery of newsletters they send out to volunteers. This late delivery had an impact on their distribution channels and meant that some stories were almost out of date before the newsletter went out to their volunteers.

Outcome 1
We had a face-to-face meeting with the customer to ascertain areas for improvement on both sides of the workflow for this particular job. Overall deadlines were analysed and a production schedule was drawn up for the job with deadlines for both m-four and the customer. The customer is now very happy with the workflow enhancements and the job runs a lot smoother from start to finish.

Complaint 2
A customer complained about the paper stock used for a batch of preprinted work tickets that were being overprinted at the customer's offices.

Extract from complaint: "There appears to be differences between the thicknesses of the paper so that sometimes more than one page is drawn through the printer at once and results in jamming, or other times the paper is too thick and this also causes jamming. The major problem we are encountering as a result of this is that jobs are being lost which could have very serious consequences. Please could you suggest what can be done to remedy this?"

Outcome 2
It was agreed that due to a combination of damp weather and aged printing equipment being used in their offices (not m-four) the overprinting was not ideal. In conclusion, the customer was happy to accept that m-four was not at fault and that storage and equipment within their own office should be reviewed.

We responded within our complaint-handling timescales for all complaints.

Creative Services
We received two complaints about our Creative Services.

Complaint 1
The customer was unhappy with the overall level of account management, while the quality of work was excellent. They felt they were not being treated fairly and sensitively.

Outcome 1
Following a face-to-face meeting with the customer, we discovered that this complaint was that the customer felt the account manager had a general lack of experience. As a result of the meeting we agreed to replace their account manager with a more experienced member of staff and supplement this with an account executive. Following the transfer to a different account manager we have sought further feedback from this customer and they are now very happy with the service they are receiving.

Complaint 2
This customer had several jobs completed on behalf of their team. The quality, communication, turnaround times and speeds of amendments for the job were good. However, they were disappointed with the design quality in general, saying: "The main problem is that information we want people to read looks quite dull and there are large spaces on many pages. As I only had a PDF copy, I assumed that m-four would know what would look best for the hard copy; however, the booklet is not as appealing as I had hoped."

Outcome 2
We were sorry the client felt they had had to drive the design of the leaflet and that they did not feel the job was as creative as they would have liked. However, we pointed out that the job was produced in the corporate style and that as it was a directory the importance was to present the information in a clear and easily understandable manner, which we felt we had done.

The client felt that the initial point size was too small and didn't feel they should have had to point this out; however, the point size was chosen to fit the page specification.

The outcome of the meeting was that in future both parties will aim to explore the initial brief to avoid any further problems and misunderstandings.

We responded within our complaint-handling timescales for all complaints.

Advertising Services

We received one complaint about our Advertising Services.

The customer was unhappy with the overall level of service, although the quality of work was excellent. They felt they were not treated fairly and sensitively.

Outcome
Following a face-to-face meeting with the customer, we discovered that this complaint was mainly due to the fact that we had changed their account manager. As a result of the meeting, we agreed to reinstate their previous account manager. Following the transfer, we have sought further feedback from this customer and they are now very happy with the service they are receiving.

We responded within our complaint-handling timescales for all complaints.

Interpretations and Translations Services

We received two complaints about our interpretation service. We have addressed both these complaints and both customers have responded to us and would be happy to continue using our service.

The two complaints received about interpretations were as follows:

Complaint 1
The first complaint was about the fact that the performance of an interpreter was below the standard they expected.

Outcome 1
We also responded to the complaint regarding the poor service provided. The lady who complained felt we dealt with the issue very well and is more than happy to continue to use our service, as we have assured her we will strive to meet her expectations in the future.

Complaint 2
The second complaint was regarding an interpreter turning up late for a session.

Outcome 2
We apologised for the interpreter that turned up late, as this is viewed as unprofessional, and we have spoken to our interpreters to ensure that this doesn't happen again in the future.

Production performance

Design
Between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, we produced 1,682 jobs in the design studio, including photography and presentations. This compares to 1,327 in the previous 12 months, which is a 22 per cent increase in production.

Print
Between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, we produced 2,669 print jobs. Customers deal with Daisy Works print when they require print-only jobs and supply their own artwork. This compares to 2,458 for the previous 12 months, which is an eight per cent increase in production.

Advertising
Between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, we placed 2,370 advertisements. This compares to 1,798 for the previous 12 months, which is a 24 per cent increase in production.

Translations
Between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008, we provided 15,730 face-to-face interpretation sessions and 2,692 written translation jobs. This compares to 15,390 face-to-face interpretation sessions and 3,428 written translation jobs for the previous 12 months, a decrease of 2.15 per cent in production. Overall, production is up in most areas of the service, which is very encouraging for the future and hopefully demonstrates that we provide value-for-money services that are improving year on year.

Suggestions

We welcome and encourage customer suggestions to improve and develop our service. Suggestions form a part of our feedback procedure. However, our records show that for the period April 2007 to March 2008 we did not receive direct suggestions.

