DRAFT PWS - IRS Customer Experience Research 9-17-24.pdf

IRS Customer Experience Research BPA

DRAFT PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

A. Background

The mission of the IRS is to provide America’s taxpayers with top-quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax obligations and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.

To promote this mission, one IRS strategic goal is to “improve service to make voluntary compliance easier.” Key to continuous progress toward this goal is the capacity to measure the current state of taxpayer service, track changing taxpayer service expectations and the extent to which they are being met, identify critical taxpayer issues and service deficiencies, and take effective action to address and improve service.

The IRS requires performance against this objective to be evaluated, in part by measuring customer satisfaction. Executive Order 12862 requires all government agencies to survey their customers and incorporate their preferences into process improvement efforts. In addition, Executive Order 13166 charges all governmental agencies to provide the Spanish Limited English Proficient (LEP) community “meaningful access to IRS tax products and services.”

As an outcome of IRS Modernization, the Department of the Treasury (26 CFR 801)1 has established a Balanced Measures framework within which to assess IRS’ organizational performance, incorporating measures of quantitative and qualitative business results performance as well as customer and employee satisfaction performance. Periodic measurements of all these dimensions of organizational performance are reported to external stakeholder groups (most notably, to the IRS Oversight Board established by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act [RRA] of 1998) as well as to oversight entities within the Executive (Treasury, Office of Management & Budget) and Legislative branches. For the purposes of assessing customer satisfaction, the current official measure is percent of satisfied and percent of dissatisfied responses to a single overall satisfaction question.

As a further outcome of IRS Modernization, the IRS was structured into a number of different organizations focused on the needs of distinct groups of taxpayers. The principal operational organizations are:

• The Taxpayer Services Division: pre-filing and filing services; certain enforcement and non-enforcement activities.

• The Small Business/Self-Employed Division: limited pre-filing services;

significant enforcement activities for individuals and for business taxpayers with assets under $10 million.

• The Large Business and International Division: enforcement activities for business taxpayers with assets in excess of $10 million.

• The Tax Exempt/Government Entities Division: pre-filing and filing services;

enforcement and non-enforcement activities for employee pension plans, tax-exempt entities, State and local governments, and Indian tribes.

• Appeals: post-filing dispute resolution services to taxpayers that allow tax controversies to be settled without litigation.

• The Communications and Liaison Division: building relationships and understanding between IRS and its stakeholders through effective information sharing.

In conformity with the Balanced Measures framework, each of these organizations needs support in measuring taxpayer satisfaction, diagnosing service issues and addressing them with effective improvement actions.

Since March 1998, the means adopted by the IRS to meet these needs has been a program of regular customer surveys. From eleven (11) original surveys focused on taxpayers who had contact with the IRS in dealing with certain types of tax matters, this program has expanded to encompass additional surveys and studies focused on taxpayer groups or employees regardless of their interactions.

The following table depicts the surveys that have been awarded and currently ongoing. Most of them are administered on an ongoing basis. This will likely continue going forward. However, some of them are currently administered as infrequently as once per year and it is possible that they will be offered even less frequently going forward. The frequency of reporting on the surveys ranges from quarterly to annually, with some having both quarterly and annual reporting and some only having one annual report per year.

IRS Office Activity Surveyed Survey Mode Area

Surveyed Fielding Frequency

Appeals Appeals contacts, cases closed during fiscal year survey period

Web: Those not responding are contacted via telephone (Call-out)

National, area Quarterly

Communication and Liaison

Nationwide Tax Forums Web and in person paper surveys

National Annually

Large Business and International

(LB&I)

Industry and Coordinated Industry Examinations

Phone (Call-out)

National and five industries

Annually

LB&I Compliance Assurance Process Web National Annually

LB&I Foreign Resident Compliance Examinations

Mailed - paper survey

National Semi-annually

Small Business/Self- Employed (SB/SE)

