It’s difficult to believe November first is next week! While I’m not quite ready for the snow, I’m completely prepared for the food! One of my favorites? Gravy. While not something to eat by itself (although I’m not putting it past anyone), gravy is the staple side to most comfort foods. Largely because it’s delicious, but also because it’s an easy pairing. And as the first snowfalls nudge us inside and we forgo our afternoon apple for the warmth of these comforting foods, we will feel guilty for falling off the healthy-eating bandwagon. But with the click of your remote, that guilt is forgotten. If we’re lucky, we might even fall asleep and snooze through that workout class for the third time this week.
Within minutes of turning to TV, however, you remember that commercials in November are political enough to push everyone back into the kitchen for a second serving of stress eating, and you’re glad you bought the extra jar of gravy.
As if it’s not challenging enough to stay informed about ballot issues and who is running for what, we first need to worry about registering to vote. Looking out the window at blustery winds and a snow-covered car, you think about the line at the secretary of state’s office, take another bite, and decide to put off registration until tomorrow, right after that workout class.
Hop Online, Not In Line
Did you know that, instead of enduring another campaign commercial or a white-knuckled trip to the secretary of state’s office, most people could spend that time registering to vote? Yes, from your couch. In less time than it takes to re-heat your leftovers!
Last year, Washington state’s Department of Licensing felt so strongly about online self-service for routine constituent needs, they produced a musical about it. And in case you forgot SOS 101, they also shared some best practices.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0zCOdfWWNU]
Through its campaign “Hop Online, Not In Line,” Michigan is another state that offers its constituents the ability to take care of government-related business from the comfort and convenience of wherever they may be. Whether you’re registering to vote or to become an organ donor, or you’re just renewing a vehicle tabs, many of your citizen duties are really gravy tasks. Simply click a few buttons on your mobile device, and you’re back to clicking over campaign commercials.
Not Riding the Gravy Boat?
How is your community performing on issues like real-time pothole alerts, tracking real estate licenses, processing rebates for low-income individuals, complaint tracking and more? How is your budget looking? If you’re forcing residents to stress eat after hours in long lines, and your consistently shrinking budget can’t afford to keep hiring and paying overtime, the problem might be in your out-moded, paper-driven processes.
With more people multi-tasking and more government agencies forced to do more with less, it’s critical that fulfilling resident tasks is more convenient and cost-effective than ever before. And yes, that is a “thing” that government sectors across the nation are implementing, and it’s called OnBase® by Hyland.
And if you’d rather watch a demo than more campaign commercials, send us a message. We won’t even ask you to put your fork down.
How many stars would constituents give your customer service? Is five really enough?