This project contains three primary objectives: to identify customer relations best practices from other relevant organizations; to identify metrics for both internal performance tracking and external comparison; to develop tools that will enable water utilities to improve customer relations, with the ultimate goal of improving customer satisfaction and utility efficiency. The approach involves five basic tasks: identify key customer relations processes; collect and verify customer relations metrics and practices; identify customer relations best practices; develop a web toolkit; and, communicate findings via workshops and written reports. Our approach is to document best practices and associated metrics from both within and outside the water industry, providing the widest possible set of practices that can be accessed by the water industry. To identify high-performing utilities and other organizations, we have developed a multifaceted performance metric comparison framework. This framework includes internal and external measures for each target customer relations process selected by the project team. Measures include service, productivity, and cost metrics. We developed comprehensive data definitions related to these metrics so that utilities can enter comparable data. For gathering original and comparable data, we have piloted several unique surveys and service tests, including a customer survey, among our participating utilities. Feedback on the surveys, including definitions, will be taken into account prior to finalization of the surveys for general release. Our framework of internal and external performance metrics provides a powerful comparison of utility customer relations performance, as well as ensuring that service is measured by the end-customer. Companies exhibiting high internal performance, high customer satisfaction, and effective technologies will be identified as "best performers." During best practice discovery, we will investigate and visit some of these best performers to learn more about their winning strategies and practices. A key element of our approach is the development of a web-based toolkit designed to assist utilities in identifying customer relations improvement opportunities, assessing customer relations performance, measuring performance over time and against others, and discovering ideas for improvement that have been successfully implemented by leaders in customer relations.