Justification for Change and Survey Changes

Justification

The Commercial Service wishes to use a revised User Satisfaction Survey form to replace the currently OMB-approved survey instrument (OMB Control No. 0625-0262).

In March-June 2008, the Commercial Service (CS) re-circulated the currently approved form throughout the organization to determine if it still met the strategic needs of the organization. Based on feedback from Senior Management, internal departments and field offices in the U.S. and overseas, it was determined that the survey needed to be modified in accordance with newly created performance metrics driven by OMB’s Program Assessment Rating Tool. In addition, it was determined that some of the existing questions needed to updated to ensure that the organization could measure customer oriented attributes, processes and subprocesses, identify the drivers or determinants of overall satisfaction, and provide clear, actionable insights for managerial intervention.

In June-August 2008, the CS sought feedback from outside customer satisfaction survey experts, including TRA Research Associates and CFI Group/American Customer Satisfaction Index, to determine how the current survey instrument could be improved without making any material or substantive changes.

After numerous meetings, teleconferences, and research, the CS revised the survey questions on this form to ensure that the agency could conduct sophisticated customer satisfaction data analysis. (Please note that the statistical analysis and collection methods for this survey have not changed)

The revised survey instrument was beta tested using CS clients, partners and industry associations and determined that the average time to complete the revised survey (including reading the introductory e-mail and instructions) is 15-20 minutes. Based on this research, it was determined that the revised survey does not increase the burden on respondents beyond the OMB approved burden estimate of 20-30 minutes per respondent. As such, CS has not made any material changes to the survey that will impact the respondents’ burden.

All questions relate to customer satisfaction with the CS or provide contextual information that is essential for analyzing and improving the effectiveness of the organization and providing measures used in strategic planning and the allocation of resources. The survey responses will continue to be used to assess client satisfaction, measure organizational effectiveness, and identify areas where service levels and benefits differ from client expectations.

The revised survey will replace the currently approved survey and will be sent to a random sample of clients on an annual basis. No new respondents will be added and no new burden will be created by this change.

On the revised survey, the questions that replaced questions on the previous survey are highlighted in blue; questions that were retained with change are highlighted in red.

Inventory of Changes to Strategic User Satisfaction Survey

OMB Control 0625-0262

Questions Removed from Currently Approved Survey

2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 13

Questions Added to Revised Survey

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 14

Questions Retained from Currently Approved Survey without Changes

9 (was #1), 10 (was #2), 11 (was #3) and 16 (was #14)

Questions Retained from Currently Approved Survey with Changes

12 (was #8), 13 (was #9) and 15 (was #3)