Customer Services Strategy - direction of travel 1. Introduction Since the initial Customer Services Strategy direction of travel report was published, the landscape has significantly changed again with the fallout from Covid-19 and the introduction of the Social Housing White Paper We are continuing with our approach to enable and empower our customers to have real influence on our services; as we want to focus on ensuring that customers’ needs and views have been taken into account and aspire to a position of continuous improvement. Through attentive listening to our customers, we are always providing what they need, encouraging their ambitions and not assuming that, as their landlord, we automatically know what they think or what is best. As things have significantly changed and we are operating in a ‘react’ environment, there are elements of the direction of travel for the Customer Service Strategy that are very much in the exploration stage. Particularly regarding the opportunities that digital may present in responding to some of the challenges we have identified in the last 12 months. We cannot deliver a meaningful customer services strategy without talking to our customers about their service priorities. We had intended to conduct a large scale ‘What Matters Most’ consultation with residents in 2020 however the impact of the pandemic on our service offer and our resources meant that this was not the right time to do it. We are now planning to carry out a consultation in 2021, which is a requirement of our adoption of the National Housing Federations’ (NHF) ‘Together with Tenants’ Charter. The consultation will support the work we are doing in preparation for the legislative and regulation changes that the recently published Housing White Paper will bring in terms of engaging with residents, listening to the resident voice and ensuring all service interactions are respectful and transparent. The new style customer satisfaction surveys that are being conducted on our behalf by market research company Kwest, beginning in April 2021, will also provide a more in depth understanding of our residents’ priorities and views. These surveys are more extensive than those we previously commissioned; the anecdotal evidence provided will help to inform the priorities for our new customer services strategy. This update sets out the thinking behind the direction and actions to achieve the goal of improving the way that Town & Country serves its customers 2. Customer Service Approach: Our values underpin everything that we do, from how we work with customers and each other on a day to day basis, to how we make long-term strategic decisions.
Through our Customer Service Strategy, we need to continue with our approach to providing customer focused service delivery. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the digital divide amongst our residents. We need a focus on the barriers for customers getting online and in the short-term continue to offer services and alternative ways of communicating for those customers who are non-digital The long-term goal is to still empower customers to maximise opportunities to create a customer journey that is digitally based, develops self-serve opportunities. This approach allows us to free up valuable staff time to spend with customers who need one to one support and assistance, in short ‘digital by default’. Our transformation is a continuous process and we need to continue to innovate and still look to make the best use of the opportunities offered by the ever-changing world of technology, whilst being mindful of the potential for digital exclusion. Therefore, this means adopting a digital by choice approach. By taking advantage of new tools and techniques to design and develop services focused on the customer we can address pressures by: • • • • •
focusing on ‘digital by choice’ rather than ‘digital by default’ in the short term developing innovative digital services continuously improving services, using data and intelligence to improve outcomes simplifying our internal processes, driving efficiency at every opportunity re-imagining the customer experience.
A proportion of our future customers will demand services provided through new technologies; however, we know that a digital approach will not suit all of our customers. We will deliver services in the spirit of our values; ensuring that we are open, honest and accountable, and that our approach to customer service continues to be aligned to Peabody’s ‘People First’ principles: 1) Effortless experience 2) Working Together 3) Human and Kind 1)
Effortless experience
We have been deploying digital technology as part of our customer service strategy for some time, helping to improve the customer experience and focus resources. We currently offer over 19 services online via e-forms with around 3,760 transactions submitted in 2020. We already have a customer portal offering customers the opportunity to manage their accounts online. Overall, we have been successful in moving customers to digital ways of transacting, leading to a reduction in the number of face to face contacts since 2016. This has helped us keep up with customer demand and save money.
However, the strategy will need to align our future approaches to working in the digital age and provide a clear and coherent set of priorities. We also will ensure we remember ‘digital by default’ is a lot harder than we anticipated, and the way forward will be to think in terms of ‘digital by choice’ for the next couple of years. A proportion of our processes still require considerable administrative support to maintain the mix of paper and electronic case and file management. These processes do not lend themselves well to the end-to-end digital transactions we aspire to. Our services need redesigning, maximising the potential of technology to deliver efficiencies and customer service improvements. We need to continue with the principle of delivering services through the channels that customers want to use and are most appropriate to their needs. Therefore, our Customer Service Strategy must reaffirm the importance of implementing a digital infrastructure and culture across the organisation, utilising digital technology to drive better services and reduce costs and helping to ensure that everyone who wants to, has the chance to benefit from these changes. At the same time, we will ensure we do not leave behind those customers who can’t digitally engage and those who need support and the incentive to do so. Our future service delivery model will maximise the use of technology, but not forget the person. Services will need to be designed through an iterative process of research and user-testing to achieve best results. The move towards more digital working will help us manage demand better and target resources at the most vulnerable. The priorities need to include: • • • • 2)
Service re-design will be business led, with the technology as an enabler Customers continue to be assured that TCH can be trusted with their data and our digital offers are secure. Communications with our customers are targeted and personalised, meaning digital won’t be appropriate in every case We continue to make use of customer insight tools to better understand our customers, as this will be central to service design. Working together
Our staff remain our most important asset, without them we cannot deliver services. The changing demands that we have experienced in the last 12 months require them to be more mobile, more flexible and cover a wider range of tasks and activities than ever before. Our approach to future digital technology, improved communications and continued transformational change will ensure that our workforce can continue to operate from anywhere and maximise the benefits we have seen from the lockdown. Holding the customer at the heart of our business and creating opportunities to give the customer greater control over their homes, neighbourhoods and lives is vital to our customer service offer, we want our teams across the whole organisation to help us
