Large corporations and bureaucracies generally get a bad rap when it comes to customer service — many with good reason.
As for customer service when it comes to government bureaucracies? You’d be hard pressed to find five-star reviews on Yelp. Federal agencies are trying to change that and will begin responding to reviews in an effort to improve government “customer satisfaction.”
If you search “US Postal Office,” “Transportation Security Administration” (TSA) or other federal agencies on Yelp, you will find that reviews have long been possible on the site but two-way dialog had not. With Yelp’s new terms of service for government agencies, announced yesterday, federal agencies and offices can now claim their existing pages on Yelp — or create new ones.
Yelp, for those unfamiliar, is a website and mobile app that was founded in 2004 to “help people find great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics.” Yelp has grown to a monthly average of 83 million unique users and is so commonly used, it has become a verb.
Don’t like your restaurant server’s attitude? Or, miffed that your favorite, local Indian take-out restaurant started halving their portions? Yelp it. Pleased with your latest haircut and color? Yelp that, too. According to Luther Lowe, Yelp’s VP of public policy, positive reviews still outweigh negative ones on the site, and he doesn’t anticipate that will change.
Lowe said, “In some ways, it augments our democracy.”
The platform will make it easier to expose what is and isn’t working in federal government. And, according to some 46 lawmakers that called for this change with the “Yelp for Government” initiative earlier this year, Washington is eager to embrace technology and social media to engage with commenters, using their feedback to improve.
Taxpayers can share tips and rate favorite features at a national park or yelp frustrations about customer service at the Internal Revenue Service — and know that their voices can be heard or even responded to now.
The amended terms of service agreement is available to all agencies for review, but it may take weeks or months for the added functionality to be fully implemented throughout the site. End users may not even notice the subtle, resulting visual changes. If you can spot a link that reads “Work here? Claim this business” however, then that particular Yelp business page has not yet been activated in an “official” capacity.
Regardless, this is a refreshing step in a positive direction — using social media to improve federal government’s unresponsive image is a very good thing.
Now if only state agencies like the DMV could come on board.
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