Automated Collection System Phone IVR National - Campus Annually

SB/SE Automated Collection System Support

Mailed- paper survey

National- campus Annual

SB/SE Automated Under Reporter Mailed – paper/web survey

National - Campus Annually

SB/SE

Compliance Services Collection Operation

Mailed - paper survey

National - Campus Annually

SB/SE Collection Mailed - paper survey

National, area Annually

Surveyed

Fielding Frequency

SB/SE Field Examination Mailed - paper survey

National, area Annually

SB/SE Employment Tax Examination Mailed - paper survey

National territories Annually

SB/SE Excise Tax Examination Mailed - paper survey

National territories Annually

SB/SE Estate and Gift Tax Examination

Mailed - paper survey

National territories Annually

SB/SE Compliance Center Exam Mailed – paper/web survey

National - Campus Annually

SB/SE Private Debt Collection IVR Vendor Annually

SB/SE Innocent Spouse Mailed - paper survey

National Quarterly, annually

Tax Exempt/ Government Entities

Exempt Organizations Determinations

Mailed paper survey

National Semi-annually

TE/GE Exempt Organizations Examinations

Mailed paper survey

National, area Semi-annually

TE/GE Employee Plans Determinations

Mailed paper survey

National Semi-annually

TE/GE Employee Plans Examinations Mailed paper survey

National, area Semi-annually

TE/GE Federal, State & Local Governments Examination

Mailed paper survey

National Annually

TE/GE Toll-free Phone (Call-in) National Annually

Surveyed

Fielding Frequency

Taxpayer Services Customer Assistance, Relationships and Education (CARE): Field Assistance

Field Assistance Comment card - Paper National, areas Quarterly, annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CARE: Media & Publications

Individual taxpayer Mail / Online National Annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CARE:M&P

Business Taxpayers Mail / Online National Annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CARE:M&P

Tax preparers Mail / Online National Annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CARE:M&P

Forms & Publications Online National Annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CARE: Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication

SPEC Partner Online National Annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

: Customer Account Services

Adjustments Mailed - paper survey National Quarterly, annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CAS

E-Help IVR Phone National Quarterly, annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CAS

Injured Spouse Mailed - paper survey National Quarterly, Semi-annual

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CAS

Practitioner Priority Service IVR Phone National Quarterly, annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:CAS

Toll-Free IVR Phone National Quarterly, annually

*TAXPAYER

SERVICES :CAS

TE/GE Toll-Free IVR Phone National Quarterly, annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES Compliance Center Examination

Mailed - paper survey National Quarterly, annually

TAXPAYER SERVICES Compliance Center Examination Toll-Free

IVR Phone National Quarterly

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:S&S

Taxpayer experience survey (formerly market segment survey)

Mailed Survey Customer Relations Survey

National One-time

*TEGE Toll Free survey is not included in the TEGE survey count as it is administered by TAXPAYER SERVICES and included in the TAXPAYER SERVICES survey count

Reorganizations may decrease the number of these surveys, while Balanced Measures requirements might increase them. A task order awarded under this BPA may include multiple surveys.

To date, several contractors and their sub-contractors have designed, administered collected data, analyzed, and reported on these surveys. In addition, contractors have provided telephone Help Desk services. The printing and mailing for the paper-based surveys are covered by a separate contract awarded through the Government Printing Office (GPO).

Current surveys provide both scaled quantitative responses to questions expressing key customer expectations and issues involved in each type of transaction as well as open-ended comments and non-scaled response options. These surveys are currently delivered via telephone, web-based, web panel, mailed survey, mixed mode, and/or a printed comment card (TAXPAYER SERVICES Field Assistance). Those delivered via telephone are administered either on an “in call” (at the conclusion of the taxpayer’s call, he/she is transferred either to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application or to a non-IRS call center) basis or an “out-call” basis (using IRS-provided or publicly available contact information). Out-call-based surveys can be complicated by the limitations of available telephone numbers, usually requiring telephone lookups by survey contractors. Some surveys have also been piloted via the Web using a mailed paper invitation. Migration of certain external customer surveys to Web-based delivery is under active consideration.

Such migration is complicated because IRS does not routinely maintain lists of taxpayer E-mail addresses. However, since 2007, some surveys have solicited voluntary enrollments of taxpayers’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses maintained by the survey contractors for potential future studies.

Some of the current surveys exclude specific types of cases from participation as well as recently surveyed taxpayers. With the exception of Field Assistance, Specialty Tax (Employment, Excise, and Estate and Gift), and some Examination surveys, these surveys are administered to a sample of taxpayers involved in each type of transaction with IRS. A census or samples are drawn from IRS-provided extracts of operational databases and may include relevant data to permit analysis and weighting of survey results by demographic and case-related factors. Samples are constructed to yield results at a 95% confidence level with +/-5% precision with weighting applied as required.

Additionally, for some surveys, the samples are stratified to reflect key taxpayer sub-

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:S&S

Identity Protection Personal Identification Number

Mail Survey Customer Relations Survey

National One-time

TAXPAYER SERVICES

:S&S

Taxpayer experience survey Web National/ Spanish

Annually groups, case outcomes, or to provide results at the sub-national (e.g., Campus, Area, and Territory) geographic level at which service is provided.

