In a sector where customers can’t always choose their provider and success is not always measured in profits, housing providers have struggled to work out what good customer service is.
But getting customer experience right is more important than ever now that many social landlords are increasingly entering competitive new areas of business (such as selling homes on the open market) where competitors already have established customer service teams.
For our existing customers it’s simple: happy customers need to contact you less and that saves money, that can be spent building new homes and developing services that ensure you keep pace with the modern world.
1. The customer’s first contact should be a human being
What comes through loud and clear in our surveys is that customers want to be heard and feel valued. They want to talk to a real human being and they want contacting us to be easy.
We’ve introduced live chat on our website, allowing customers to have a one-to-one discussions online with our contact centre.
2. Don’t leave customers hanging on
Set up stringent call-back targets. If a customer calls before 3pm, set a target that you must get back to them the same day.
Allow customers to contact you through social media as well – and don’t just refer them to a phone number once they do. Social media allows customers to contact us in a convenient way that suits them and can inject real personality into the conversation.
3. Make loyal customers and they will help you
The good news is that once your residents like you, they will forgive the odd mistake and will even become ambassadors for your organisation.
But it’s not all plain sailing. You have to listen and to challenge many of the things you think are important to customers, but actually aren’t. You have to be prepared to accept that the customer really does know best.
4. Train staff properly
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that customer service is as simple as installing some phones and employing some people. Train your staff properly and update the training regularly – this can include working on listening and empathy skills and workshops on resolving difficult situations with customers.
5. And then reward them
Incentivise your staff by setting clear targets for your customer services team and reward them with bonuses if they meet them.
Louise Swain is executive director of customer service at Curo
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