Pacific Consulting Group Asked to Participate in Taxpayer Assistance Blueprint Project for IRS
Palo Alto, CA—January 25, 2006—The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has embarked on an extensive effort to reexamine its overall taxpayer service strategy by conducting a comprehensive review of its current portfolio of taxpayer services. This effort, known as the Taxpayer Assistance Blueprint (TAB), seeks to address both short-term and longer-term decisions around how to allocate resources to serve taxpayer needs and maximize overall taxpayer value.
Pacific Consulting Group (PCG) will incorporate customer data with IRS operational information to develop a mathematical model that will assist the IRS in determining how much to spend on its various service delivery channels (field offices, Toll-free line, Web site, and regular mail) over the next few years. The IRS needs to answer questions such as "What allocation of resources to service channels will maximize overall taxpayer value within current budget constraints?", "How will these different allocations affect different types of taxpayers?", and "Where should research, money, and effort be invested to further support a service planning effort?" Much of the information needed to answer these questions is currently unavailable. PCG's role is to acquire that information and develop a model that will help the IRS answer these questions.
This project has two components. One component is conjoint analysis. For this research, we are interviewing several thousand taxpayers to understand their tradeoff decisions between using one IRS service channel versus another. Information gathered from this research will be used in the second component of the project, modeling.
PCG will develop a channel allocation model that incorporates the customer research to assist the IRS in determining how much to spend on its various service delivery channels over the next few years. This model will enable the IRS to calculate costs and benefits, such as:
- Improvements in service attributes. For example, the model will quantify both the benefits to taxpayers and the costs to the IRS of increasing the percentage of issues resolved in one contact. This analysis can be done for any segment, interaction, or attribute.
- Demand management. The model will forecast the savings of reducing demand outright or of shifting demand to less expensive channels.
- Shortfall analyses. Currently taxpayers may not be using the service channels that the conjoint shows they prefer. Analysis here can size the opportunity for improving aggregate taxpayer value by moving them to a more preferred channel.
- Efficiency increases. Efficiency improvements in service delivery amount to “free” staff additions. The model will calculate the additional benefits to taxpayers associated with reallocating staff or resources in a particular area.
By varying relevant model parameters and calculating the changes in costs and benefits, the IRS will be able to use this model to identify and prioritize optional improvement areas.
About Pacific Consulting Group
Pacific Consulting Group (PCG) is a management consulting firm specializing in helping organizations improve their customers' and employees' experience and satisfaction. PCG's flagship service is the proprietary Net Impression® process, which integrates measurement and action into a strategic approach that perpetuates change. PCG's services include designing customer/employee assessment strategies, conducting qualitative research, designing and administering surveys, analyzing and prioritizing improvement targets, and action planning to turn market research into successful innovations that improve the customer/employee experience and business results.