Customer Satisfaction with GSA's CIC Tops Private Sector Counterparts
GSA #9624
December 13, 1999
Contact: Eleni Martin (202) 501-1231
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) today announced the results of GSA's Customer Satisfaction Initiative Survey. GSA Administrator David J. Barram said that the GSA Federal Consumer Information Center topped competitors from the private sector by five points. On a scale of zero to 100, the Federal Consumer Information Center scored 77 points while its private sector counterparts came in at 72.
An interesting finding of the survey was that 59% of the Federal Consumer Information Center's customers are more satisfied now than two years ago. This may be due to the recent establishment of a toll free number 1-888-8 PUEBLO (that's 1-888-878-3256). The public may call this number to order the product Catalog and publications.
The American people who use the GSA Federal Consumer Information Center (FCIC) gave across the board high marks to the accessibility and usefulness of the FCIC catalog, on the organization and usability of the FCIC website (http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov), and on the timeliness and ease of ordering publications from Pueblo, Colorado.
"For 30 years, the CIC has done an outstanding job of disseminating millions of free and low-cost Federal consumer publications to the American public," said Barram. "One of GSA's strategic goals is to excel at customer service. With this in mind, GSA is bringing together two outstanding programs that provide information to the public." The Federal Information Center will join the Consumer Information Center to establish a new Federal Consumer Information Center to provide a more responsive and integrated level support to the public via telephone, website, and through printed materials."
GSA was one of 32 Federal agencies that participated in the survey commissioned by Vice President Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR). The survey was part of the Clinton Administration's initiative to streamline and improve agency operations. The survey was conducted by the National Quality Research Center of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in conjunction with Arthur Anderson LLP of Chicago. It used the American Customer Satisfaction Index to gauge customer satisfaction, the same index used by private companies. A second customer satisfaction survey will take place in 2000.