Governor’s Customer Service Initiative

“Marylanders expect the best possible customer service from their state government, and that is exactly what they deserve.”
– Governor Hogan

Early in 2016, as part of the Hogan-Rutherford plan for regulatory reform, Governor Hogan tasked all state agencies to set a new standard and change the culture throughout government to improve services for all Marylanders. Specfiically, the Governor’s Customer Service Initiative focuses on three core results for the citizens of Maryland:

A renewed focus on a strong service culture in state agencies
Improved customer service training for Maryland state employees
The establishment of customer service performance metrics

To date, Marylanders have submitted over 471,529 survey responses providing the Governor with feedback about their customer service experience with the state. The Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement utilizes this feedback to assist agencies to implement performance and process improvements, while answering Governor Hogan’s call to recognize and celebrate exceptional customer service.

We collect feedback from three sources. One of them is from survey links in every Maryland employee’s email signature block and in various places on agency websites with the Give the Governor Your Feedback logo. The second source is from online transactions. When a Marylander completes an online transaction, the NIC Maryland survey link is provided. The third source is on Maryland Business Express where survey links are available for businesses to provide feedback.

Our Customer Service Promise serves as the basis of all interactions between state employees and customers.

The State of Maryland pledges to provide constituents, businesses, customers, and stakeholders with services in the following manner:

Friendly and Courteous: We will be helpful and supportive and have a positive attitude and passion for what we do.
Timely and Responsive: We will be proactive, take initiative, and anticipate your needs.
Accurate and Consistent: We will always aim for 100% accuracy, and be consistent in how we interpret and implement state policies and procedures.
Accessible and Convenient: We will continue to simplify and improve access to information and resources.
Truthful and Transparent: We will advance a culture of honesty, clarity and trust.

“One of the ways to improve our customer service culture is to recognize and celebrate members of our team who have gone above and beyond the normal service expectations to solve problems and to improve the services that we deliver in a manner consistent with the values embodied in our customer service promise.”
– Governor Hogan