We believe the best way of achieving this is by investing in our systems and ensuring that our team members are equipped to make a practical and meaningful difference to the lives of our customers living and working in our district.
We will always listen to you and respond to your individual needs.
We want to be an organisation that:
- Is accessible, where possible, 24-hours a day through our digital channels.
- Is honest, respectful, transparent and easy to contact.
- Has team members aspire to build positive relationships with all our customers.
- Is professional in our approach, taking pride in what we do and who we are.
- Is well informed, so that we can give customers the right information.
- Is committed to a ‘One Team, One Council' approach when delivering services.
- Is effective in listening and understanding different customers' needs.
- Is continuously improving and engage with our customers to do so.
Whenever you contact South Staffordshire Council, we will:
- Listen to you and try to resolve your enquiry at the first point of contact wherever possible.
- Use clear and plain English in a format that is easy to understand.
- Always wear an identity/name badge or tell you who you are speaking to.
- Apologise if things go wrong and do our best to put them right.
- Treat you fairly, respect your confidentiality, and not discriminate against you.
When you phone us, we will:
- Greet you politely and clearly, and introduce ourselves.
- Avoid using voicemail messaging, wherever possible. If they are used, we will aim to respond to messages by the next working day.
- Aim to put you through to the right person first time, should we need to transfer your call.
- When transferring your call, we will pass on your name and the details of your query so that you don't have to repeat yourself.
- We will comply with our Data Protection Policy at all times.
If you contact us on social media such as Facebook or Twitter:
- We will endeavour to join the conversation where possible. However, we may not be able to reply individually to all messages we receive.
- We will read all direct messages and replies to posts and ensure that any emerging themes or helpful suggestions are passed to the relevant people at South Staffordshire Council.
- If we need further information from you about any issue, we'll either ask for this through direct messaging or give you a telephone number or email address to provide this.
- Work to the principles set out in the council's Social Media Policy.
When you visit us, we will:
- Be welcoming, attentive, helpful and courteous.
- Let you know how long it will be before someone can see you.
- Offer you alternative self-service options and support you to access these systems to save you time and money in the future.
- Aim to deal with your enquiry promptly.
- Provide you with a confidential meeting room if required.
- Provide signing and language interpretation – as long as you let us know in advance that you need it.
- Make sure that all our employees wear identification badges so you know who you are talking to.
When we visit you we will:
- Carry identification of who we are.
- Be on time and advise in advance if we are unavoidably delayed with another customer.
- Explain the process of the visit and the next steps.
You can help us by:
- Letting us showcase our self-service systems.
- Treating our staff with respect and courtesy.
- Providing us with the information we may need to help you and letting us know about any changes in circumstances so we can provide you with the right service.
- Letting us know if you need a language signer or interpreter in advance.
- Keeping an appointment with us, or let us know as soon as possible that you wish to cancel or re-arrange.