NSW Department of Planning Long-term Stakeholder CRM

In 2004 when the Department of Planning was preparing a Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney they started using Darzin Stakeholder CRM to manage the feedback and info line process. They had been using spreadsheets – individual spreadsheets used by each of the ten staff who were answering the information line. At the end of each day the spreadsheets had to be collated into one and updated. As well, each time a call was answered, the staff member would have to look up multiple spreadsheets to identify the details, locate the property on map print outs, manually cross reference back to other data in order to be  able to answer questions about zoning of individual properties. With Darzin this process was greatly simplified. Just looking up the stakeholder or the property gave them all the information they needed to respond to the question. And no more spreadsheets to manually update each day! This saw a dramatic improvement both in the efficiency and quality of service they were able to offer.

Benefits of Long-term Engagement Data

After the Metro Strategy planning process, the data was moved across to the newly formed agency responsible for developing the growth centres – The Growth Centres Commission. As they began work on planning each of the centres, they were able to use the data they had received in detailed submissions for the Metro Strategy. In many cases, the stakeholders had gone to extraordinary detail and expense to provide submissions. Many had engaged private consultants to help them prepare their submissions. It was very important that this effort was recognised and the information utilised as the project went from one stage to another. The use of Darzin provided them with this continuity of data availability.

The other significant benefit the team experienced was through having detailed history of all interactions with every stakeholder, that stretched back to the very beginning of the process more than 8 years prior. These detailed records were of significant advantage in responding to legal challenges from stakeholders (inevitable with such a controversial topic).

The data continues to inform the detailed planning and delivery of these town centres, proving that quality data has incredible long term value.