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Posted July 9, 2001
Down at the DMVBy John Martin
There are two ways most adults regularly interact with their state governments. One is paying taxes. The other is getting a driver’s license or registering a car. I’ve lived in six states, and practically every encounter I’ve had with the department of motor vehicles (by whatever name it is known in one jurisdiction or another) has made me seriously consider just giving up on the idea of trying to own and operate a car.
When I first moved to the District of Columbia in 1984, the driver’s licensing experience was, to be charitable, unpleasant: endless lines, surly clerks imparting conflicting information, a Third World environment of malfunctioning air conditioning, peeling institutional paint and cracked Linoleum. As the years passed, it managed to get worse. Then a reform mayor was elected, partly on a pledge to fix the DMV, and in fact things got better for a while. Then things got worse again. Another reform mayor was elected. Things still got worse. Last year, the simple act of trying to register a used car I’d bought required three trips to the DMV.
Georgia was one of those states I passed through on the way to D.C., and things have been proceeding along the same track there, with hours-long line waits at license renewal offices, particularly in the fast-growing Atlanta suburbs. Governor Roy Barnes (who admits that, as far as DMV capacity is concerned, the growth in those suburbs “slipped up on us”) is pledging to fix the problems, partly by establishing mail-in and online renewals. Most states are putting a lot of time and money into trying to move as much of this misery online as they can, offering vehicle registration and in some cases driver’s license renewals. At least two states have set up Web sites where people needing to transact business at the DMV can check on how long the lines are.
Of course, it would be a lot better if the lines were shorter in the first place. Driver’s licensing and vehicle registration are always going to be process-intensive bureaucracies, but bureaucracy is one thing government is good at. States have been licensing drivers and registering vehicles for the better part of a century. (The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators was founded in 1933.) So why do so many states not seem to get how important this bureaucracy is to their relationships with their citizens? Why, while so many of them churn out press releases about their wonderful new online DMV services, do they neglect to take simple (and cost-free) steps to help citizens even find those services?
It seems not too much to ask that a state’s Web portal have a direct and clear link to its vehicle- and driving-related services. Recently I clicked through all 51 state home pages (counting D.C.) to see how many of them were providing such a clear link. I was pretty liberal in my definition — just about any mention of vehicles or driver’s licensing or the DMV on the home page was enough to earn a check mark. I could find only 17 home pages that passed this test. (D.C. passed; Georgia flunked.)
No one is ever going to enjoy a trip to the DMV, either in person or online. These bureaucracies are expensive management headaches, but surely it is a price worth paying to make this ubiquitous point of contact with government a reasonably pleasant experience, or at least one that doesn’t amount to abuse of the citizenry.
John Martin is editor of Governing.com.
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Readers’ Responses:
As a DMV administrator, I frequently share your frustration with the lack of attention that government leaders give to the one agency that virtually all citizens 16 years of age and older must come to “up close and personal.” One way of driving the point home is to use the concept of the DMVs being the “front door” of state government. The impression of the efficiency, responsiveness and user-friendliness of state government is, for most citizens, formed by their visits to the DMV. This concept, though fairly simple to grasp, sometimes takes years to sink in to politicians’ collective psyche.
Through constant effort, the front-door concept can win acceptance with government leaders. It is, after all, in their best interest to do so. Frequently the more difficult sell is to the front-line staff. Many people in government service see themselves as watchdogs more than customer-service representatives. They often feel that their job is to look for ways to say no to the “applicant” instead of trying to find a way to say yes to the “customer.” With years of tradition of setting up barriers for citizens, it is hard and persistent work to change the ingrained attitudes. In Wisconsin, it took years to get staff to refer to the citizens as “customers” rather than those who need our permission, the “applicant.”
Some techniques can be borrowed from the private sector. Indeed the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has created a standing committee on customer-service delivery to aid DMVs in developing customer-service cultures. AAMVA has consulted with major providers of customer-service excellence, the most notable being the Disney organization. Changing the naming of our clientele from applicant to customer was a variant on the Disney practice of calling their public “Guests” with a capital G. Other techniques involve sophisticated queuing theory and lobby management. More recently, products are being processed by the customer on-line or through touch-tone telephones without the need to visit the DMV. The use of third-party vendors to deliver DMV products also cuts down on “service center” (no longer called “exam station”) visits.
A major problem with government agencies is the matter of accountability. Are we doing our jobs efficiently? For many years, the model was to compare output with the input of resources and try to benchmark the results. This method totally ignored the question of whether we were doing what the customer expected or not. In Wisconsin, we have borrowed a concept from the automobile industry, the Customer Satisfaction Index. The CSI is a weighted compilation of scores based on measurable activities (such as average wait times, mail-in turnaround times, telephone abandon rates, etc.). The customers expectations are determined in several ways (surveys, comment cards, complaints and, believe it or not, compliments, interviews, etc.). The customer’s expectation is set at 7 on a scale of 1 to 10, since our ultimate goal is to exceed their expectations. This tool has been in use for about four years and has given us a very accurate image of where to put resources for maximum customer benefit. It also allows us to predict what will happen to levels of service when resources are cut or augmented.
