Encouraging contractor engagement for portal improvements

[EmilyPage]

We are going to roll out improved interface with our permit portal within the next year and we are looking for better ways to get engagement from our users (mostly contractors). We will have a survey that we will send out in emails and will host a community meeting in November, but due to past experiences, I fear we will not get the quantity of responses we want. How do other jurisdictions engage with their customers to receive a decent volume of input?

 

[Emily C]

We have a quarterly(ish) developer's forum where we provide donuts/pastries and coffee and let them know what's up in the department and what's coming down the pipe. We just had one in September and gave a tour of our portal that we're going life with this month. It seems to work?

 

[Davenport]

You'd probably get more feedback if you offered a prize drawing for those who participated in the survey. That's assuming your office has the budget for it, of course.

 

[KayWard]

You have a good idea, Emily, and most contractors will appreciate that you're considering their input to make things better. We're all busy people, so I think you should keep the survey short and simple. If you include too many open-ended questions, people will end up bailing on the whole thing. It might be tricky to find the sweet spot, though.