HMRC Webchat Customer Research - GOV.UK

1 Behaviour, Insight and Research Team Research report 464 hmrc Webchat Customer Research Qualitative Research with hmrc customers Ipsos MORI April 2017 Behaviour, Insight and Research Team Webchat Customer Research 2 Disclaimer: The views in this report are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of HM Revenue & Customs. Crown Copyright 2017 Copyright in the material, typographical arrangement and design rests with the Crown. This publication may be re-used free of charge in any format or medium, and provided that it is reproduced accurately and not used in misleading context, under the terms of the Open Government Licence (OGL) The material must be acknowledged with the title and source of the publication specified.

2 Published by HM Revenue and Customs, August 2017 Behaviour, Insight and Research Team Webchat Customer Research 3 Contents Research requirement (background to the project) .. 4 When the Research took place .. 4 Who did the work ( Research agency) .. 5 Methodology .. 5 Main Findings .. 6 Behaviour, Insight and Research Team Webchat Customer Research 4 Research requirement (background to the project) hmrc is working to transform tax and payments for its customers through the delivery of multi-channel digital services1. Through Making Tax Digital, hmrc has developed a range of digital services for customers. This includes the Personal Tax Account (PTA), which is an online account through which customers can view and manage their tax affairs.

3 Alongside this, hmrc is developing a variety of digital support channels for customers, including videos on YouTube, webinars, Virtual Assistant and webchat2. hmrc Webchat is a secure online service allowing customers to speak to advisers in real time. This service was started in April 2015, and operates on across personal tax services and on some employer and agent services. Customers can chat with advisers to discuss queries, including those regarding their personal circumstances, and receive additional support with other digital services. hmrc also offers a virtual support service on some of its webpages, known as Virtual Assistant. This secure service is available 24 hours a day, and helps customers with their queries by directing them to the appropriate online guidance.

4 Where Virtual Assistant is unable to answer a Customer s question it will, where possible, re-direct the question to one of hmrc s Webchat advisers. hmrc commissioned this Research to understand Customer use and experience of Webchat , and consider how far this aligned with expectations and requirements. Specifically, the study looked to: discover how Webchat fits within the Customer journey and explore the reasons why customers use Webchat to contact hmrc ; understand Customer experience of hmrc s Webchat and identify areas for improvement; identify any barriers or enablers to use of Webchat ; and explore connections between use of Webchat and other digital services including the PTA.

5 When the Research took place The Research was designed and conducted between November 2016 and January 2017. Fieldwork took place between 7th December 2016 and 9th January 2017. 1 hmrc Single Departmental Plan 2015 to 2020 ( ) 2 Transforming tax and payments, Your Charter Annual Report: April 2015 to March 2016 ( ) Behaviour, Insight and Research Team Webchat Customer Research 5 Who did the work ( Research agency) The Research was undertaken by the Employment Welfare and Skills team working in Ipsos MORI s Social Research Institute, in collaboration with the hmrc project team. Methodology A qualitative approach was undertaken to this study.

6 Qualitative Research aims to understand the range of views and factors underpinning these. It does not seek to provide statistical or numeric information. A total of 29 telephone depth interviews were conducted with users and non-users of hmrc Webchat and a mini focus group (with 3 respondents) was conducted with non-users. A full breakdown of participants is included in the appendix. Users of Webchat were recruited using a sample provided by hmrc . The sample included customers who participated in an hmrc Webchat and agreed to take part in the Research (at the end of the Webchat ). As such there is potential for some bias towards those who had a relatively more positive experience of Webchat overall (as those who abandoned the Webchat were not recruited to this study).

7 Non-users of hmrc webchat3 were recruited using free-find methods. Both users and non-users of Webchat were recruited by specialist recruiters. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling approach whereby key quotas were set and participants recruited accordingly, using a screening document to assess key characteristics. Fieldwork was undertaken by specialist qualitative researchers at Ipsos MORI. All data was recorded securely and analysed using a rigorous inductive analytic approach, whereby data is synthesised into thematic headings and interrogated for patterns and themes. 3 Non-users were defined as those who had not used hmrc s Webchat .

8 They may have previously used other organisations Webchat services. Digitally excluded customers (those that do not use, or have access to, the internet) were not included in this study. Behaviour, Insight and Research Team Webchat Customer Research 6 Main Findings Summary Overall, Customer assessment of hmrc Webchat among participating users was positive. Users of Webchat tended to feel they had been dealt with swiftly and professionally had their queries resolved. There were few examples of negative experiences among those interviewed, and areas of improvement identified were more in the nature of changes that would help develop an ideal service. The primary barrier to Webchat use noted by non-users of hmrc Webchat in our sample, was said to be lack of awareness of the service, rather than negative preconceptions or experience of Webchat elsewhere.

9 In their interactions with other companies and organisations, both users and non-users said they were starting to use Webchat more frequently, and had a clear perception of the benefits it offered compared to the phone. These included speed, convenience, the ability to multi-task while transacting and to generate an electronic record of the interaction, in the form of a chat log. Users of Webchat were motivated to contact hmrc either to obtain specific information about their own financial affairs (for instance, about the non-receipt of tax credit payments, or a mistake identified in their tax calculation) or because they had been unable to find or understand guidance on the hmrc web pages.

10 In almost all cases, using Webchat was a spontaneous rather than a planned decision. Webchat was not the start of the customers journey, rather it was identified as a way of contacting hmrc when searching for contact details (on the Contact Us page), or it presented itself as an option (via a pop-up) when seeking information on hmrc s web pages. In both cases users decided to use Webchat only when they were presented with the option to do so. As a result of the largely positive experiences noted by users of hmrc Webchat , customers were keen for hmrc to do more to promote the Webchat service. It was felt the most important features to communicate were the speed, security and personal (rather than automated) nature of the service offered.