A. Justification
The purpose of this submission is to request OMB authorization of the ODA Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center, Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. The Small Business Administration is authorized to make loans to victims of declared disasters for the purpose of restoring their damaged property to, as near as possible, pre-disaster conditions. SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance provides customer service to individual and business loan applicants on the phone and via email through its Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center (DACSC) and in-person through its Field Operations Centers (FOC).
The DACSC is the national contact center for SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance. Operating from its location in Buffalo, New York, the DACSC provides customer support to disaster victims throughout the United States and U.S. Territories. Handling an average of several hundred thousand calls annually, Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) at the DACSC respond to a variety of SBA program inquiries concerning the disaster loan program. ODA also operates two Field Operations Centers – The FOC-E in Atlanta, Georgia and the FOC-W in Sacramento, California. The FOCs deploy customer service representatives to staff temporary disaster recovery centers and SBA disaster loan outreach centers. During a typical year, the FOCs deploy hundreds of CSRs to the field to aid tens of thousands of disaster victims.
The DACSC and FOCs presently measure ‘outputs’ with regard to customer service. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), including wait times, abandonment rates, and average call handling times, are tracked and compared with levels achieved by the very best call centers in the industry. Similarly, the FOCs track productivity criteria including customer contacts, applications accepted and summary declines processed. However, these output measures are ineffective indicators of ‘customer satisfaction.’
The best way to truly measure customer satisfaction is by soliciting immediate feedback from customers. The proposed customer satisfaction survey directly addresses this critical issue.
2. How, by whom, and for what purpose information will be used. A team of Quality Assurance staff at the DACSC will conduct a brief telephone survey of a representative sample of customers to measure their satisfaction with the service received from the DACSC and FOCs. The results will be used to evaluate internal performance and provide timely feedback on areas of possible concern. Additionally, implementing an on-going program to survey customers and measure their satisfaction will provide a meaningful ‘outcome’ metric for the DACSC and FOCs and will serve as an independent measurement of the centers’ performance through the eyes of its customers. Customer satisfaction surveys are a hallmark of all successful organizations in both the private and public sectors and would further demonstrate ODA’s commitment to customer service.
3. Technological collection techniques. The survey would be administered telephonically by a trained CSR. The CSR will capture the survey data using a computerized input form saved to a network database for analysis and reporting purposes.
4. Efforts to identify duplication. ODA contracts with the University of Michigan to conduct an annual customer satisfaction survey of the disaster loan program, however, this survey is administered only once for the entire year making it of limited value in assessing the real-time service levels in the various ODA centers. The infrequent delivery of the existing survey renders it ineffective for measuring on-going customer satisfaction rates and identifying areas of concern in a timely manner. Also, because the existing survey is geared towards assessing customer satisfaction on a broad level, it is often difficult to relate its results to specific work units. For example, when surveying a borrower about “customer service” (after months and perhaps dozens of interactions), it is uncertain whether the borrower is referring to an interaction with the DACSC, Processing and Disbursement Center or possibly even the FOC. A survey administered to elicit timely feedback regarding a specific interaction and work unit (e.g. the DACSC, or the FOC), would be a better indicator of on-going customer satisfaction and would provide managers with relevant information to address problems as they occur rather than months afterward. We do not believe the existing survey provides the type of specific, targeted, timely and on-going feedback that will be provided by the proposed process.
5. Impact on small businesses or other small entities. This survey will not have a significant economic impact on small businesses or other small entities.
6. Consequence if collection is conducted less frequently or is not conducted. Failure to implement the proposed methodology will affect ODA’s ability to accurately assess customer satisfaction levels and therefore, will affect management’s ability to take appropriate measures to improve delivery of critical financial assistance to disaster victims.
7. Existence of special circumstances. There are no special circumstances.
Solicitation of public comment. ODA solicited comments in Federal Register Vol. 73, No. 123, page 36161-dated June 25, 2008 (copy attached). The comment period closed August 25, 2008, and no comments were received.
9. Payments or gifts to respondents. There are no payments or gifts to respondents.
10. Assurance of confidentiality. The data captured through this survey will be maintained in an encrypted database accessible by a small number of authorized users. Management reports will not be specifically linked to any person or entity, but rather will depict the aggregate results of surveys administered over a specified period. Therefore, there is no need for assurances of confidentiality. The information is however, subject to the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. §552).
Questions of a sensitive nature. No sensitive questions are asked.
Estimates of the hourly burden. We propose to survey a random sample (90% Confidence Level with a 10 % margin of error) of callers to the DACSC. The survey would be comprised of 6 short questions, 4 requiring a “Yes/No” response and 2 requiring a rating on a 1-5 scale. The survey is estimated to take approximately 5 minutes per customer to administer. A similar sample of Field Operation Center (FOC) customers will also be surveyed, potentially doubling the agency’s burden hours for this activity. (See attached surveys). Based on average activity levels for the DACSC during 2007 and 2008, we estimate surveying 67 customers per day. Based on customer visits to field locations, we estimate surveying an additional 132 FOC customers per week to achieve statistically significant results. The survey is optional and the cost to the customer in terms of time is negligible.
Customer Service Center Customer Survey
Total Surveys = 67 a day x 5 = 335 surveys per week
335 x 52 = 17,420 annual responses
17,420 x .083 (5 minutes) = 1,445 burden hours
Field Operations Customer Survey
Total Surveys =26 a day x 5 = 132
132 a week x 52 = 6,864 annual responses
6,864 x .083 (5 minutes) = 569 burden hours
Total number of surveys= 17,420 + 6,864 = 24,284 respondents
Total burden hours = 2,014
13. Estimate of total annual cost burden. There are no additional costs beyond that identified in Item 12 above.
Estimated annualized cost to the Federal Government. We estimate that it takes approximately 8 minutes (including minimal administrative duties) to conduct the survey. Agency burden hours are calculated below:
24,284 x .133 (8 minutes) per survey = 3,230 Agency burden hours
The annual cost estimate for the Agency is based on the salary of a GS-9, Step 1, ($22 per hour), which is the typical grade for an employee performing these surveys. The cost is calculated as follows:
3,230 x $22.00 per hour = $71,060 Annual cost to the Government
15. Explanation of program changes or adjustments in Items 13 and 14 on OMB Form 83-I. This is a new collection.
16. Collection of information whose results will be published. No publication is anticipated.
Expiration date for collection of information. SBA will display the OMB expiration date.
18. Exceptions to certification statement in Block 19 on OMB Form 83-I. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | .Supporting Statement, SBA Form 987 |
| Author | Bridget Dusenbury |
| Last Modified By | JKWhite |
| File Modified | 2009-10-15 |
| File Created | 2009-10-07 |