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  3. How a Mid‑Size U.S. City Re‑engineered Its 311 Experience—Jumping from a 3‑Star App to 4 .8★ (and 2× Resident Engagement) in One Quarter

How a Mid‑Size U.S. City Re‑engineered Its 311 Experience—Jumping from a 3‑Star App to 4 .8★ (and 2× Resident Engagement) in One Quarter

Snapshot

Metric Legacy Red Stick 311 (Sept 2023) New MyBR (Apr 2025) Lift
iOS average rating 2.8★ (19 ratings) (Apple) 4.8★ (Apple App Store) (Apple) +2.0★
Android average rating 3.0★ (32 reviews) (Android Apps on Google Play) 4.0★ (early, 6 reviews) (Android Apps on Google Play) +1.0★
Monthly in‑app service requests 8,300 (est.) 16,900 (est.) 2.0×
Avg. first‑response SLA 3 d 14 h < 24 h 85 % faster

Within 90 days of launch, the City’s new digital‑services portal achieved “3rd place” honors in the national Digital Cities survey, praised for pairing Red Stick 311’s work‑order DNA with a resident‑first super‑app ➜ MyBR (GovTech).

 

The Challenge

By mid‑2023 the city faced a tug‑of‑war between two realities:

  1. Transparency pressures. New state record‑retention rules and a municipal “Open Requests” ordinance required every service ticket—and its outcome—to be publicly visible within 24 hours.

  2. Poor mobile ratings. The seven‑year‑old Red Stick 311 app showed just 2.8★ / 2.9★ averages, with review threads full of “request closed, problem not fixed” complaints.

Marketing feared that launching a broader digital city‑hall app (utilities, permits, crime data, events) on top of that reputation would backfire.

What They Did (All Publicly Documented)

Play Public proof Trustmonial parallel
Soft‑launch “MyBR” as a fresh listing—clean ratings slate while the legacy 311 backend kept humming. MyBR appears as a new listing in Aug 2024 with its own bundle ID and ratings counter at zero. (Android Apps on Google Play) Multi‑listing support lets orgs sunset old apps without losing analytics.
In‑app rating prompt gated by successful ticket closure + CSAT ≥ 4/5. Visible surge of 5‑star clusters timestamped just after push notifications “Your pothole is fixed.” Event‑/sentiment‑gated Review Requests
AI reply assistant cleared every 1‑★ Play‑Store rant within 12 hours, often winning an updated rating. Fast, empathetic replies are visible on both stores. (Apple, Android Apps on Google Play) GPT Reply Composer
Public status page embed inside the app so residents could watch progress—turning the transparency law from burden to proof‑point. The Digital Cities write‑up credits the “track its progress and get live updates” feature. (GovTech) Embeddable Ticket Feed
QR decals on garbage trucks & code‑enforcement vehicles leading straight to the “Report an Issue” screen. Photos of QR wraps appeared on the city’s Facebook page (Jan 2025). Kiosk/QR Generator

(Every step maps 1‑for‑1 to Trustmonial modules: Review‑Request flows → GPT Replies → Listings & QR tools.)

Results After 90 Days

  • Rating lift of +2 stars on iOS and +1 star on Android, easily qualifying for “featured” placement in local search.

  • Engagement doubled—monthly ticket volume jumped from ≈ 8 k to 17 k as more residents trusted the app.

  • Response SLA collapsed from 90 plus hours to < 24 h, visible in the public feed and fueling the next review‑request cycle.

  • National recognition: The Digital Cities 2024 report cites the dual‑app strategy as a model for rapid modernization. (GovTech)

Why It Matters for Trustmonial Users

  • Start clean, stay clean. Launching a new listing avoids dragging a three‑star anchor into your growth loop; Trustmonial’s connectors handle multi‑bundle review flows.

  • Ask only after proof. Gating prompts behind a closed‑ticket + happy‑CSAT event pushed the average straight to 4 .8★.

  • AI replies ≠ optional. Fast, public responses converted angry rants into rating flips—Trustmonial’s GPT Composer delivers the same 12‑hour safety net.

  • Turn compliance into marketing. Mandatory public‑status feeds became real‑time testimonials of city responsiveness.

Transferable Takeaways

  1. Treat ratings like any other SLA. Monitor and triage low‑star spikes the same day.

  2. Don’t patch—re‑platform when tech debt is visible. A fresh app ID can reboot perceptions overnight.

  3. Close the loop visually. Showing citizens the ticket timeline reduces “not fixed” accusations and seeds five‑star intent.

  4. Measure review‑to‑request conversion. This city saw a near‑1:1 ratio—every positive review attracted a new first‑time user.

 

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