Helping Residents Design the Repair and Maintenance Service They Want

To deliver what residents want from their housing maintenance provider, you must first understand what it is they value most. Although discussions may take place during the initial bids and interviews between the client and contractor, they may still bring forward standardised ideas that they use on other projects that don’t necessarily fit with the new contract.

All communities are different. Each has its own needs, wishes and priorities. Everyone wants fast, efficient and responsive repairs and maintenance service, but the detail of how that is delivered is likely to be different. The ideal resident experience will have unique elements for each community.

To get it right, engaging with residents during the mobilisation period and throughout the life of the contract ensures the service delivered is structured around residents current needs.

Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping is a feature of all of our repair and maintenance partnerships. Through structured sessions with residents, we walk through the daily process of a repair, a call taken through the call centre and a planned job (usually a kitchen or bathroom refurb). We ask the resident if each part of the process has been followed, what their priorities are and where they are passionate that changes should be made.  We usually end up with a roomful of colourful post-it notes, sharing views and expectations at each stage of the process. We then identify key ‘touch-points’ where service improvements should be focused and ask for feedback on ways we can make these improvements.

The aim is to have an objective basis to cross-check the current customer journey against customer expectations. We can then make improvements and plan them into our service delivery development. Journey mapping days are held throughout the life of a contract as needs and priorities change therefore, regular reviews enable processes and procedures to be consistently updated.

We also hold regular focus groups so residents can tell us how we’re doing. We want to know how our services support residents’ needs and understand any positive or negative experiences they may have had.

In order to achieve minimal complaints, we must design the service around residents’ needs in the first place. Every interaction we have with residents helps us improve our understanding of how we can work more efficiently and effectively.

Find out more about our Property Services here. 

Claudette Gough, Regional Customer Experience Manager