Just as customer experience has become a crucial part of every company's success, citizen experience is climbing the public sector's priority ladder. The "age of the customer" is upon on us, and everyone needs to get on board!

In KPMG's recently published white paper on public sector digitalization for citizens, we take a closer look at how different branches of Luxembourg's public sector are performing in terms of citizen experience. From public administration and public transport, to public health and public commercial services (including utilities and postal services), we highlight the key challenges, describe existing initiatives, as well as outline a typical citizen journey. We also take inspiration from citizen experience best practices further afield.

Check out these seven tips to help public organizations enhance the digital citizen experience:

  1. Understand citizen motivation

Offer targeted experiences that truly meet their specific needs. KPMG has developed the "Five Mys" (my motivation, my attention, my connection, my watch and my wallet) – five key elements which help identify the real drivers of customer/citizen behavior.

  1. Combine human and digital forces

The secret is to place empathy at the heart of technological developments and accompany citizens as they familiarize themselves with new digital tools.

  1. Connect the organization's front, middle and back offices

This is essential to implementing citizen experience action plans effectively and efficiently while also aligning with business partners to jointly deliver on commitments to citizens.

  1. Develop a digital and citizen-oriented organizational culture

The link between the employee experience and the citizen-consumer experience is the beating heart of this approach. Indeed, citizen-oriented organizations devote significant resources to change management, skills development and staff awareness in order to accelerate internal digital transformation and promote a “symmetry of attention” towards citizens and employees. This means that the quality of the relationship between an organization and its customers/citizens must match the quality of the relationship between that organization and its employees.

  1. Collaborate with GovTech start-ups

Well-versed in how governments can optimize on technology, they can provide valuable insight in addition to innovative, tailored digital solutions.

  1. Master customer experience economics

It is essential to neither under- nor overspend on citizen experience delivery. The answer? Effectively balance upward pressure (outside-in) and downward pressure (inside-out) to deliver mutually realized value for both the citizen-consumer and the organization.

  1. Promote digital services

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.