Response rates vary considerably among the surveys and are affected by the nature of the taxpayer interaction (e.g., assistance vs. enforcement) and by the method of survey delivery (telephone vs. mailed paper surveys). The IRS is constrained by OMB requirements to exert itself to improve these response rates to meet OMB’s standards as well as to account for significant non-response through the use of standard statistical analysis techniques. The frequency and level of reporting may vary among surveys – some results being reported quarterly, others only semi-annually or annually.

The singular nature of the IRS’ mission and relation of customer experience measures to fulfillment of that mission should be noted. In the case of private-sector, for-profit organizations, a nexus between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in making future product/service purchases can be assumed. By contrast, the customer behavior that the IRS seeks to foster and sustain is compliance; that taxpayers meet their legal obligations in terms of accurate reporting of their tax information, timely filing of required forms, and full payment of any taxes owed. All IRS products, services, and activities – whether pre- or post-filing – serve taxpayer compliance either by way of prevention through information and assistance, remediation, or direct or indirect deterrence. In this respect, unlike private-sector firms, the only “repeat business” that the IRS is interested in is compliance; other forms of “repeat business” represent service failures for IRS since they entail resource-intensive multiple contacts. Additionally, since 1998, experience has demonstrated that interactions that occur in an adversarial context yield lower levels of customer satisfaction compared to more service-oriented transactions (e.g., Toll-Free assistance). Furthermore, enforcement-related transactions tend to produce satisfaction results that closely track various case-related factors that are not intrinsic to the taxpayer’s actual service experience. Notwithstanding, as IRS’ Mission Statement sets forth, customers’ legitimate expectations do have a bearing on even enforcement interactions.

How the different IRS organizations use the survey results, mobilize for improvement initiatives, and look to external expert support varies. In addition, some IRS organizations have looked for external support in areas of customer satisfaction strategy, planning, customer service education, training, and market research focused on product evaluation.

B. Objectives

The IRS is seeking the services of one or more contractors with broad and substantial experience in gathering quantitative and qualitative customer experience data through surveys, focus groups, and other standard market research methods, as well as possessing practical knowledge of private- and public-sector models and practices in dealing with customer research and strategy. Task orders for specific needs will be issued against this multiple award BPA.

The primary task may be to design methods and tools to collect, analyze, and report measurements of customer experience. The analysis, reporting and focus group/interview tasks may be optional depending on the requirements of individual task orders. These tasks will be conducted in a manner that will conform with the IRS’ definition of its customer experience measures (including but not limited to standards set by OMB; with IRS’ standards of statistical reliability; and to the reporting requirements of the Business Operating Divisions (BODs) as appropriate. In addition to providing the required performance measurements, the method and data collection instruments shall serve a diagnostic purpose, directing the IRS to the most critical factors affecting customer experience and to courses of action that will address them. Data reporting shall reflect key customer expectations; assessments of the most significant aspects of their service experiences; and shall illustrate for IRS management the improvement opportunities that are likely to have the greatest impact.

Because of external reporting requirements, the most urgent task will be to ensure the immediate and uninterrupted delivery, collection, analysis, and reporting of the transactional surveys currently underway throughout IRS as listed in the table above. IRS staff and systems are in place to ensure uninterrupted delivery of samples and contact information.

Besides the acquisition of measurements and diagnostic data, contractors may be required to provide support in a wide variety of areas such as:

• Development of new ongoing, limited duration or “one-time” taxpayer surveys.

• Development, delivery, and analysis of new internal (IRS) customer surveys.

• Assessment and redesign of existing customer satisfaction measurement processes and practices and survey instruments and methods (paper-based, phone-in and phone-out, and Web-based delivery).

• Creation and maintenance of survey panels to supplement current survey efforts to obtain insights for targeted issues (qualitative and quantitative surveys).

• Assessment and recommendations for improving current market research and for improving the way customer information is used.

• Methodological expertise and analytical support for customer experience performance goal-setting.

• Follow-on data collection with taxpayers, external stakeholder and partner groups, and IRS managers and employees to refine diagnoses and generate potential improvement initiatives.

• Ad hoc and specialized analysis and reporting of customer experience data.

• Data Collection, email and telephone Help Desk Services (in English and neutral

Spanish).

• Ad hoc and specialized analysis and reporting of IRS operational and other data bearing upon taxpayer satisfaction, experience, and service, including the development of predictive models.

• Methodological expertise and analytical support to market testing of IRS products and services.

• Support to IRS leadership in the development of customer-facing strategic, tactical, and operational goals and plans.

• Expertise, process leadership and training, project management support, and direct participation in multiple concurrent improvement design and pilot projects.

• Methodological, technical expertise and analytical support to IRS product and process redesign/re-engineering projects that brings critical customer issues and perspectives to bear.

