VA's Allin Promises ‘Go Big or Go Home’ Approach to Customer Service

The Veterans Affairs Department isn’t shying away from its well-chronicled challenges in improving relationships with 11 million veterans across America.

On Wednesday, Chief Veteran Experience Officer Tom Allin told a Washington, D.C., audience a “customer experience measurement” will become an agency priority goal. The agency, which commands a $169 billion budget and employs some 350,000 people, is similar in size to a Fortune 10 company. If VA can meet its lofty customer experience goal, it will service its customers on par with the best private sector companies, too.

“Everybody is going to be measured on veteran experience and this will definitely change behavior,” Allin said. “Not to be timid, but our goal is to achieve 90 percent (customer experience satisfaction) in three years.”

Allin, who joined VA less than one year ago, said he and his team acknowledge their goals are “a little aggressive.” But a mediocre attitude toward serving the veterans who valiantly served the country is not acceptable.

“It’s go big or go home, and we’ll see if we can achieve it,” Allin said.

Allin said veterans are entitled to service and experience across VA’s nine business lines “that is predictable, consistent and easy,” a far cry from the overall level of service the agency provides now. Allin said the agency has 220 databases “that don’t talk to each other,” close to 1,000 websites, approximately 900 toll-free numbers and essentially a different way of teaching customer experience to front-line staff for each of its medical facilities.

VA, however, is addressing each of those major issues. The agency is consolidating its websites to one location – www.vets.gov – which will launch in beta Nov. 11.

VA is also going to consolidate calls for its 250 call centers through a single toll-free number and is in the process of developing a single approach to functional training, onboarding and mentoring employees.

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