In a digital age where community expectations and customer service are evolving rapidly, local governments are rethinking how they deliver services – and Maitland City Council is leading the charge.
At the heart of local government’s digital transformation is a platform often associated with big business, now proving its worth in public sector innovation.
Salesforce is the world’s number one artificial intelligence (AI) customer relationship management (CRM) platform, where humans with agents drive citizen success together.
Through Salesforce solutions like CRM, Slack, Tableau and Data Cloud, plus a suite of customisable agents and tools, Salesforce can help local governments connect with residents and communities.
Strategic centralisation
Mark Margin, Executive Manager of Customer & Digital Services at Maitland City Council said that in 2023, Council began an innovation journey to revitalise its customer interactions using Salesforce.
That journey with Salesforce was driven by a commitment to customer-first service design.
“As part of our customer-driven transformation, we reviewed how we manage customer interactions, starting with a clear understanding of the problems we needed to solve,” Margin said.
“Using human-centred design, we identified key challenges and explored technology options before we identified Salesforce as the best fit.”
Previously, Maitland was using multiple disconnected systems, which created inefficiencies and made it difficult to form a unified view of customer needs.
“We saw the opportunity to consolidate into a single platform – a trusted source of customer and councillor requests – to streamline processes, strengthen collaboration across the organisation and deliver a more responsive, consistent experience for the community interacting with Council.”
Salesforce’s flexibility was a key factor.
“Its flexibility allows us to tailor solutions to the unique requirements of local government, with the capability to rapidly evolve alongside changing needs and expectations.”
Implementation partners powering change
Margin explained that Council worked with multiple Salesforce specialists to drive its transformation, such as Ennovative, a Salesforce consulting and implementation partner based in Adelaide, South Australia.
“Ennovative played a key role in foundational projects like the MyCouncil community request portal and a dedicated solution for councillors, bringing valuable Salesforce-for-government expertise,” he said.
“More recently, Cloud Active has built on our existing Salesforce capability with fresh perspectives, technical skills and a strong integration know-how – helping us refine workflows and expand our digital services. Their work extends beyond the platform’s front end, leveraging Salesforce as the engine behind seamless internal processes to enhance user experiences.”
Tackling challenges head-on
System overhauls rarely come easy, and Maitland’s was no exception.
“One of the biggest challenges was integrating the platform with our existing systems and processes, many of which operated in isolation,” Margin said.
“We addressed this by taking a staged approach, working closely with our customers, partners and internal teams to design services and thoroughly test each integration before moving to the next phase.
“Change management was a priority. We invested time in employee training, ensuring clear communication and engaging teams early on to help shape the solutions collaboratively.
“This approach not only identified and resolved issues quickly but also, importantly, built a strong sense of ownership and confidence in the new platform.”
Tangible outcomes
Margin said that the impact of Salesforce at Maitland has been measurable and meaningful.
“Salesforce CRM and Experience Cloud have transformed our operations, improving customer satisfaction, efficiency, and staff experience,” he said.
Key results include:
- Paper-based requests reduced from 2424 per year to zero
- Request creation time cut in half – from five minutes to less than three
- Request update time down 80 per cent – from ten minutes to just two
- Automated updates via SMS/email reduce follow-up calls
- Real-time dashboards provide staff with instant data access
“We now capture customer satisfaction scores for all service requests, achieving a post-implementation average of 4/5. This ongoing feedback helps drive continuous improvements, building community trust and ensuring services evolve with customer needs,” Margin said.
“While often seen as a corporate tool, Salesforce’s flexibility makes it a powerful asset for local government.
“With the right configuration, councils can deliver the same service innovation as big corporations, grounded in local community needs.”
AI and data: The next frontier
While Maitland has not implemented AI in public-facing services yet, it’s laying the groundwork.
“We are actively exploring its potential internally, particularly to boost efficiency and support better decision-making. We’re taking a careful, transparent approach to build trust and ensure clear benefits,” Margin said.
Maitland is the first council in its region to adopt a formal AI policy, aligned with the NSW Artificial Intelligence Assurance Framework.
“AI and data tools have the potential to help councils address challenges in efficiency, planning, and community engagement,” Margin notes.
“They can support informed decisions by identifying patterns and trends in data; help manage service demands and optimise resource allocation; and enhance the customer experience by delivering plain English responses to council-specific queries, bridging the gap between complex legislation and everyday language.”
When asked what advice he’d give to other local governments, Margin said that the best practice was to start with strategy, not software.
“Know the problem you’re solving, and how the technology can create value for your organisation and community,” he said.
“Build strong governance. Create transparent, responsible, and well-understood decision-making processes.
“Engage early. Involve your community, employees, and stakeholders from the beginning.”
Salesforce’s Local Government Summit
Salesforce’s upcoming Local Government Senior Leaders event in October is an opportunity for councils looking to enhance their customer services.
“Events like this give councils a valuable chance to share experiences, learn from peers, and explore practical ways to use technology to improve community services,” Margin said.
“Hearing real-world examples can spark new ideas, highlight solutions that work in a local government context, and help avoid common pitfalls.
“Attendees also get direct access to experts, discuss emerging trends and consider how they can adapt tools like Salesforce to meet the unique needs of their council.”
For details on the Local Government Senior Leaders event, visit invite.salesforce.com