• Development of communication strategies and supporting materials dealing with customer satisfaction and customer experience issues directed at internal IRS and key external stakeholder and partner audiences.

• Development and delivery of education and training experiences and materials focusing on customer satisfaction and experience improvement for IRS management and employees.

• Expertise in obtaining Office of Management and Budget (OMB) generic clearances.

• Development and delivery of Spanish Limited English Proficient Taxpayer Needs Assessment.

In all cases, IRS and the contractor will consult to determine the required course of action and supporting tasks.

C. Tasks

1. Administer the existing survey program

The contractor(s) will continue to conduct all or part of the IRS survey program as it exists at the time of award. Specifically, unless altered by specific task orders, this task includes, by way of example, but is not limited to:

a. Administering the current Transactional surveys. The Taxpayer Services, Small Business/Self-Employed, Tax-Exempt and Government Entities, Large Business and International, and Appeals Divisions may elect to contract for delivery of their Segment and Customer Base, Tax Professional surveys, and special studies.

b. Administering the existing survey instruments, comprising both quantitative and qualitative (narrative comment) responses. Note that some surveys may be provided in both English and neutral Spanish.

c. Administering the surveys via their current mode of delivery: telephone (in-call and out- call); Interactive Voice Response (IVR); mailed paper surveys; and Web-based delivery.

d. Perform and report on quality assurance testing of data capture systems. Periodic reports on survey data validity will be required appropriate to survey mode.

e. Contractor shall include a seed mail program for mail surveys.

f. Performing data collection (transcription of returned survey data), email and telephone Help Desk services.

g. Actively exploring and implementing tactics to increase survey response rates to meet OMB response requirements.

h. As required, using the existing sample sizes and assuming historical response rates.

i. As required, using the existing IRS-provided source data for taxpayer contact information.

j. For analysis purposes, using the same data elements provided from IRS operational and other databases.

k. As required, compiling survey data according to current schedules for and reporting.

l. Applying weighting as appropriate and using the weighting variables currently being applied.

m. Providing appropriate corrective analysis in instances of low response rates.

n. Provide procedures for validation of analytic results in reports.

o. Reporting survey results and analysis according to the current frequencies and schedules with adjustments to Fiscal Year basis reporting as required.

p. Reporting customer experience/satisfaction and customer dissatisfaction measurements according to the current measures definition and standards for statistical reliability.

q. Reporting results as both percentages and as means.

r. Reporting multi-period comparative results with significance analysis of variations from period to period, trending across periods, and, as required, reporting cumulative year-to-date and full Fiscal Year results.

s. Reporting on improvement priorities.

t. Providing the reports with the current basic content and organization of material.

u. Providing designated IRS representatives with draft reports for review prior to the established final publication date as set forth in the individual Survey Task Orders (for example, 10 business days in advance of final publication).

v. Distributing the reports according to IRS-provided distribution lists and in the current mode of delivery (electronically via E-mail attachment).

w. Organizing qualitative data (narrative comments) into thematic/issue categories.

x. Delivering complete aggregate survey data files, after removing respondent identifying information, via electronic media to the designated IRS representatives in the file formats required.

y. Responding to IRS inquiries about survey results and data.

z. When there are no remaining option years on a task order or the option year is not exercised, the existing contractor, upon award of a new task order for the survey, will transition the data files to the new contractor. The existing contractor shall establish and implement plans for an orderly transfer of data files at the termination of each task order. The contractor shall develop a phase-out plan to conduct a smooth and orderly transfer of responsibility to a successor. At a minimum, the plan shall include: turn-over of work-in-progress and Government property; data and information transfer; and any other actions required to ensure continuity of analysis and reporting. The plan shall be submitted to the COR for approval 60 calendar days prior to contract completion date. The contractor shall provide the COR with changes and revisions for review and approval prior to implementation.

aa. Support IRS employees in obtaining Office of Management and Budget (OMB) generic clearances and providing OMB follow-up summary reports upon completion of data collection.

bb. Actively exploring ways to reduce survey costs.

cc. As required for individual task orders, complying with the provisions of Section

508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board’s Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards at 36 CFR Part 1194.

2. Project Planning Meetings

New and continuing surveys, studies, and improvement initiatives may require contractor participation in one or more preliminary planning meetings. These meetings typically involve discussion and agreement on fundamental issues involved such as the scope and timelines for the effort will include: target audiences or populations; IRS and contractor roles; data sources; and, sampling procedures and sizes. The expected outcome of these meetings will be sufficiently detailed information describing the new/continuing effort. The contractor shall provide a brief summary report of any conference calls to IRS participants within 2 business days of the conference call.

