This case study tested customer surveys as a cost effective actionable external performance measure at
the local government level. Local governments run surveys but rarely consistently over time, offered
widely, designed both for rating and for process improvement, and administered independently. The
study tested use of surveys in the public sector for: delivery of actionable information, ,atching the survey response to the service provided (public sector satisfaction surveys often ask people about services they have not experienced), immediacy; feedback while an interaction is fresh in the citizen’s mind, accountability, and cost effective on-going metrics 

Citizens’ satisfaction with their government is a critical. However, local governments use many
internal performance measures, but few external measures that encourage use of citizen feedback.
Further, surveys as external performance measures often lack credibility due to issues of validity.