The drive to keep the CSI up has led to many process improvement teams, since it points out areas for concentrated effort. There must be a spirit of innovation generated by upper management to employ new methods, use technology creatively, allow customers to do more for themselves, and practice constructive abandonment of products or services that are no longer needed.
As to people not enjoying their trips to the DMV, we have experienced overwhelming positive comments from the 100,000-plus cards that I receive annually. Our employees have found that when they are friendly to customers, the customers are friendly to them. They also found that they can derive satisfaction in helping a customer through a difficult transaction.
We still suffer the same problems of any government agency — input-based budgeting, archaic procurement systems, inefficient civil service procedures, too many resources squandered on unnecessary oversight agencies, etc. But through dogged perseverance and remaining constantly fixed on the customer service goal, DMVs can be a most customer-focused agency in state government and example for the rest of the bureaucracy to follow.
Roger D. Cross
You are certainly correct that taxes and motor vehicle registrations are “two ways most adults regularly interact with state government.” How lucky can the Missouri Department of Revenue be to get to deal with both areas in one department. (I think that's true in about 17 states.)
Actually, the Missouri DOR has a real story to tell, a story that challenges Jonathan Walters’ implication that private sector improvement tools have no business in government. In February of this year, the Missouri DOR became the first state agency in Missouri ever to receive the Excellence in Missouri Foundation’s Missouri Quality Award, based on the Malcolm Baldrige award criteria. Only a few state agencies nationwide have ever met these stringent requirements.
The award is a great goal, and nice recognition for employees, but a focus on results, listening to customers and employee involvement drove real improvements. Among other benefits, the department reduced wait times by over 50 percent, and reduced the processing time for tax refunds and deposits by 80 percent.
Quentin Wilson
In response to your commentary, you obviously have not visited the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Your broad-brush article paints an inaccurate picture of the service quality many citizens experience with motor vehicle agencies. Virginians can attest to top-quality service and “pleasant” experiences with the Department of Motor Vehicles in the Commonwealth.
In 2000, Virginia DMV served 6.9 million customers who conducted 8.6 million transactions with an average statewide wait time of eight minutes and 48 seconds. The agency streamlined the service process, eliminated lines and afford customers the option of sitting comfortably in the lobby during their short wait for service. The most frequent complaint received in our customer service centers is that the numbers are called so quickly that customers do not have enough time to fill out their transaction forms.
Equipped with the latest technology tools, Virginia DMV employees are committed to realizing the agency’s vision of providing the ultimate in customer service. A direct result of happier customers waiting less time for service in our offices is happier employees. Additionally, agency restructuring provided employees with new job opportunities and career paths. And when needed, Virginia DMV upgraded front-line employees’ salaries to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. We also conduct extensive training for counter personnel and offer employee recognition programs. These steps have helped us create a knowledgeable and highly motivated workforce.
Attractive, professional facilities are well lit and decorated with framed artwork instead of institutional posters. No matter which Virginia DMV office a customer visits, the office looks similar and provides the same high level of service as any other DMV office. Plus, Virginia’s DMV offices are open more hours than most state agencies. During the week, customer service centers open at 8:30 a.m. Rural offices close at 4:30 p.m while urban and suburban offices close at 5:30 p.m. All offices are open on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Two Northern Virginia mall office locations offer even longer service hours since their opening and closing corresponds with mall hours of operation (10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday).
For the third year in a row, customers gave Virginia’s DMV rave reviews in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by the University of Virginia. Last year, 94 percent of the respondents rated the agency’s performance as good or excellent. Additionally, customers recognized the improvements in facilities, courteousness, accuracy of information provided and the overall Virginia DMV experience.
But customers do not have to visit an office to receive excellent service. The agency offers an impressive range of service methods, including driver’s license and vehicle registration renewal transactions by Internet (www.dmvnow.com), mail, fax, touch-tone telephone and extraTeller self-service kiosks.
To inform Virginians of these service options, the agency goes beyond just touting the innovations in news releases. Publications, including the Virginia Driver’s Manual, customer correspondence and renewal notices highlight service methods available to citizens. The agency also developed sample transactions for Web and extraTeller customers to “test drive” a service. Brochures with the transaction information are distributed in customer service centers.
Virginia’s DMV serves as a role model for motor vehicle administrations and government agencies across the nation. For two consecutive years, the agency received the customer service excellence award from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. In 1999, the agency was recognized for its electronic queuing system and in 2000 for our virtual customer service center. In July, the agency picked-up its second Pioneer Award from e-Govemment 2001 for innovative use of technology. Other recent honors include the MIT e-Citizen Award, Government Technology’s Best of the Web and the Civic.com State and Local 50 Award. In 2000, Virginia DMV won a Certificate for Significant Achievement from United States Senate Productivity and Quality Award and was selected for a site-visit in the 2001 competition.
I invite you to visit the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. You will discover a sharp contrast to the words printed in your “Down at the DMV” article and see first-hand our commitment to service excellence.
Asbury W. Quillian
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