We are currently seeking your suggestions for our Copy Centre service and published a story about this in our recent e-message newsletter.

We did receive some comments from customers regarding our feedback form; certain customers have requested that we change our feedback form to enable them to put a neutral response to our promises. As yet we have not addressed this issue, as we believe that in order to gain relevant and useful information, we do not require a neutral response.

Listening to improve

Updated June 2008

Consultation is the cornerstone of our service development and involves us listening to customers in a variety of ways: through customer forums, our feedback forms, surveys, asking for feedback on our e-message mailing list, and meeting up with people about m-four's role as the corporate procurer of design and print.

The key elements for our consultation plan in 2008/2009 are:

• Meet up with customers new to the print procurement process, to gauge their views and take on board any comments or suggestions and get feedback on suppliers used.
• Publish the results with actions arising from the staff survey carried out in May/June 2008.
• Consult with customers at Translations training sessions from September to October 2008.
• Hold customer forums with design commissioners in October/November 2008 prior to the tender.
• Hold post-design tender briefings for customers and staff in early 2009.
• Ask customers for their views on our corporate and social responsibility through updates to the website. Report back on any suggestions.
• Write to our key suppliers regarding our involvement with Plymouth Grove Primary School and ask about involvement or evidence of other activities.
• Hold a customer forum to consult about the signs, banners and flags tender in August 2008.
• Carry out a survey of Copy Centre customers regarding improvements and other services we could offer.
• Customer interfaces with account manager to discuss work completed and future work planned.

Progress/outcomes
Following last year's consultation programme, we carried a number of actions into this year and can now report on current progress, as of June 2008.

The need for customers to meet with m-four Design earlier in the job planning process. m-four to review resource implications and report back to customers.
Response: This is an area of work in which we are improving gradually. We plan to work closely with the Corporate Communications Team to help improve our end user knowledge and skill gaps when it comes to publishing and marketing.

Customers/managers/committees/third-party people could be better managed and m-four was requested to help customers improve their job management by organising more customer review meetings. m-four to review resource implications and report back to customers.
Response: Crosses over with 1a. m-four is making time to attend meetings where strategic communications issues are being raised and addressed, as well as meeting customers more regularly to help the educational process.

Clearer communication by both parties was needed throughout the job: production schedules, creative design pre-brief forms to provide framework for this to happen.
Response: Schedules are produced for jobs with particularly long deadlines. Pre-brief forms have been introduced along with a better creative brief form, but customers are not spending sufficient time completing these forms. This is still an educational process for our customers that we are working on. Testimonials and case studies will soon be produced where customers have listened to our advice and have taken more time to consider their options and channels of communication.

Post-job meetings to discuss particular production issues were requested, to be promoted by the m-four account handling team as part of the production process.
Response: Exit meetings with customers are now happening on large complex campaigns and jobs.

Greater account reviews and management, ie. meetings were required between jobs to discuss planning and customer needs. Part of Creative Services management action plan.
Response: Customer profiles are being produced to assist this process. When these are complete, we will input these into our customer relationship management software and arrange forward planning of account reviews.

There is a need to review and act on m-four's photo library in terms of content and access. Part of Creative Services' management action plan.
Response: Our photographer is attending advanced training courses and the purchase of a new Digital Asset Management library is being investigated.

Internal issues for customers trying to raise or resolve problems with SAP ordering, ie. communication with services' requisition and approvers. Customers to resolve.
Response: The SAP ordering system has now bedded in and we are now only struggling for orders from two per cent of customers.

Copy right!

As part of our ongoing drive to listen to our customers and improve our services we also recently carried out a consultation exercise with the customers of our Copy Centre.

Nicky Davison, m-four's Finance Assistant, recently completed an Improvement Report on the Copy Centre as part of his AAT Finance Training. The audit, based on the financial aspects of the Copy Centre, involved Nicky undertaking regular site visits to assess the systems used and services it provides.

Following his extensive research, Nicky made suggestions on how the Copy Centre can improve the way it works. Here are just a few of them:

A database to record all incoming jobs received from customers
This would make tracking a job much easier. The database would also enable us to produce consistent figures to ensure that each job has been charged correctly and that duplicate charges are eliminated. The database would control the usage of each machine, providing information on how much each one is used and how efficiently the machines run. It could also provide other important information, such as on our largest clients, as well as on customer trends and trends in the trade.

A cashbook to record all cash sales dealt with by the Copy Centre
This would provide a log of all cash transactions for each financial period, which could then be matched to SAP to ensure all these transactions have been entered into the Cost Centre. This would provide important information on how many cash transactions are made and reduce any fraudulent activity.

Introducing new marketing and advertising strategies
Owing to a serious decline in production volumes over the previous year, Nicky felt the introduction of a new marketing and advertising campaign could help increase sales and awareness. People need to be more aware of the services the Copy Centre offers, and relationships with clients need to be built and maintained in order to increase ongoing sales.

