Customer Value First: Improving the Customer Experience in Public Services

Abstract

Governments worldwide are increasingly focusing on creating customer value in public services and customer experience management to improve public sector performance and increase citizens’ trust in government. Therefore, recently there has been an increase in scientific literature and case studies analysing different aspects of customer value creation and/or customer experience in public services. Still, the interaction between the two is not clearly disclosed and linked. The purpose of this research is to accentuate the insights arising from research in science and practice, to summarise and systematise the knowledge already created and to perform an empirical study. Applying the methods of researching the content of scientific literature and practical reports, the article reveals the interaction between the value of public services to the customer and the customer experience in services. The aim of this study is to reveal the concept of customer value creation by applying customer experience management in public services. After refining the general theoretical insights of service value creation for the customer, the basics of the need and benefits of their application in the provision of public services as well as the application of the method of value creation for the customer in the provision of public services are analysed. The findings of this research positions the customer value in public services as a subjective phenomenon, i. e., the value is created by customers as it is based on their experiences in the process of service provision. In contrast, service providers create a value creation system for customers, which turns them into the co-creators of that value. Value creation for the customer occurs through the co-production and co-design of public services, where the customer is an active participant in different stages of service provision. Customer needs and expectations are evolving, and public service providers need to be able to recognise and track them and respond to these changes by applying a customer journey approach in the value creation system.