Stakeholders are people or groups that hold a vital interest in how the agency does its job. These include constituent interest groups, congressional oversight committees, and the general public, as well as customers and employees. But customers are the people who actually engage in transactions with the agency. To evaluate agency performance, survey its customers. Paul Light says a flaw in using customer satisfaction to measure performance is that there's no such thing as a single government customer.
Most agencies have many groups of customers, often with conflicting interests.
The U.S. Forest Service, for example, simultaneously serves recreational, forestry and mining interests. Veterans Benefits surveys customers for all its services, from home loans to vocational rehabilitation services. It even surveys customers who were turned down for benefits. Next year they'll also survey college-aid officers, high school guidance counselors and financial institutions that make student loans. Many agencies deliver both an obligation and a service.