Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service

Executive Order 13571 of April 27, 2011

Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving
Customer Service

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to improve the quality of service
to the public by the Federal Government, it is hereby
ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The public deserves competent,
efficient, and responsive service from the Federal
Government. Executive departments and agencies
(agencies) must continuously evaluate their performance
in meeting this standard and work to improve it. To
this end, Executive Order 12862 (Setting Customer
Service Standards), issued on September 11, 1993,
requires agencies that provide significant services
directly to the public to identify and survey their
customers, establish service standards and track
performance against those standards, and benchmark
customer service performance against the best in
business. This effort to “put people first” was an
important step. It was reinforced by a Presidential
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies issued on March 22, 1995 (Improving Customer
Service), and a further Presidential Memorandum issued
on March 3, 1998 (Conducting “Conversations with
America” to Further Improve Customer Service).

However, with advances in technology and service
delivery systems in other sectors, the public's
expectations of the Government have continued to rise.
The Government must keep pace with and even exceed
those expectations. Government must also address the
need to improve its services, not only to individuals,
but also to private and Governmental entities to which
the agency directly provides significant services.
Government managers must learn from what is working in
the private sector and apply these best practices to
deliver services better, faster, and at lower cost.
Such best practices include increasingly popular lower-
cost, self-service options accessed by the Internet or
mobile phone and improved processes that deliver
services faster and more responsively, reducing the
overall need for customer inquiries and complaints. The
Federal Government has a responsibility to streamline
and make more efficient its service delivery to better
serve the public.

Sec. 2. Agency Customer Service Plans and Activities.
Within 180 days of the date of this order, each agency
shall develop, in consultation with the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), a Customer Service Plan
(plan) to address how the agency will provide services
in a manner that seeks to streamline service delivery
and improve the experience of its customers. As used in
this order, the term “customer” refers to any
individual or to any entity, including a business,
tribal, State or local government, or other agency, to
which the agency directly provides significant
services. The plan shall set forth the agency's
approach, intended benefits, and an implementation
timeline for the following actions:

    (a) establishing one major initiative (signature
initiative) that will use technology to improve the
customer experience;
    (b) establishing mechanisms to solicit customer
feedback on Government services and using such feedback
regularly to make service improvements;
    (c) setting clear customer service standards and
expectations, including, where appropriate, performance
goals for customer service required by the

GPRA (Government Performance and Results) Modernization
Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-352);
    (d) improving the customer experience by adopting
proven customer service best practices and coordinating
across service channels (such as online, phone, in-
person, and mail services);
    (e) streamlining agency processes to reduce costs
and accelerate delivery, while reducing the need for
customer calls and inquiries; and
    (f) identifying ways to use innovative technologies
to accomplish the customer service activities above,
thereby lowering costs, decreasing service delivery
times, and improving the customer experience.

Sec. 3. Publication of Agency Customer Service Plans.
Each agency shall publish its plan on its Open
Government web page.

Sec. 4. Assistance in Implementation. In consultation
with the heads of executive departments and agencies,
the Chief Performance Officer, who also serves as the
Deputy Director for Management of the OMB, shall
develop guidance for implementing the activities
outlined in this order. Such guidance shall include,
among other things, the nature and scope of services to
which the order's requirements will apply. The Office
of Management and Budget, the General Services
Administration, and the Office of Science and
Technology Policy shall assist and support agencies in
developing customer service standards and plans, online
posting of customer service metrics and best practices,
expediting review for customer feedback mechanisms
under the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.), improving the design and management of agency
websites providing services or information to the
public in compliance with section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), and using
innovative technologies to improve customer service at
lower costs.

Sec. 5. Independent Agencies. Independent agencies are
requested to adhere to this order.

Sec. 6. Privileged Information. Nothing in this order
shall compel or authorize the disclosure of privileged
information, law enforcement information, information
affecting national security, or information the
disclosure of which is prohibited by law.

Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the
head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the OMB relating to budgetary,
administrative, or legislative proposals.

    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.

    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    April 27, 2011.