Auckland's mayor-elect Phil Goff says he's expecting a "fairly hectic" first day on the job as he hits the phones to speak with the 20 councillors he will now be working with.

The veteran Labour MP claimed a landslide win on Saturday with 186,445 votes, ahead of rival Vic Crone on 110,926.

On Monday he was up at 4.45am preparing for wall-to-wall meetings and phone calls with his new colleagues.

CHRIS MCKEEN Phil Goff arrives for work on his first day as the mayor of Auckland on Monday morning.

"Day one starts with me contacting all of the councillors elected to the governing body and having my first meeting with the executive leadership team and chief executive," he said.

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Deciding on a deputy mayor was another consideration as well as picking some new mayoral wheels; the Nissan Leaf being his preferred car, he said.

CHRIS MCKEEN Phil Goff with his swipe card heading up to his new mayoral office.

Tightening the budget and cutting down spending was also high on the agenda.

As per his election campaign pledge, he was targeting an efficiency saving of at least 3 per cent, which he said would start with the mayoral office.

"We'll be more modest in the nature of the cars we drive and how we spend our money. We'll have fewer staff but we'll have some staff that are well paid in order to carry out the requirements of the mayor's office."

He said the changes would involve some tough conversations with council staff.

"I've been elected with a mandate and with an obligation to carry out certain policies. Council officials understand how democracy works. That is what I'm elected on."

The other big focus was improving the public perception of the council, he said.

"I think the trust and confidence of Aucklanders in their council is critical and we have to restore that."

He has yet to speak to his predecessor Len Brown since being elected but said he would have a briefing with him once Brown was back from holiday.

While he said he was looking forward to getting started, he wasn't getting distracted by the perks of the job, such as his hidden ensuite in the mayoral office.

"There's apparently a bathroom behind a revolving book case. It's not quite James Bond I'm not quite sure why it was done that way. But I'll be mainly looking at the computer and the paperwork on my desk."