3. Development, delivery, analysis, and reporting of new taxpayer surveys.

Contractors may be required to assist IRS in the development of new taxpayer surveys in addition to those noted in Task 1 above. Such surveys may either be regular ongoing surveys that become a component of the IRS survey program or might be of limited duration or even one-time surveys. Contractors will supply the expertise and experience of relevant public- and private-sector market research to this task. They might be required to conduct initial data gathering among target populations (e.g., focus groups, cognitive tests) to determine key issues to be covered in the survey. A survey instrument will be drafted and submitted for IRS review.

An appropriate delivery method will be determined and implemented. As appropriate, IRS will provide contact information and relevant data elements from internal databases. A detailed quality assurance plan will be required for each new taxpayer survey. The quality assurance plan will describe procedures used to ensure validity of data capture instruments along with verification of survey data results. Results will be analyzed and reported at determined frequencies and in determined formats. Survey data and reports will be the unrestricted property of the IRS and will be delivered to IRS representatives in determined formats. The analysis, reporting and focus group/interview tasks may be optional depending on the requirements of individual task orders.

4. Development, delivery, analysis, and reporting of new internal (IRS) customer survey.

Contractors may be required to assist IRS in the development of new internal surveys in addition to those noted in Tasks 1 and 3. Such surveys may either be regular ongoing surveys that become a component of the IRS survey program or might be of limited duration or even one-time surveys. Contractors will supply the expertise and experience of relevant public- and private-sector market research to this task. They might be required to conduct initial data gathering among target populations (e.g., focus groups) to determine key issues to be covered in the survey.

A survey instrument will be drafted and submitted for IRS review. An appropriate delivery method will be determined and implemented. As appropriate, IRS will provide contact information and relevant data elements from internal databases. A detailed quality assurance plan will be required for each new internal IRS customer survey. The quality assurance plan will describe procedures used to ensure validity of data capture instruments along with verification of survey data results. Results will be analyzed and reported at determined frequencies and in determined formats. Survey data and reports will be the unrestricted property of the IRS and will be delivered to IRS representatives in determined formats. The analysis, reporting and focus group/interview tasks may be optional depending on the requirements of individual task orders.

Invoices shall be submitted by the Contractor to the responsible COR within 14 calendar days of service delivery to the IRS. This includes monthly billing cycles and billing by Task as stated in the individual task order awards. Invoices should be submitted to COR, for prior approval, before submission into Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) due to the Function reviews.

5. Assessment and redesign of existing customer experience measurement processes and practices and survey instruments and methods.

Contractors may be required to assist the IRS in evaluating the current customer satisfaction survey program in terms of its efficiency and effectiveness, make recommendations for its improvement, and participate in designing and implementing improvements the IRS adopts. The scope of this task will include (but is not limited to):

survey instruments; survey delivery processes and media; methods for increasing response rates and techniques for accounting for non-response biases; the definition, computation, and use of the customer satisfaction measure; data analysis techniques;

sample sizes and sampling methods; IRS data sources; and the frequency, content, and structure of reports. Contractors will apply technical customer experience and service delivery research expertise and experience from public- and private-sector customer experience research clients. Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses of historical surveys and other IRS data to support evaluations and recommendations.

Contractors may also be required to conduct data gathering among IRS managers and staff, and/or other stakeholders by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys.

Contractors may be required to prepare formal reports of findings, supporting documentation and presentation materials. Contractors will apply technical customer experience and service delivery research expertise and experience from public- and private-sector customer experience research clients. Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses of historical surveys and other IRS data to support evaluations and recommendations. Contractors may also be required to conduct data gathering among IRS managers and staff, and/or other stakeholders by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Contractors may be required to prepare formal reports of findings, supporting documentation and presentation materials.

6. Make assessments of and recommendations for improving current customer experience and service delivery research and for improving the way customer information is used.

Contractors may be required to assist the IRS in evaluating the current scope, objectives, and use of customer experience and service delivery information and market research efforts by IRS. Evaluations are to address the efficiency and effectiveness of IRS’ efforts, make recommendations for improvement, and participate in designing and implementing improvements that the IRS may adopt. The objective of this task is to ensure that IRS receives optimal value from its survey and customer experience research program. This includes impact on business processes, business practices and use of customer information and diffusion throughout IRS. Contractors will apply technical market research expertise and experience from public- and private-sector market research clients.

Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering among IRS managers and staff by means such as interviews, focus groups and surveys. Contractors may be required to prepare formal reports of findings, supporting documentation, and presentation materials.

