Without the pressure of publicity and penalties for failure, progress has been mixed. Greg Woods, the deputy director of the National Performance Review, who hatched the initiative, estimates that only 10 percent to 20 percent of agencies have even begun to measure how well they do in fulfilling their service standards. But there have been success stories. The Postal Service is among them, as many business shippers learned during the UPS strike. The World Leader To learn how to put teeth into customer service standards, the United States should look back across the Atlantic.
Rail service offers a good example.
The Conservative government privatized British Rail in 1995 and 1996. One private company now owns the tracks, while 25 different companies have won franchises to operate rail lines. Pressed by the threat of financial loss, many rail lines have steadily improved their performance. And they are not alone. The National Health Service, which has set maximum waiting times for different services, has lowered waiting times for appointments from as long as two hours to a maximum of 30 minutes.