Imagine having a more personalized and seamless experience while dealing with government services. That is exactly what the Social Security Administration (SSA) is working towards. At the Pega government-empowered conference, Sam Richardson, who is the Social Security Administration’s associate commissioner for the Office of Electronic Services and Technology, announced a major CRM (customer relationship management) that prioritizes the customer’s needs and experiences.
During the Pega Government Empowered conference, Sam Richardson talked about social security’s transformative CRM modernization journey, and through their partnership with Pegasystemshow, all of this is made possible. What they made possible is the technician experience dashboard, which is designed to empower frontline employees to deliver top-notch services to customers. Richardson expressed his gratitude for the collaborative effort, stating that working with the Pega team and the SSA’s professionals has been a privilege. He described the modernization process as challenging but worth the challenge, as it would make a real difference in people’s lives. He also mentioned the importance of customer service and how it directly influences the view of the customer on the Social Security Administration during the conference.
Richardson also brought up the focus on how the Social Security Administration is a lifeline for 72 million Americans, including retirees, disabled workers, survivors, and those who are all receiving supplemental security income. “These individuals are not just numbers,” she says, “they are our neighbors, friends, and family members struggling to make ends meet or navigate life’s toughest moments.” She also shares her view on how people often turn to SSA when heartbreaking times happen, such as losing a family member or facing a disability. She explains that they are more than just a bureaucracy and that they offer compassion, understanding, and empathy to people in need while treating them with respect and dignity. To achieve this aim, the SSA has implemented a CRM system that delivers personalized experiences to the customers so that the staff can focus on what she claims to be that truly matters—the people in need. She also talks about the importance of each and every conversation by saying those are a chance to make a real difference in lives. The importance of integrating information sources in delivering exceptional customer outcomes should also not be forgotten, as it is the backbone of success, and without it, all the efforts they have now made fall short. Richardson also gives out some of her valuable insights to organizations that want to achieve a similar CRM journey for them to prioritize the process refinement and to ensure that all the data is accurate and consistent because if not, all the work would be for nothing. You should also align the teams around and clear the problem statements. Richardson explains that the SSA’s CRM capability aims to provide a single, unified view of each customer, and they have multiple perspectives on their customers across various operating components, but she also adds that the fragmented approach doesn’t serve the SSA well as it needs a shared understanding to support the customers, so they use multiple tools, tackling similar challenges and focusing on the same goal.