7. Provide methodological expertise and analytical support for customer experience performance goal setting.

The IRS is required to establish and report to various external stakeholders’ multi-year goals for customer satisfaction performance. Contractors may be required to assist the IRS in this task. The objective of this task is to ensure that goals are supported by analysis, linked to improvements or changes in business priorities, processes, and practices, and are attainable based upon actions planned. Contractors will apply technical customer experience and service delivery research expertise and experience from public-and private-sector market research clients. Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses of historical surveys and other IRS data to devise improved goal-setting methodologies and predictive models and to support actual goal-setting activities by IRS. Contractors may be required to prepare formal reports of findings, supporting documentation and presentation materials. The analysis, reporting and focus group/interview tasks may be optional depending on the requirements of individual task orders.

8. Conduct follow-on data collection with taxpayers, external stakeholder and partner groups, and IRS managers and employees to refine diagnoses and generate potential improvement initiatives.

Based upon survey and other results and IRS plans, contractors may be required to conduct follow-on data collection with taxpayers, external stakeholder and partner groups, and IRS managers and employees. The objective of this task is to move broad survey findings closer to action by further exploring and defining customer issues and avenues for improvement that are likely to prove most effective. Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering among relevant groups by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys. For external groups, use of focus group or observational facilities or telephone conferences may be appropriate as well as the payment of a legal maximum honorarium. Contractors will be required to analyze data collected and prepare formal reports of findings and supporting documentation and presentation materials.

9. Conduct ad hoc and specialized analysis and reporting of customer experience and service delivery data.

Contractors may be required to conduct ad hoc and specialized studies of customer experience and satisfaction. The objectives and scope of such studies will be defined in each instance. Contractors will apply technical customer experience and service delivery research expertise and experience from public- and private-sector customer experience and service delivery research clients. Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses of historical surveys and other IRS data. Contractors will be required to prepare formal reports of findings and supporting documentation and presentation materials.

10. Conduct ad hoc and specialized analysis and reporting of IRS operational and other data bearing upon taxpayer satisfaction, experience, and service, including the development of predictive models.

Contractors may be required to conduct ad hoc and specialized studies of customer experience and satisfaction based upon IRS data directly or indirectly reflecting customers’ experience or factors bearing upon customer satisfaction. The objectives and scope of such studies will be defined in each instance. Contractors will apply technical customer experience and service delivery research expertise and experience from public-and private-sector customer experience and service delivery research clients. Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses and modeling of IRS data. Contractors will be required to prepare formal reports of findings and supporting documentation and presentation materials. Contractors will be required to provide knowledge transfer to IRS employees of any data and methods used such that IRS employees can take over updates and maintenance.

11. Provide methodological expertise and analytical support to customer experience and service delivery testing of IRS products and services.

Contractors may be required to design and conduct testing of new or revised IRS products and services, such as forms, correspondence, or telephone scripts. The objective of this task ensures the efficiency and effectiveness of IRS investment in its products and customer usability and positive results. Up-to-the-minute market research expertise, and private sector market research. Contractor research may include but is not limited to focus groups, user observation, usability measurement, telephone conferences, and may include payment of a stipend. Contractors may be required to conduct analyses of customer experience test observations and data and may be required to prepare formal reports of findings supporting documentation and presentation materials.

12. Support to IRS senior management in the development of customer-facing strategies and strategic goals.

As part of IRS strategic and business planning processes, contractors may be required to provide support to IRS senior management and staff in the formulation of strategic goals and priorities, of organizational strategies that effectively address key customer expectations and issues, and of business plan priorities and initiatives that execute them.

Ideally, such goals and strategies shall have a positive impact on key business strategies and priorities. Contractors will provide consultative guidance and advice based on current technical market research expertise and experience from public and private sector market research. Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses and modeling of survey and other IRS data. Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering among IRS senior managers and staff by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys.

Contractors may be required to prepare formal reports of findings, supporting documentation, and presentation materials.

13. Provide expertise, process leadership and training, and direct participation in multiple concurrent improvement design and pilot projects.

Contractors may be required to provide a variety of products and services as well as direct participation to support customer related improvement projects and initiatives that IRS may undertake. Avenues for improvement could include resource allocation, education and training of IRS staff, new taxpayer products, policy changes, or process re-engineering. The goal of this task is to ensure improvement initiatives are soundly based on and guided forward by data, well-organized, and follow industry-standard methodologies for developing and testing improvements, such as process analysis.

Contractors will provide consultative guidance and advice based on technical market research expertise and experience from public and private sector market research.

Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses and modeling of survey and other IRS data. Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering among relevant groups by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys. For external groups, use of focus group, observational facilities, telephone conferences, as well as payment of a stipend. Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering among IRS senior managers and staff by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Contractors may be required to prepare formal reports of findings supporting documentation and presentation materials.

14. Provide methodological expertise and analytical support to IRS product and process perspectives.

Since the IRS Strategic Plan directs that customer needs, expectations and perspectives be processes and re-engineering of existing ones. Contractors may be required to provide a variety of products and services to support business design, re-engineering projects and initiatives that IRS may undertake. The goal of this task is to ensure that business initiatives take customer perspectives into account at appropriate stages of development.

Contractors will provide expert input and advice based on technical market research expertise and experience from public and private sector market research. Contractors may be required to conduct statistical analyses and modeling of survey and other IRS data.

Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering among relevant groups by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys. For external groups, use of focus groups, observational facilities, telephone conferences, as well as payment of a stipend.

Contractors may be required to prepare and deliver formal reports of findings, supporting documentation and presentation materials.

15. Support development of communication strategies and supporting materials dealing with customer satisfaction and customer experience issues directed at internal IRS and key external stakeholder and partner audiences.

Contractors may be required to provide a variety of products and services to support the development and implementation of communication strategies with customer satisfaction and customer experience issues directed at internal IRS and key external stakeholder and partner audiences. Contractors will provide consultative guidance and advice based on technical market research and social marketing expertise and experience from public and private sector market research. Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering among relevant groups by means such as interviews, focus groups, and surveys. For external groups, use of focus observational facilities, telephone conferences, as well as the payment of a stipend. Contractors may be required to conduct data gathering, prepare formal reports of findings, supporting documentation and presentation materials.

16. Support development and delivery of education and training experiences and materials focusing on customer satisfaction and experience improvement for IRS management and employees.

Contractors may be required to provide a variety of products and services to support the development and delivery of education and training materials, focusing on customer satisfaction and technology-based improvements for IRS management and employees.

The goal of this task is to ensure education; training and supporting materials are based upon up-to-the-minute expertise in customer experience and satisfaction issues.

Contractors will advise based on technical market research expertise and private sector market research. Contractors may be required activities such as course evaluation and one-on-one coaching to further enhance training participants’ skills.

17. Data Collection Services

Contractor(s) will be required to perform data collection services, which includes the keying or scanning of all survey questionnaire items received from respondents, keying and coding of open-ended comments, and keying of all non-scannable survey questionnaires received. As new data collection systems or procedural changes in data capture are implemented, thorough reports of quality assurance will be required. In addition, dependent upon on survey mode, periodic data verification of survey data will be required, and results submitted as reports. Completion of this task may require coordination with the GPO print contractor to ensure readability of scanning equipment compatibility, if scanning of survey questionnaires is elected by contractor(s).

When there are no remaining option years on a task order or the option year is not exercised, the existing contractor, upon award of a new task order for the survey, will transition the data files to the new contractor. The existing contractor shall establish and implement plans for an orderly transfer of data files at the termination of each contract.

The contractor shall develop a phase-out plan to conduct a smooth and orderly transfer of responsibility to a successor. At a minimum, the plan shall include: turn-over of work-in-progress and Government property; data and information transfer; and any other actions required to ensure continuity of analysis and reporting. The plan shall be submitted to the COR for approval 60 calendar days prior to contract completion date. The contractor shall provide the COR with changes and revisions for review and approval prior to implementation.

18. Help Desk Support Services*

The contractor will establish and maintain Help Desk Support Services requiring an email address and a 1-800 toll free number manned by live operators (not voice mail), with a call routing capability to avoid busy signals. Operators will respond to calls in both English and neutral Spanish 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Saturday.** The contractor will, log, and respond to all calls or emails promptly and in accordance with the PWS.

For issues not requiring escalation (standard questions, address changes, requests for additional survey copies), the contractor will try to respond during the same business day (or no later than the next business day for requests received during the weekend, on a Federal holiday, or after 3PM EST). Prior to a helpline going live, all operators attend session to outline the purpose and rationale of the survey, the process for dealing with calls, and a run-through of common questions. Along with the briefing, operators would be provided with a handbook, which contains copies of relevant materials such as the questionnaire and cover letter(s), as well as a full list of FAQs, which would be agreed upon in advance with the IRS. Training will include clear direction not to attempt to answer tax-related questions and guidelines provided by the IRS to direct the caller to the appropriate IRS office.

*This task may be optional by task order.

**This requirement may vary by task order.

19. Printing and Mailing of Transactional Surveys

In accordance with Treasury Directive 78.1, all printing must be done by the Government Printing Office (GPO). Documentation for any deviation from this requirement must be sent to the Service Wide COR in advance of the action. Contractor(s) may be required to use the Dillman Methodology (wave mailing and print schedule) for the administration of existing and new transactional surveys.

