Customers shaping their service
Customers in East Sussex are helping to shape and improve their own experience through special workshops with Osborne.
Last September, Osborne Communities commenced a 10 year deal with Optivo to provide property services to over 7,000 homes around Hastings.
In March, over a dozen local customers were invited to the partnerships first ‘Journey Mapping’ workshop, aimed at understanding what is important to the customer and how services can be improved.
“To deliver an exceptional service we need to listen to customers, discover how they feel and understand their current and future expectations” explains Claudette Ara, Osborne’s Regional Customer Experience Manager, who led the session.
“Our Customer Journey Mapping approach provides an environment that allows customers to talk openly and methodically from their own first hand experiences.”
Joined by senior members of the Optivo team, the group filled the room with an array of colourful post-it notes, sharing their views and expectations at each stage of the process from reporting a repair to completion, before identifying key ‘touch-points’ where service improvements should be focused.
The session, and others to follow, will provide Osborne and Optivo, who share offices to realise the benefits of collaborative working, with a true insight into the needs of their customers in order to improve their experiences in the future.
Darren Goodsell, Maintenance Manager, Asset Management at Optivo, said: “Understanding the customer journey and how they feel at each stage is a key learning benefit for us.”
“We can now cross check the current customer journey against our internal processes and customer expectations to identify improvements we can make considering their needs.”
One feedback said: “Very informative and interesting with excellent, friendly staff.
“[The workshop] gives us more understanding of how the office/call centre works.”
Whilst another added: “Thank you for giving us the opportunity to participate and be informed.”