Results
Following these recommendations, some have already been introduced within the Copy Centre with a positive outcome, and some are still at the development stage.

• The cashbook is now in full working order and is helping to track cash sales as suggested.
• The Copy Centre has also embarked on some advertising, distributing leaflets detailing the services it provides and offering customers ten per cent off their job. There are some more marketing opportunities currently being explored and you will no doubt see them in the coming months. This marketing will complement the increase in MFD photocopiers entering the Council on the new Xerox contract.
• The database, however, has been put on hold while m-four undergoes service improvements.
• As part of his research, Nicky also produced a customer survey for clients, which asks for feedback on how the Copy Centre performed. We received a very positive response and would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. These results can be found on the wall in the Copy Centre reception.
• There was also a reward for completing the survey, and lucky winner Kerry Adams received £50 worth of love2shop vouchers.

Staff survey

In June 2008 we carried out a staff survey, asking questions about our ideas scheme and the Employee of the Quarter award. The survey also sought to find out what our staff thought of the customer promises and whether they felt m-four was improving as a service and if we are improving our own skills.

There was a high interest from our staff with almost a 70 per cent return.

The results were also encouraging, as 80 per cent thought the Employee of the Quarter award had an easy nomination process and 75 per cent wanted to keep the ideas scheme.

When we asked about our customer promises, 86 per cent of staff knew where to find them, and 100 per cent who responded thought they were important to our customers.

A consistent 72 per cent of staff thought m-four was improving as a service and that they were improving their own skills by working for m-four.

Finally, 77 per cent of our staff said we would benefit from a five-year strategic plan.

The results of the survey were fed back to staff at the group meeting in July 2008.

Action points will be added to this update at a later date.

We also asked staff for additional comments and whether they would like a response from the head of m-four. Where people indicated they would like this kind of response, a one-to-one meeting will be set up to give feedback.

m-four staff survey results 2008

Graphs from group meeting

The findings were discussed at a group managers' meeting and the following actions were taken:

m-four will continue with the Employee of the Quarter award scheme
Managers need to do more to encourage people to nominate, as despite 79 per cent of staff who thought it was easy to nominate, only 37 per cent had ever put forward a nomination. One change to be made is that we will publish everyone who is nominated as well as the winner in our bimonthly e-message. We are also going to speak to staff about an Employee of the Year award, which will be voted on by staff within the three service areas of Commercial Services, Print Services and Translations Services.

Customer promises
The majority of our staff know what our customer promises are; unfortunately, this is not enough. We will take steps to include our customer promises and our guiding principles within our new induction procedures that are being worked on within account management at the moment. Sixty-five per cent of staff think our customer promises are relevant and don't want to see any changes to them, while 81 per cent think the promises are important to our customers. We will therefore keep our promises and look at continually analysing our performance against these in the next 12 months.

m-four ideas scheme
Seventy four per cent of our staff feel we should continue with the ideas scheme, while only 30 per cent have actually ever put forward an idea. Most of our staff believe we do all we can to encourage the use of the scheme and a similar amount feel the scheme should remain formal.

After listening to your views, we will continue with the current scheme and look at building a way of putting ideas forward online. Team leaders and managers will continue to promote the scheme, and anyone can submit an idea via email to their manager or directly to the head of our service, Seamus McKeown.

General issues
It is very encouraging to know that 72 per cent of our staff feel that m-four is improving as a service, and the same amount say they themselves are improving as a result of working for m-four.

Almost 77 per cent feel we need a five-year strategic business plan, and the senior management team will be working on this to publish something for chief officers and staff when we celebrate our tenth anniversary in October 2008.

Senior management teams would like to thank everyone who returned questionnaires, as this type of feedback is critical to the business and helps us to improve. We are also very pleased with the mainly positive response, given that we understand everyone has gone through some tough times over the past 12 months, with the Service Improvement Programme, the restructure and job evaluation all being worked on at the same time.

Some of the information within this analysis demonstrates that, as a business, we are on the right track and are continually improving, while under increased pressure of production and demand for our services.

Mystery customers test our service (again)

Our customers carried out a series of mystery telephone calls throughout May and June to see how well our staff communicate. There were four calls made across the service.

The questions we asked the callers are in bold:

Did the member of staff state their name? Yes, in all cases.  
Did they state the service? Yes, in all cases.  
Was the telephone answered in eight rings or fewer? Yes, in all cases.  
Was the communication clear? Yes, in all cases.  
Did the staff member display a good knowledge of their own service area? Yes, in all cases.  
Did the staff member take your cues to tell you about any other parts of m-four's services? This happened in only two instances.  
Would you be confident about working with m-four in future? Yes, in all cases.  
Were you treated fairly and sensitively? Yes, in all cases.

The test aimed to sample our staff's compliance with customer care and Charter Mark standards, and the results are extremely encouraging! We also wanted to gauge how much our people knew about and/or had the ability to discuss our other service areas with customers.