Contractor(s) will be required to coordinate with the GPO print provide digital, press ready MS Word or PDF or InDesign and via electronic file transfer for survey mailings, etc. The IRS Correspondence Manual (D 11426) and the IRS One Design (D 12749) provide additional details for print requirements and can be found at www.publish.no.irs.gov. Note that the startup time for a new mail survey may be three to six months.

20. Creation and Maintenance of Survey Panels

Contractors may create survey panels to obtain insight on targeted issues as a supplement to current qualitative and quantitative survey efforts. The survey methods may be telephone, mail or online; with any preferred methods to be addressed in each individual task order. Contractors may use a variety of methods to recruit panels, including but not limited to, pre-recruiting during other forms of customer satisfaction surveys; mailings to qualified respondents under the signature of the respective operating division commissioner; onsite recruitment at tax forums and c3onferences; partnering with outside stakeholders such as Tax Executives Institute (TEI) and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA); through individual working as well as payment of a stipend. The contractor will for a specified period of time and/or a finite number of annual surveys, as specified by the task order.

D. Performance and Deliverables

1. All services and deliverables requested under this BPA, along with delivery schedules, will be specified in the PWS for each task order.

E. Government Property

1. All survey data (including variables extracted from IRS databases used for analysis), survey instruments, reports and their formats, and presentation materials developed specifically for the IRS will be the property of the Internal Revenue Service and may not be used by contractors without explicit permission of the IRS.

2. The IRS recognizes the intellectual property rights of contractors. Materials coincident to this BPA, which were developed for other customers, will remain the property of the contractor(s).

3. The contractor will disclose all analytical techniques and formulas used in analyzing survey or IRS data upon request of the IRS for exclusively internal use at no additional cost. As required, IRS staff requesting such access will sign non-disclosure agreements for all such techniques and formulas as have been developed prior to and independent of this BPA.

F. White Mail Procedures

Contractors shall adhere to the following procedures related to white mail received while performing any task order under the BPA(s).

Definitions

1. Service-wide COR – Located in Atlanta in the Taxpayer Services operating division and serves as the primary point of contact for all IRS Customer Experience Research.

2. IRS Point of Contact – This is the primary IRS point of contact for the Market Research Firm (MRF), usually the COR, within the IRS Operating Division.

3. White Mail consists of any additional materials sent to the survey administrators (the

Market Research Firm or the IRS unit) that are not part of the actual survey. This material may be received from survey respondents (i.e. postage-paid envelope, letter address, etc.) that were intended for the return of the questionnaire.

White Mail Categories:

White mail typically includes materials received in these categories.

Sensitive materials that are clearly for the IRS:

• Letters and notes intended for the IRS about specific tax problems, complaints, and IRS related issues,

• Copies of IRS Tax returns, and

• Cash, checks with or attached to an IRS tax return, and documents.

Sensitive materials not specifically addressed for the IRS:

• Letters and notes not specifically addressed to the IRS that appear to be about specific tax problems, complaints and related IRS issues.

Non-Sensitive materials:

• Letters and notes to the MRF or the Project Director concerning the survey itself,

• Newspaper and magazine articles, cartoons, political flyers, and survey cover letters,

• Apparently inadvertent inclusions, such as personal letters, surveys from a different source, and misaddressed mail, and

• Complaints against the IRS with no actionable response required.

• In addition to the correspondence from customers, white mail includes materials generated by the U.S. Postal Service and IRS field office employees. For the purpose of Customer Experience Research processing, white mail also includes, but is not limited to, the following:

o Surveys and returns damaged by the U. S. Postal Service;

o Blank and photocopied survey forms;

o Survey forms with the tracking number removed.

Notes and Comments on Written Surveys (Not White Mail)

Though customers sometimes write about similar issues in the comment space on the questionnaires, these comments are not treated as white mail because doing so would violate the confidentiality of the survey process. The MRF reports them only as part of the anonymous survey process.

MRF Procedures for White Mail

• Upon receipt of survey mail, the MRF scans each package for any “sensitive” mail that is clearly for the IRS. This category includes letters, cash, checks to the IRS, tax returns, legal documents, or anything requiring immediate attention. The sensitive mail that is MRF dispatches it overnight express to the Service-wide COR.

• If the sensitive correspondence is not specifically addressed to IRS, the MRF will seek permission from the author before forwarding the material to the Service-wide COR. The MRF makes a call or sends a short letter asking for permission to forward the concerns to the IRS.