1525-0012-0175 Justification

UNITED STATES MINT

QUANTITATIVE CONSUMER RESEARCH – Product Fulfillment Survey

10/4/2012

1. Introduction /Purpose of the Research

This request is for OMB clearance for the United States Mint to continue tracking customer satisfaction with the product ordering and fulfillment experience. This satisfaction tracking survey is fielded continuously throughout the year among customers who have recently had an order fulfilled. This collection was fielded during the last three quarters of FY12 under OMB control number 1525-0012-0170.

The purpose of the United States Mint Product Fulfillment Satisfaction Tracking survey is to assess and monitor customer satisfaction with key aspects of the order placement and fulfillment process. The information collected is instrumental in providing measurable insights on customer satisfaction and perceptions with the order and fulfillment portion of our services. In addition to serving as a tracking measure, we rely on the information collected to make ongoing improvements to these services and to help evaluate the impact of changes we implement.

Part of the United States Mint’s mission is to produce and make collectible coin products available directly to the American public. Executive Order No. 12862 (September 1993), titled “Setting Customer Service Standards,” establishes a mandate for the government to improve and adhere to best practices when providing customer service directly to the American people, such as by conducting research to determine satisfaction with existing services and to ensure the kind and quality of services offered are aligned with those the public wants (Section 1b). To effectively accomplish these goals, the United States Mint utilizes a combination of accepted research methods that shed light on the awareness, satisfaction and preferences among the public as they relate to collectible coin products and services. The Product Fulfillment Satisfaction Tracking survey is one of these instruments.

The consequence of not performing this collection is the United States Mint’s diminished ability to maintain service levels that satisfy customers.

II. Sample Design and Methodology

The United States Mint Product Fulfillment Survey is designed to be fielded continuously during the next 12 months among customers who have recently had an order fulfilled (within the previous half-month period). This will be a web-based survey of customers. The survey will be conducted continuously and results will be reported via a monthly scorecard and quarterly report.

A random sample of United States Mint customers who have had orders fulfilled within the prior half-month period will be used for this survey. The target sample size is 3,000 completes per quarter (12,000 per year), which will obtained in increments of 500 completes per each half-month sampling wave. In addition to allowing the United States Mint to analyze data based on various customer segments, including tenure and spend levels, obtaining this sample size every half month will allow the United States Mint to closely identify and track changes in customer satisfaction as the mix of products in orders being fulfilled changes throughout the year based on our annual product release schedule.

The sample for United States Mint customers will be obtained from the customer database lists. The sample will be selected randomly among the population of customers fitting the defined criteria. Based on our historic response rates and our experience with this survey, we anticipate inviting 30,000 customers per quarter to respond to the survey in order to achieve the targeted 3,000 completes per quarter. Collected survey data will be coded, cleaned, weighted and tabulated.

3. Product Fulfillment Survey Design

Potential respondents will be sent email invitations to complete the survey on-line. The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete and covers the following topics:

• Satisfaction with and importance of multiple aspects of recent order

• Specific reasons for dissatisfaction with any element of order fulfillment (open end)

• Satisfaction with each of the individual items received in most recent order

• Method of order placement (phone, internet, mail-in form, subscription, etc.)

• Shipping service/speed satisfaction and future needs

• Satisfaction with product/service areas

• Awareness/engagement

3. Methods to Maximize Response Rates

This survey approach is designed to minimize the amount of intrusion and burden that is placed on customers. Accordingly, calls will not be made to them, nor will other “intrusive” measures that normally might be used to maximize response rates. We plan to send e-mail invitations to customers explaining that participation is totally voluntary and that their feedback will be used to help improve the products and services we offer. Multiple reminder emails (e.g., two to three) will be sent to potential respondents to invite them to complete the survey. Respondents can complete the survey at a time convenient to them. No monetary incentive will be offered.

3. Estimate of the Burden Hours

The collection of information will involve completion of the survey via the Internet with up to a maximum of 3,000 randomly selected respondents for each quarterly survey wave (12,000 annually). The average time to complete the survey will be approximately 15 minutes. Therefore, the total estimated annual burden for this survey is 3,000 hours.

	Product Fulfillment Survey
All respondents	12,000
Average minutes to complete survey	15 mins
Total estimated burden hours	3,000 hrs

If you have questions related to the review of this collection request, you may contact any of the following individuals at the United States Mint’s Sales and Marketing Department:

• Kathy Chiarello – [email protected]; 202-354-7809

• David Gessert – [email protected]; 202-354-7549