I. II. III.
Improve our understanding of our customers Improve the way we serve our customers Improve the way we listen to our customers and respond to what they tell us
To achieve our aspirations, we will provide the appropriate tools, training and support to enable staff to deliver a ‟brilliant‟ customer service ensuring we own the relationship with our customer. The priorities need to include: • • • •
3)
How we continue to deliver excellent customer service using technology and processes designed to support staff in their work That staff are empowered to change what doesn’t work and we create opportunities to gain new skills relevant to the ‘new’ workplace Staff are freed up to spend more time with customers who have complex needs because everyday transactions and requests for information will be dealt with digitally Staff will not be tied to a specific location, allowing them to operate from anywhere and enabling them to maximise their productivity by working digitally. Human & Kind
Our demographic will not accommodate a one size fits all approach and so it is important to be both inclusive and co-operative to achieve a successful change. We recognise that our customers’ needs are varied. Improved efficiency in our transactional service delivery enables us to target resources towards those who are the most vulnerable, and who may require services and support outside of our core offer. Digital is one of the themes that support our continuing change journey. It’s about what's possible through delivering incremental improvements and change. Focus on the customer is fundamental, whilst delivering improvements, efficiencies and savings. We want to continue to enable those people who lack digital skills and cannot for any reason use our digital services independently. We will continue assisting customers to achieve connectivity and access funding for tablets where there is low digital engagement. Reducing digital exclusion relies on improving access, skills and motivation to use the internet and trust in online services. We will encourage the use of technologies to improve quality of life for our residents TCH has already made good progress in embracing the digital agenda. We have been using digital technology as part of our Customer Service Strategy since 2014, to improve the customer experience and a wide range of services have been successfully moved online. Whilst many customers will embrace and expect self-serve to fit with their lifestyles, maintaining and extending interest and engagement may require incentives for other customers.
In order to achieve this, we need to research and evaluate the effectiveness of incentives to drive desired behaviour The priorities need to include: • • • •
work with partners and other stakeholders to increase the number of people who are using services online encourage the use of technologies to improve quality of life for our residents design our digital services around our customers’ needs and adopt a standardised approach to user centred digital service design Ensure effective alternative contact and engagement methods remain for non-digital customers
Appendix to Customer Services Strategy: Summary Customer Service Approach Through our Customer Service strategy, we need to continue with our approach to providing customer focused service delivery, the COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the digital divide amongst our residents. We need focus on the barriers for customers getting online and continue to offer services and alternative ways of communicating for those customers who are non-digital whilst moving towards our digital by default approach. Priorities • focus on ‘digital by choice’ in the short term • developing innovative digital services • continuously improving services, using data and intelligence to improve outcomes • simplifying our internal processes, driving efficiency at every opportunity • re-imagining the customer experience. Effortless experience Overall, we have been successful in moving customers to digital ways of transacting. However, the strategy will need to align our future approaches to working in the digital age and provide a clear and coherent set of priorities, whilst also ensuring we remember ‘digital by default’ is a lot harder than we anticipated. The way forward will be to think in terms of ‘digital by choice’ for the next couple of years. Priorities • Service re-design will be business led, with the technology as an enabler. • Customers continue to be assured that TCH can be trusted with their data and our digital offers are secure. • Communications with our customers are targeted and personalised, meaning we use the most appropriate tools for each customer. • We continue to make use of customer insight tools to better understand our customers, as this will be central to service design. Working together Our staff remain our most important asset, without them we cannot deliver services. The changing demands that we have experienced in the last 12 months require them to be more mobile, more flexible and cover a wider range of tasks and activities than ever before. Priorities • Staff are empowered to change what doesn’t work and we create opportunities to gain new skills relevant to the ‘new’ workplace. • Staff are freed up to spend more time with customers who have complex needs because everyday transactions and requests for information will be dealt with digitally. • Staff will not be tied to a specific location, allowing them to operate from anywhere and enabling them to maximise their productivity by working digitally.
Human & Kind Our demographic will not accommodate a one size fits all approach and so it is important to be both inclusive and co-operative to achieve a successful change. We recognise that our customers’ needs are varied, and improved efficiency in our transactional service delivery enables us to target resources towards those who are the most vulnerable, and who may require services and support outside of our core offer. Priorities • work with partners and other stakeholders to increase the number of people online • encourage the use of technologies to improve quality of life for our residents • design our digital services around our customers’ needs • Ensure effective alternative contact and engagement methods remain for non-digital customers.